Customer Experience Fuels the Modern B2B Buying Journey [Shifting from Product-centric to Customer-centric]

Let’s face it, the B2B buying experience can be a bit frustrating.

Compared to the seamless, on-demand experiences we get in our personal lives, finding the necessary information to reach a B2B purchase decision can often prove to be a struggle. It’s here where businesses need to start thinking differently if they are to thrive.

Companies have been predominantly structured around a product-centric approach, with its activities focused on the benefits of the company’s own products or services.

Unfortunately, we live in a customer-centric world, where the very same companies are suddenly expected to craft positive, collective experiences for customers, at every touch-point where they interact with the brand.

An organization-wide restructuring around the customer is called for – and this customer experience transformation, the very key to achieving success today.

Understanding the modern B2B buying journey

First off, we need to change our skewed perception of the customer journey.

Our classic consumer-focused model breaks the customer journey down into a funnel which represents the customer’s theoretical journey – from first being introduced to your product, to ultimately buying it.

Although there are numerous representations of this visual journey, their steps or flow through the customer path, is in principle, similar to the image below.

Image: Classic Customer Decision Journey or Funnel (Product-centric)

Herein lies the problem. We live in an era which is customer-centric – not product-centric. In today’s connected environment, customer experience is not a funnel or a linear journey.

Instead, it is an endless loop, where the customer is in control of their own journey. These customers engage on their terms, when they are ready, on the channel they prefer – and they expect experiences to be seamless, integrated and optimized.

Image: Today’s Agile Customer Decision Journey (Customer-centric)

We have to remember that companies are no longer vying for customer attention for products and services only against direct competitors. Instead, they find themselves competing against the best experiences their customers have ever had – with any brand, even outside of their industry.

The importance of a positive customer experience

Do you believe that a positive customer experience is truly important?

This question is remarkably simple to answer. If you had to follow in someone’s footsteps, which of these two companies would you choose to be – Blockbuster, or Netflix?

Image: Blockbuster versus Netflix Revenue

This revenue model is a great example of what happens when a business fails to innovate. The result was that Blockbuster went from a $6 billion company who dominated the market, to going bust in under 10 years.

Netflix on the other hand entered the market from ground zero at the high of Blockbuster’s reign, and have grown consistently, boasting a turnover of over $11 billion today.

Why? Because they embraced a world where customer-centricity is key, and in this hyper-connected landscape, providing personalized, tailored customer experiences has become the drivers of revenue.

Sure, you may be thinking that this success story is consumer based, how is it relevant to B2B?

Here’s the thing. Today’s buyers have grown accustomed to bingeing Netflix within the comfort of their own homes – as with numerous personalized experiences offered by other leading brands – and now they have come to expect the same experiences whenever and wherever they interact with any brand in their B2B worlds.

Netflix doesn’t drip an episode a week to your inbox. Why do B2B companies still share their content or provide experiences this way? When your buyers are interested and have attention to spare, they are ready to self-nurture.

It’s time for B2B business to get out of the way and let the binge begin!

“No one ‘owns’ the customer experience except the customer.”

Learn how you can deliver the same experiences as Netflix to your customers and drive deeper engagement across your customer’s journey. Let’s Talk CX  

About eMSDigital Group

At eMSDigital we believe in doing what we love and loving what we do. This is why we empower our clients daily with the tools, strategies, and guidance needed, to prepare their business for the future. Our passion to help amazing brands prosper - together with our award-winning solutions - has earned us a reputation as a leader in all things ‘digital experience’. If you want to be the envy of your competition, need help moving your B2B business online, or have any questions about creating the perfect digital experience for your customers, we’re just a click away :)

About the Author

Kobus van den Berg is the visionary founder of eMSDigital Group, a global B2B 'Enablement' powerhouse driving revenue growth, elevating CX, and revolutionizing buyer-seller engagement since 2010. Inspired by his wife and son, Kobus is a firm believer in the power of doing ‘good’ business to the benefit of all parties involved, as he strives daily to pursue the elusive balance between work and life. Kobus is a dedicated Espresso enthusiast and master mead-maker, with dreams of retiring on a family wine farm to keep himself busy with the finer things in life.

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