B2B Buyer Behavior: Tips and Tricks for 2025

In addition to the rapid development of online commerce, recent years have also seen a change in user behavior, including in the B2B segment.

This has been influenced by the pandemic, the development of digital technologies, and the transition to leading positions in B2B by generations better adapted to the digitalization of the market.

International express delivery and logistics company DHL Express predicts that by 2025, 80% of all B2B sales interactions between suppliers and professional buyers will take place in digital channels.

What the modern B2B audience pays attention to

As experience shows and research data confirms, B2B audiences value:

1. Availability of quick search, including synonymous queries, hints, various filters, recommendations and comparison options
2. Correct description and visualization of products, availability of detailed reviews on them
3. Clear pricing, terms of purchase and logistics
4. The ability to get advice and quick resolution of arising issues
5. High speed of the website
6. Quality of customer service
7. Adaptability for different devices without loss of functionality
8. Proper level of information security
9. Integration with various systems that simplify interaction.

B2B sales: what are the main pains of clients and how to deal with them effectively

Sales in the B2B segment are often taken literally – as sales of business to business. But this is not quite true. Behind any corporate client is a human decision maker – with all his quite human characteristics. And speaking about the pains of B2B-customers, it is necessary to narrow the concept – these are the pains of a specific person. And these are the ones that we need to learn to see and understand in order to successfully close deals.

What is a customer pain

At first glance, pain and need are synonyms. This, however, is not the case. A client’s need is a stage when he needs a product. And pain is an obstacle in the way of closing the need. In the context of commerce, pains are the inconveniences that accompany the buying process. Let’s consider the main ones for the B2B segment:

• Financial pain. This is a situation where there is not enough money to close a need. Example: a food company faces a lack of funds to purchase expensive equipment for production needs.
• Technical pain. Difficulties in the use or implementation of a product. Example: an IT company purchased a new project management system but had difficulty integrating it with existing tools, resulting in inefficiencies and burning deadlines.
• The pain of choice. If there are several products and you have to choose one. Example: a large retailer needs a new sales and inventory management system, but is faces the problem of choosing between several suppliers. Each of them has its own advantages, but each has disadvantages: accordingly, there is no offer that fully meets the company’s requirements.
• Psychological or social pain. It can be expressed by the question, “What will others think of me?” Example: a company specializing in market research is looking for a new partner to conduct customer surveys, but is worried that the chosen partner will not be able to provide the right image of the brand in the eyes of customers.
• Confidentiality pain. The client may fear whether their contact details will be passed on to some database. Example: a financial organization is considering working with a new payment processing partner, but is worried that its customer database and financial information could be used for fraudulent purposes.

The main way to express pain is through objections. Indeed, it is through customer objections that you can identify what the customer’s “pain” is and how to soothe it.

What is a customer need

Now that we have realized that pain is an obstacle and not the need itself, let’s talk specifically about the latter.

Clients’ needs can be categorized into levels:

• Individual need. A desire of the decision maker that comes from him or her personally and affects the deal: he/she wants a career growth or approval. It is a personal benefit that will be received by the company’s employee. Example: a sales manager is looking for a partner who can give him the best options to achieve better results.
• Team need. These are the objectives that the team sets for the product: KPIs, process efficiency, etc. Example: the marketing team wants to improve their metrics: conversion rate, better brand awareness, increase in leads.
• Company need. This “want” is realized by all members of the company, and the result affects the entire organization: better savings, increased efficiency, higher sales, etc. Example: a manufacturing company is searching for a partner to implement innovative technologies or processes that help reduce costs (reduce electricity consumption, reduce personnel costs, etc.).

When assessing customer behavior in B2B sales, customer needs are taken into account first, and then pains are processed. Being able to hear the pain and address it intelligently is the key to successful B2B sales.

Predictions and approaches in B2B sales for 2025

What changes in consumer behavior B2B companies would face in 2025.

1. Growing share of digital self-service channels in B2B

In B2B, the share of digital self-service channels is growing, and more than half of large purchases will be made through them in 2025. This means personal user accounts and customer spaces on websites, marketplaces, etc.

This is due to both the general trend towards the development of various online business places and marketplaces where it is convenient to select and purchase any product (not only in B2C, but also in B2B), and the growing share of the younger generation in B2B companies, who are well accustomed to using digital channels.

Suppliers should shift their focus from direct sales and order processing to communicating and helping customers online.

2. Lack of competencies

The current market situation requires B2B companies to implement AI and various digital transformation projects. But according to a Forrester survey, only 12% of marketing leaders believe that their teams’ current organizational design will help them effectively meet revenue targets.

Most will try to solve this problem by superficially reorganizing the structure of projects, departments and processes – for example, moving transformational projects directly under the marketing director, borrowing specialists from other departments, etc.

But these are all half-measures that won’t work.

For effective growth, companies need to rethink their entire B2B marketing and sales strategy with customer-centricity, fix dysfunctional processes, improve operational efficiency, and raise the level of specialists to combine human and machine competencies.

3. The growing influence of opinion leaders

More members of Gen Y and Gen Z are relying on outside opinions to make purchasing decisions – over half of Gen Z and Millennial consumers (53%) say they would consider buying products based on their favorite influencers’ recommendations.

In 2025, this share will increase even further, thus it is important for B2B companies to develop engagement with influencers and work on reviews and recommendations.

4. Falling interest in Product-led-Growth

Interest in Product-led-Growth (PLG) – product-centric growth marketing – will fall below 20%. This is due to an unstable economy, tight budgets and the need to refresh product teams.

The problem is that PLG experiments require engaging a large number of users – it’s expensive and the results are not quick.

Evaluate the potential benefits before choosing this approach.

Without understanding audience needs, any trends are useless though

Blindly following trends won’t help attract your target audience: if you don’t analyze CJM, study the pains, expectations, interests, user behavior and history of their interaction with you, you won’t be able to offer potential customers truly workable solutions and implement relevant innovations.