Staying on top of the latest trends for the B2B buying process is a challenge. With so much recent upheaval, local and global economies are less predictable than ever.
When trying to cater to B2B purchasing trends, you need to understand their purchase preferences on every point of the buying journey.
Learn more about the business to business buying process with this guide.
What you need to know about the B2B buying process
When understanding the B2B purchasing path, you need to know what features play into this path. The B2B buying process emphasizes specific needs that help understand purchase preferences. To understand the purchase path and the latest trends, you need to follow these needs.
Awareness
The B2B buyer journey begins with awareness. Often, customers realize they have a problem or pain point. Businesses may recognize a supply issue or require more partnerships as they expand. Knowledge opens the door to the B2B buying process.
For B2B purchasing, awareness is an opportunity to generate leads. It helps establish a course of action that requires adaptability on the part of suppliers and purchasers.
Adaptability
Another critical need in the B2B buying process involves adaptability. Once a customer gains awareness of their needs, other businesses need to tap into the direct source of the need. When meeting a customer at this point in the B2B buyer journey, you need to emphasize a willingness to flex to buyer needs.
Adaptability is a need for purchasers, too. If they are not open to multiple avenues for problem-solving, it limits your ability to resolve their needs. Flexing with buyer needs shows an awareness of ripple effects, which often accompany new logistics and supply chains.
Resolution
B2B purchases happen when resolutions happen. Meeting buyers’ needs in the business to business buying process requires commitment. Not only should you show adaptability by proffering multiple solutions.
You should help customers determine the best solution for their supply needs. Awareness is a critical need throughout the entire B2B buying process. When you offer solutions, you make taking action even more straightforward on the B2B buyer journey.
Action
The final need in the B2B buying journey involves decision-making and taking action. Providing multiple solutions should end in a purchase(s). Narrowing down the buyer’s options primarily consists of guiding them to the point of sale.
When buyers select their final purchase, ideally, they will return to in the future. This leads to retargeting and referral opportunities. If buyers’ pain points were resolved, they should return for more support.
Parts of the B2B purchasing path
Now that you understand the critical needs addressed in the B2B buying process, you’re ready for the logistical steps. Below are the actual action steps in the business to business buying process.
- Determine the need.
- Describe and quantify the need.
- Source potential suppliers for the quantified need.
- Send requests for proposals to prospective suppliers.
- Evaluate returned proposals and select suppliers.
- Establish routines for order fulfillment.
- Follow up after fulfillment and offer feedback to vendors.
These logistical steps overview potential trendsetting areas for the B2B buying journey. With 77% of buyers claiming a problematic experience in their latest B2B purchases, it’s time to change the journey.
How the B2B buying journey is changing
Several opportunities follow the B2B buying process. Currently, the critical needs of B2B purchasing require lots of work on the part of buyers. Sellers can fix this, to a certain degree.
Staying up to date means using the latest technology and balancing customer expectations. You can follow the example of some industries that pivot to meet customers at their pain points, moving away from a sales pipeline to something more expansive.
Sellers meeting customers on the B2B buying journey
FedEx pivoted to support small business needs when logistics were interrupted from quarantine. They offered materials from best practice models, shipping discounts, and more.
Bank of America supported small businesses, too. Easing regulations, offering PPP loans, and providing online resources provide multiple solutions to customers.
All of these sellers meet their customers on their paths of purchase. Using multiple solutions, instead of linear sales paths, these companies create lead opportunities. Later on, these companies can include this adaptability and awareness as part of their digital marketing strategy.
The Kompass Group and its Global Community already support the B2B buying process for major companies like:
- Filto Profiles
- So.Tec, Ltd
- Kawasaki
- Hewlett-Packard
- DHL Global
- Shell Globa
These far-reaching companies boosted their business to increase visibility and B2B traffic while increasing leads. Our Booster platform offers customizable, quality services to track ROI and discover new market opportunities. We even offer extensions for companies with a global reach.
To meet customers on the buying journey and to reach over 34 million B2B buyers, explore what our SEO solution, Booster, can do for companies like yours.
A quick recap of current trends in B2B purchasing
From what you’ve learned about the changes in the B2B buying process, you should know that flexibility is critical to the future. Sales pipelines are losing impact as technology offers multiple supply solutions for buyers.
Customers’ expectations are shifting partially in response to technology. Their aspirations are also moving from buyer fatigue. These trends indicate that the business to business buying process will only shift to meet purchaser expectations in the future.
Supplier pipelines need to branch out further to meet customers’ expectations. Sales teams are no longer the only solution, but more of purchase gatekeepers to multiple purchase paths.
When sales and marketing teams work side by side to meet customers’ needs, B2B purchases should grow. Targeting customers across multiple channels simultaneously generate more leads.
Where to stay updated on the latest trends in B2B purchasing
To meet consumer needs’ in the B2B buying process, suppliers must meet customers at their pain points on multiple fronts. Whether you’re seeking new suppliers or buyers, Kompass Group has all the latest information for you to stay on-trend.
Check out our website for new supplier options or to learn the latest about trends for the business to business buying process.
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