Bringing Technology to the Forefront of the B2B Customer Experience

Most B2B leaders say customer experience (CX) is crucial to their strategic priorities, but the majority have no direct influence over it. To fix this, B2B leaders need to understand how and why communication skills, organizational flexibility and a customer-first culture enable B2B companies to continually adapt to customers’ ever-changing needs.

While price and product play important roles in staying one step ahead of the competition, they’re not the only two differentiators B2B leaders should stay focused on. B2B buyers now expect a consumer-grade customer experience.

THE NEW RULES OF (MULTI-CHANNEL) CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT: HANDBOOK FOR GROWTH MARKETERS

Winning CX will come from Brands who can balance relevance, consistency and convenience to drive engagement. The kind of engagement that drives optimal customer lifetime value and real business impact.

Download

Unfortunately, most B2B leaders aren’t taking full advantage of the benefits a top-notch customer experience can bring to their company. Only 23% of B2B companies achieve strong returns on their customer experience investments. One reason why returns have been tough to come by for most B2B organizations is the absence of cultural and operational changes.

While digital tools such as CPQ software enable a personalized experience and present a step in the right direction, there’s more to improving the customer experience than implementing new technologies. From adopting a data-driven mindset to eliminating silos, B2B executives that take steps to reposition their organization as customer-centric stand to reap the rewards of a top-notch customer experience sooner rather than later.

Learn More:  Top 5 B2B Customer Experience (CX) Best Practices for 2020!

Changing the Culture

Digital tools on their own can only push your company so far. Beyond purchasing the best solutions the market has to offer, today’s B2B buyers also want a frictionless experience from start to finish — and this may require a culture change in how your teams purchase and implement tech. Considering the customer experience that B2C giants like Amazon have developed, it’s easy to see why.

Whether it’s rolling out one-day shipping or introducing 1-click ordering, businesses have spared no expense catering to the needs and preferences of their customers. Making a similar effort to satisfy the expectations of today’s B2B buyers can help you attract new customers and retain existing ones.

To get buy-in from employees on these customer-centric improvements, be sure to illustrate how these changes make their jobs easier. For example, a CPQ tool can provide sales teams with “warm leads” so they go into sales interactions knowing what the customer has configured and what they’re seeking. Development teams can reference which configurations are most or least popular when crafting new solutions. With better insight into what customers are building and buying, maintenance departments can limit costs by using data to take a more preventative approach to maintenance and repairs.

Learn More:  Customer Service Vs Customer Experience (CX): Key Differences And Similarities

Leveraging Data across The Organization

Minimizing data silos is essential to getting the most out of new technology. Regardless of size, just about every organization struggles with data silos at one point or another. While they may slow your efforts to improve the customer experience, that doesn’t mean they have to halt progress altogether.

Workaround data silos by showcasing the difference CPQ software can make across every department. Sure, testing new technology within sales can help you work out potential problems before a larger rollout. However, when it comes to making a significant impact on customer experience, wider adoption is necessary.

Win the approval of each stakeholder by pointing out the value and data that digital customer-facing tools bring to the entire organization. Specific examples — including aligning visualization and pricing mechanisms — promise to go a long way toward earning the support of employees and ultimately shortening the time it takes to elevate the customer experience.

Learn More:  Top 10 Digital Customer Experience (CX) Software Platforms For 2020

Increasing the Effectiveness of Customer Interactions

As your customer experience improves, so will the interactions between your sellers and customers. While smartphones and tablets have made information like customization options and turnaround time available at a moment’s notice, there’s still plenty of value in digitizing B2B organizations to enhance the customer experience.

Sales teams equipped with CPQ software stand to move beyond basic research and instead gain relevance through access to the solution itself. This level of access allows for interoperability with other tools like CRM or marketing automation platforms.

There’s a lot on the line when it comes to the customer experience. B2B executives that lead efforts to enhance the customer experience can help serve as an example for the rest of the organization. From mid-level managers to entry-level employees, gaining the buy-in of workers across the organization can speed up the improvement process and ultimately boost business moving forward.

Learn More:  Director Of Customer Experience: Role, Skill Set And Job Description