Don’t Lose Deals Due to a Clunky Digital Buying Experience

Embracing digital buying processes —  from the research phase to post-sales — is the only way to keep up with customers’ evolving expectations, says Marie Hattar, CMO at Keysight Technologies. She offers these tips for improving the B2B digital buying experience.

1. Create a digital-first buying experience. Gartner reported in 2020 that B2B buyers spend only 17% of the total purchase journey with sales reps. That means salespeople can become “concierges” by providing personalized information that prospects can’t find online. Free trials and on-demand demos allow prospects to skip the introductory sales call and explore a product on their own time. Digital-only or hybrid conferences enable marketers to reach a broader audience and create more accessible content.
2. Adopt B2C buying techniques. Create simpler, more transparent buying processes. While one-click purchases may be aspirational for enterprises, ensuring your website is easy to navigate and free of bugs is critical. Recent McKinsey research found that the three most frustrating issues with supplier websites were the length of the ordering process, the difficulty of finding products and technical glitches with the ordering process. Revamp and simplify your pricing strategy, then post
   it clearly on your website. Include the ability to get instant quotes or review packages based on the desired number of users or licenses or amount of storage. On the administra­tive side, be sure to provide order tracking, instant invoices and flexible payment options.
3. Create a seamless self-serve experience. In 2020, McKinsey found that more than three-quarters of buyers and sellers “prefer digital self-serve and remote human engagement over face-to-face interactions.” This trend even applies to enterprise-sized purchases; 70% of B2B decision-makers said they were “open to making new, fully self-serve or remote purchases
   in excess of $50,000.” Effective self-serve experiences put the buyer in control and could include features like on-demand demos, free trials and the ability to place orders with a credit card. These options can increase customer satisfaction while shortening sales cycles — and free up sales reps to focus on generating new opportunities.

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