B2B buyers want it all and they want it now

If more B2B sellers don’t up their ecommerce game, they may find find themselves out of the game altogether, says new data and analysis from Forrester Research.

“B2B buying is in danger of becoming a numbers game dominated by procurement professionals, vendor selection checklists, and lowest-price mentality,” writes Forrester. “2022 data indicates that on average, buyers consider three vendors, only one of which succeeds in winning the deal.”

Business buyers are more restless than ever, and their buying behaviors keep changing, says Forrester.

“77% of B2B marketing decision-makers agree that buyers and customers expect an immediate response to their questions, and 74% agree that buyers expect an experience personalized to their needs and preferences across sales and marketing interactions. Forrester’s Buyers’ Journey Survey, 2022 reveals that 83% of buyers were dissatisfied in one or more areas with the winning vendor. “Organizations that lack a digital sales strategy may fail to meet the needs of their customers. The longer they hold off on creating such a strategy, the more likely they are to lose customers to the competition,” Forrester says.

Forrester is also charting other B2B buyer demands including:

74% agree that buyers expect an experience personalized to their needs and preferences across sales and marketing interactions.

More than half of buyers responding to Forrester’s Buyers’ Journey Survey, 2022, reported that they used a digital transaction for their purchase.

“Organizations that lack a digital sales strategy may fail to meet the needs of their customers. The longer they hold off on creating such a strategy, the more likely they are to lose customers to the competition,” Forrester says.

Although 59% of employees in B2B organizations say their companies encourage alignment and collaboration between different parts of the business, major challenges persist, according to Forrester’s 2022 data.

“Improving marketing alignment and collaboration with other departments, including sales and product,” was frequently cited by B2B marketing decision-makers as needed to support marketing priorities over the next 12 months,” Forrester says.