B2B buying is increasingly taking place online with 68% of B2B buyers saying they plan to increase their use of digital shopping channels in the future. As purchasing preferences and options continue to evolve, businesses must prioritize delivering exceptional customer experiences to foster loyalty and stay competitive. So, how can companies achieve this and set the foundation for sustainable growth and long-term success?
Here are a few ways to build loyalty at the payment in an increasingly digital world:
Streamline the B2B Purchasing Process
Navigating the selection and onboarding of suppliers can be a complicated and time-consuming process for B2B buyers. By implementing fully automated, instantly responsive and mobile-friendly solutions, businesses can streamline these processes and make the purchase easier and faster for their customers. For example, offering self-service account options through user-friendly portals or apps can significantly enhance the overall customer experience.
Research by TreviPay also revealed that 82% of B2B buyers prefer vendors offering flexible payment terms at checkout. While credit cards are generally the typical default payment method for smaller, infrequent purchases, they aren’t the ideal payment vehicle for larger and repeat B2B purchases. And they don’t create a sticky, closed-loop network for business buyers to build the loyalty that B2B merchants are after. By understanding and catering to these payment preferences, merchants can be a step ahead of the competition.
Reduce Customer Effort
Customer experience is important for building customer loyalty, with 55% of PwC survey respondents stating that a negative experience would deter them from purchasing from a business again. By focusing on superior customer experiences, businesses can foster long-lasting relationships with their clients.
The amount of effort required by a customer is also a notable consideration when evaluating UX. Research by Gartner suggests that 96% of customers who had a high-effort experience reported being disloyal compared with 9% with low-effort experiences. B2B companies should address the following high-effort experiences to make it easier for customers to do business with you:
1. Multiple attempts to contact a company
2. Impersonal, “generic” service
3. Repetition of information
4. Perceived additional effort to resolve an issue
Embrace Partnerships in the B2B Ecosystem
The future of B2B payments is an easier pathway for all suppliers to have access to platforms and capabilities that allow them to expand the types of the customers they want to serve across multiple locations. The key will be to recognize that companies do not have to solve all these problems on their own.
Instead of building in-house solutions, B2B merchants can leverage existing payment and invoicing networks, like TreviPay, designed to address the unique challenges faced by organizations in today’s digital landscape. Such networks offer various features like real-time trade credit decisions, appropriately sized corporate trade credit accounts, automated accounts receivable management, digital invoices and fraud detection.
Transform Your Customer Experiences with Loyalty-Building B2B Processes
Investing time and resources in creating an exceptional B2B purchase experience fosters loyalty and differentiates a business from competitors. According to McKinsey, companies that transformed their customer experiences enjoyed increased revenue, higher client satisfaction scores, improved employee satisfaction and reduced operational costs.
As we navigate the rapidly changing B2B landscape, prioritizing exceptional customer experiences is no longer optional—it’s essential. By streamlining the purchase process, offering buyers their preferred payment methods, leveraging partnerships with existing payment networks and focusing on customer-centric solutions, businesses can meet the evolving demands of their customers and build long-lasting relationships. Remember, investing in the right strategies and technologies will not only differentiate your business from competitors but also pave the way for sustainable growth and long-term success.
