B2B Buyers Search for Thought Partners, Not Vendors

A recent Forrester survey asked B2B and B2C marketers to identify key changes in the customer journey over the past few years. Both sets of marketers identified a desire for privacy among customers, matched with expectations for personalized, data-driven, and emotional experiences. Similarly, a Marketo survey of more than 1,000 B2B buyers and marketing professionals found that companies are more concerned about the social values of collaborators than ever before.

Source: Customer Think

OUR TAKE

Companies today are grappling with the consequences of technological advances and increasingly open and politically conscious workplace environments. They are looking for B2B partners that will tread this ground carefully — vendors that don’t act like vendors, but like thought partners that can work through fast-paced technological and social changes. Whether this involves measuring the risks of investments in tech or establishing business practices based on social equity, proving that a B2B partnership can meet these demands begins with marketing and is carried through in the sales process. It’s important to create content and sales experiences that don’t only demonstrate technical prowess, but a nuanced human understanding of business.