Change Management in B2B eCommerce

Recently, I came across an interesting discussion on the forum of Master B2B regarding B2B customer pushback to new functionality on an eCommerce site. In the discussion, the eCommerce executive wrote...

It seems that many of our existing customers who persevered in spite of some major friction points in the experience have figured out workarounds to those friction points, so much that when we improve on a feature, we typically hear a bunch of negative feedback and requests to "revert back to the old way.”

When we consider the nature of B2B, it's all about the employees of your customers needing to get something done. They need to complete the task quickly to get to their next task. My experience at distributors and manufacturers in the B2B sector is that procurement-type of employees, tend to be older and sometimes not digitally savvy. When they go to a page, they expect the UI (user interface) to be the same. They want to see the 'Add to Cart' in the same spot, same color, same size, etc. every time they need to complete a task. They are then able to use muscle memory to complete their task efficiently.?

The B2B customer, for the most part, isn't looking to explore and see exciting changes like your typical B2C buyer in my opinion. That's not to say they don't want site improvements. And of course, we cannot group all B2B buyers into the same segment. Fundamentally, they have to buy what they bought last time or find something cheaper to buy this time that (a) matches the past product specification, or is near to the specifications (b) part of their contracted pricing or approved custom catalog. Again, there are plenty of exceptions.

On the other hand, eCommerce teams are trying to enhance the CX (customer experience) of the site and move it forward. Our team members are digitally savvy and they spend time thinking of cool new functionality. We look at B2C sites and think, "That's a neat feature! I will implement the same on my B2B site!"

Addressing the gap between what the user expects every day and what we want to change is the key to B2B success.

After 20+ years in digital marketing and eCommerce, here are my key learnings that apply to most B2B industries:

• Micro steps: Continuous change is OK, but the change needs to be in micro steps. Move the experience forward but do it in a way that the customer doesn't notice it. For example, in List View, we could redo the entire UI. Instead, take one element, the font size of the product price, and increase it. Very small change. Next enhancement, move the product price slightly in the List View. And so on. These micro changes will get you to your ideal state without major interruptions to the customer's workflow and be gentle to their muscle memory.
• Fail Fast: You cited an example. (Some) customers hated the grid view and you didn't add an ability to save their preference. Rather than say, "It's for your own good." You understood the issue and worked to fix it.
• UI/UX is a Science: Too many companies rely on UI/UX people from their IS partner or agency. A huge mistake in my opinion. UI/UX designers should be part of your team and be joined at the hip with Product Owners. The Product Owner should not be designing UX. UI/UX designers should also sit with the Product Owner in eCommerce and not in a siloed 'Creative Department.' (My pet peeve) UI/UX takes great skill and that means not hiring someone who was doing web or graphic design up until yesterday. They should also be paid well. More importantly, your UI/UX designer needs to know the VoC and be close to the customers/sales. I've seen too many UI/UX designers produce pretty work that would be perfect for Wayfair or Chewy but fall flat for the B2B customer. I can't stress this point enough.
• Know Thy Customer. We can look at heat maps, and web analytics, look at what the competitor is doing (or better yet, don't), look at inspiration from B2C, and also, offline data from the ERP (hopefully everyone is). However, we need to be close to the customer. eCommerce can't be in a glass silo. I have seen that at some companies. The eCommerce team enhances the site and throws it out to the world; hoping it will stick. eCommerce teams need a Business Development Manager (BDM) that is visiting customers and really understanding how THEY work and what gives them joy. In my early days, I would tell my manager, "I heard customers want..." He would say, "You heard from someone who heard from someone. Pick up the phone and talk to customers. Better yet, do a site visit." As digital people, we are often apt to do everything digitally. I can't tell you how many customers were surprised to actually get a call from an eCommerce Manager. "Wait, there are actually people behind this web store?" was the common response.
• Love Your Sales Force. Having a strong relationship with field sales and inside sales is key. When releasing new functionality, you should treat it as releasing an actual product. What I mean is an actual product you would sell (physical, service, etc.) Think about how you would go to market (GTM). Part of the process is commercialization which means bringing in marketing to have drip campaigns informing customers of new changes or asking for feedback on changes. Meeting with sales to train them on the enhancements and also providing demos. I would start with the sales field early on in the project by showing them 'prototypes.' Don't be afraid to re-work the UI/UX. I can recall an RFQ project I was working on. We had a great customer journey planned but when I showed it to sales reps it was poorly received—I was crushed. From that meeting, I incorporated their feedback despite the rework and impact on the release schedule. In the end, it was the right move as the customer greatly benefited and we had the buy-in from the sales force.

There's a lot more advice on the topic of change management in B2B eCommerce so head on over to Master B2B and sign up. Tell them I sent you.