How to Build B2B Buyers' Trust Through Exceptional CX
Customer experience (CX) is already top priority in the B2C space, but B2B companies are catching on to the powerful effect that it can have for building trust.
Customer experience leverages technology, people, and workflows to deliver personalized experiences to individuals who interact with your brand so that, no matter the platform or touchpoint, customers receive exceptional service. According to research from Forrester, the ability to “understand and anticipate individual needs” and cater experiences to individual customers will effectively increase a company’s lead in the market. Research also shows that CX tightly correlates with revenue performance: small, tactical CX efforts will directly impact growth.
A cross-platform emphasis on developing standardized processes for engaging with customers not only ensures that their experience reflects your brand values and voice — it will also set you apart from the competition. Actually creating an exceptional customer experience, however, is not so simple.
So how can you create a delightful and educational customer experience for your B2B brand? Focus on building trust.
Business researchers are learning to expect the same convenience and customer experience when they are buying for an organization that they get when they are buying for themselves. This means that B2B businesses must establish credibility and trust through the experience that they create for the buyer as they move through the sales funnel, from identification and research to assessment and sale.
It is widely known that buyers form their initial brand impression on a website in between 6 to 10 seconds. This is a critical time period to build initial trust. B2B researchers are trying to solve a problem. Are you aware of their problem? Are you current and relevant? How do you “look”? Do you speak their language — know their world? Do you “get them”? Just as we gather these impressions from initial person-to-person interactions, digital impressions are much the same. Knowing your buyer and the problems they face is the key to winning initial trust.
If you pass the first test, the buyer will feel confident in moving deeper into your content toward what we term qualified trust. Do you really have what they need? Is the path to entry evident and easy? Are you answering their questions before they think to ask them? If so, they will continue down the path you lay before them. Be ready to engage them with blog content and articles. Give them an opportunity to further a dialogue via an email newsletter or gated case study or white paper. Nurture them into deeper levels of engagement slowly and surely.
Need help auditing your customer journey to determine how to make it the best it can possibly be? We can help. Reach out today.