The B2B software buying experience is complex, and as the market becomes more crowded, that complexity only increases. This is problematic for both vendors and buyers. Buyers don’t know which vendor is the best fit for their needs, and vendors are having trouble getting in front of their ideal customers.
As buyers look for ways to decrease this complexity, they’re focusing on vendors that provide a good customer experience. But what does that look like in practice, and how can you ensure that you’re providing the customer experience your buyers want?
Make Your Website Clear and Easy to Navigate
It should be easy for buyers to find the information they want on your site, which means clear menus and links to related pages where appropriate. Avoid marketing speak as much as possible, so your buyers know what they’re actually getting with your product.
In addition, you should tell buyers what problems your product solves, not what features it has. Buyers are unlikely to understand what the features do except how it relates to their needs. Don’t overload them with information.
Finally, don’t force a sales conversation to find basic information like pricing. Additionally, buyers may not want to talk to your sales team at all, so if self-service sales are possible, you should make that available on your website. In fact, a few of the recent guests on the B2B Nation podcast have discussed how much buyers want to be able to make purchases without talking to a salesperson.
Understand What Your Customers Want & Need
Focusing on your customers’ wants and needs is key to providing a good customer experience. What are the pain points your ideal customers have? How can you solve them? If there are pain points that your buyers bring up often, make content on solving those issues readily available. And if you don’t know what problems your buyers are facing, ask them.
Are there specific features that your customers want? See if you can create a roadmap for adding highly requested features. This shows that you listen to your customers and care about improving their experience.
Focus the conversation on your buyer instead of your product. Buyers don’t care about your product unless it can address their needs. And they’re likely to get frustrated if they don’t feel like you’re listening to them. For example, let’s say you go to a car dealership looking for an SUV because you need the extra space. However, the salesperson keeps talking about all the great features a certain sedan has. You’re probably going to be annoyed that they’re not listening to you and go to a competitor. The same is true for your buyers.
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Provide Helpful and Responsive Customer Support
Customer support is one of the biggest contributing factors to renewals, and will likely influence new revenue through referrals. Buyers want to know that if they have problems, they’ll be solved quickly. Customer support should be easy to access and offer multiple channels like phone, email, and live chat to allow customers to contact your team in the way they’re most comfortable. Additionally, reps should respond quickly, and customers should have self-service options for quick answers to common questions.
Consider making customer support response times a part of your service-level agreements (SLAs), so new customers know what to expect. Otherwise, they’ll have to rely on reviews from other users, which may not always go the way you want it to.
Create Personalized Learning Paths for Buyers
Training and onboarding new customers can no longer be a one-size-fits-all approach. You should tailor the training based on the features the buyer needs for their business, the outcomes they want to achieve, and the industry they’re in. Personalized learning improves the onboarding experience and maximizes time to value, increasing the likelihood that the customer will renew their subscription.
These learning paths should extend into your sales process as well. Provide different types of content for different problems and industry needs, so your potential buyers can see how your software will fit their needs. Additionally, you can distribute this content through third-party resources to ensure you’re also speaking to buyers that haven’t yet made it to your site.
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Prioritizing Customer Experience May Get Your Buyers to Prioritize You
In times of economic uncertainty, vendors either typically have to be the cheapest or offer the best customer experience to get new business. And while being the cheapest seems easy, it’s probably not the best business practice. Prioritizing customer experience is a great way to attract new buyers because you’re showing that you care about their needs and are listening to what would make their lives easier. And this works well during all economic periods, not just when there’s a downturn in the market, making it a good long-term strategy.
If you need help getting your name and content in front of new buyers, TechnologyAdvice offers content syndication programs and display advertising options to help you attract new buyers. Contact us today to learn more.