What Makes B2B Research So Challenging? Here’s our Top 10.
Recently, we were challenged by a business-to-business client to articulate what it means to be a specialist in B2B market research. How does B2B research differ—really—from general consumer insights work? (Besides, of course, the obvious difference in audience type and a focus on selling something other than consumer goods.)
The subtext to their question was, in essence: What do I need to think about to design and implement B2B market research projects successfully? Underlying that question was a far-too-long history with disappointing output from their previous market research efforts.
Put simply, B2B research is unique because B2B decision-making is unique.
To determine how to design and implement B2B research effectively, one must first appreciate how B2B products and services are identified, evaluated, chosen, and used. Understanding that allows you to scope and conduct your research projects with precision, and to generate insights that have real and meaningful impact on the bottom line.
So, what makes B2B decision-making so…well, interesting? Here’s our top 10 list:
Rarely is there a single decision-maker. Users, evaluators, approvers, gatekeepers, stakeholders. Many names, many roles, and varying degrees of importance at different times. Be careful not to exclude any.
The buying process is almost always non-linear. It extends over time. It circles back on itself. Sometimes it dead-ends. Stick with it and identify where and how you can best propel things to a sale. And to a satisfactory experience for your customers.
Purchase influences come from many angles and multiple sources. Sources of information, advice, and recommendations come from everywhere. Some helpful. Some incomplete. Some completely wrong. It’s your job to get the right information into the hands of the right sources of influence at the right time.
Products frequently have multiple benefits and multiple uses. Your customers are the ultimate arbiters of how and where you make a difference in their operation. Be prepared to adjust, adapt or pivot completely as their experience and usage dictate.
How you fit matters as much as what you do. Especially in B2B, your products and services rarely, if ever, operate in isolation. Selling into a business means inserting yourself meaningfully into existing infrastructures, existing processes, and existing operations. Partnerships matter. Compatibility matters. Implementation matters. To succeed, you must coexist—and cooperate.
The rate of technology change exceeds the rate of adoption. Invention is one thing. Innovation is another. Invention is coming up with something completely new. Innovation is about solving meaningful customer problems. Adoption follows from meaningful innovation.
Nobody has 100% market share. Not for very long anyway. The competition is watching, circling and some are even passing you. And it’s only a matter of time before your technology edge is copied, co-opted, or consigned to history. Keep an eye on the competition, because “objects in your rear view mirror may be closer than they appear.”
Decisions are mostly rational, but with an emotional underpinning. Yes, B2B decisions are, by their very nature, more considered, rationale and fact-driven than those in general consumer categories, and getting that right is critical. But the decision-makers are humans as well, and their emotions (particularly as they related to confidence, empowerment, pride, accomplishment, and appreciation) matter as well. Address both facts and feelings.
Relationships matter. Too often, B2B marketers focus solely on their transactional interactions with customers and prospects. After all, those are easily identifiable, relatively easy to control and directly connected to money matters. But it’s ultimately the customer’s perception and experience of your relationship skills—before, during and post-sale—that have the greatest impact on their satisfaction and on your bottom line.
Some customers matter more than others. All customers are important. Some are more profitable, some cost more, some need more hand holding, some prefer to go it alone. From a business perspective, we don’t advise ignoring any of them. But from an insights perspective, there is an identifiable subset (who, in fact, may not yet be your customers) whose experience and expertise matter significantly more than the average customer for guiding your roadmap, shaping your messaging, and defining your future. We call them Catalytic.
We could go on. And we’d be happy to. If you are grappling with particular B2B marketing challenges or interested in how to get the most out of your B2B insights spending, drop us a line.