Why is the B2B customer journey crucial for manufacturers and wholesalers?

By gaining insight into this journey, you can optimize your online B2B marketing and effectively guide customers to a conversion. But the customer journey goes even further. In this blog post, you'll learn how to strategically use the customer journey to grow your B2B business. A B2B Customer Enablement Platform, such as Fonda, also plays an important role in creating a smooth connection between all phases of the customer journey. It ensures a seamless and optimal customer experience in every phase: from the first meeting to after sales.

What is the B2B customer journey?

The customer journey, also known as a customer journey, is crucial for marketing in your company. This not only applies to B2C companies, but certainly also to B2B organizations, where the purchasing process is often longer and more complex.

Your company's customer journey brings you all touchpoints whether contact points map the customer with your organization. Both the offline and online B2B customer journey contribute to the customer's experience with your organization and are therefore important. Examples of touchpoints include:

• Someone tells the potential customer about your organization
• The potential customer sees your organization's advertising on a vehicle
• The potential customer ends up on your website via Google
• The potential customer sees a LinkedIn post from your organization passing by
• The potential customer sees your organization's material in a showroom

Typically, we work with five phases in the B2B customer journey: awareness, consideration, decisionmaking, purchase and after purchase. You can see the phases as a funnel that the customer goes through. Every phase is important in the customer's purchase process, so we explain them better.

The five phases of the B2B customer journey

1. Awareness
   In the awareness or orientation phase, the customer becomes aware of a need or a problem. The customer can discover a need through others or through their own experiences, for example by scrolling on social media and seeing someone with the same problem. If the need exists but the customer is not aware of it, we call that a latent need. At the moment, it may even be that the customer is not yet aware of your solution, but he is already looking for similar things. It is important to take all needs into account. Tailor your content accordingly. Google research shows that 71% of B2B researchers start their research with a generic search. So they are looking for a solution, not you. For example, make sure you have a good SEO strategy to get found. So you have to be present with potential customers, which is why this phase is also known as the awareness phase.
2. Consideration
   In the consideration phase, the customer will mainly collect information. The customer is actively looking for solutions. Make sure that the customer finds the right information quickly and easily. Think of transparent product information, but also information about shipping time or shipping costs. Product demonstrations and case studies can also help customers get information and trust your brand.
3. Decision making
   To make the right decision, the customer compares all the information and solutions. In today's digital society, comparing companies is very easy. That's why B2B customers also want to make the best choice. Show that your company offers the best solution. Give your prospects the opportunity to request free demos or trial periods and, for example, offer detailed comparison tables. Some psychological principles, such as reviews (social proof), should not be missing here.
   Read our white paper for more information about strengthening the digital connection with your B2B customers.
4. Purchase
   In this phase, the customer effectively purchases your product or service. It's important to remove all barriers here and offer the customer an intuitive and seamless experience. A smoothly functioning website is crucial in this phase. A slow website, incorrect pricing information, or complex payment methods can scare the customer away. If you map out all the contact points so far, we call that the buyer journey. But what comes next is at least as important.
   Practical example: Dupont Cheese, wholesaler and cheese processor, wanted to optimize the customer experience to strengthen the relationship with their customers. For them, Fonda's Customer Order module provides an e-commerce solution where ordering is possible at any time of the day. A sales manager is no longer necessary here. In case of problems, he can log into the platform and monitor the customer's order status.
5. After purchase
   In the B2B market, the relationship with the customer does not end after the first purchase. This phase is often forgotten, but it is essential to retain the customer. Here, you encourage customers to use your product and make repeat purchases (customer retention), but also to become an ambassador for your brand. Make sure they promote your brand via social media, with friends or family, etc. In any way. Word of mouth plays a major role in the B2B market.
   Practical example: The incubator manufacturer, Petersime, also saw that this phase is indispensable and focused on maintaining relationships with their customers. Fonda's Customer Portal module provides an online customer portal where customers have access to a knowledge base, an event overview and contact information. In addition to these 24/7 support tools and applications, customers can learn about Petersime's story and their innovations or make use of the self-service options.

Want to know more about the Dupont Cheese and Petersime solutions? Explore here how it works.

The importance of customer loyalty

You've probably heard about customer lifetime value. Customer lifetime value is about the revenue that a customer generates throughout the entire period that that customer is. A long-term relationship with your customers is critical. According to BIA Advisory research, acquiring new customers costs five to ten times more than selling to a current customer. In addition, they indicate that current customers spend an average of 67 percent more than new customers.

Reaching existing customers is therefore cheaper and more lucrative. For example, these customers are already in your customer base and can be reached via your website, organic social media, or email. In addition, they are already convinced and satisfied with your company or other products that you offer. In contrast to new customers, you attract them via ads (Google, LinkedIn, etc.)

Do you want to increase your turnover? Focus on customer loyalty.

How does the B2B customer journey differ from B2C companies?

For B2B companies, the customer journey is often a complex and lengthy process. This is mainly because multiple stakeholders are involved in decision-making and the purchase often involves high investments and long-term contracts.

Some key differences include:

• Decision making and engagement:
  In B2B environments, decisions often have to be made by a group of stakeholders — such as purchasing managers, technical experts, and financial decision makers — leading to an extensive evaluation process. Each stakeholder has their own priorities and questions, resulting in multiple contact moments and a phased decision-making process. In contrast, the B2C market often has a faster, more individual and emotionally driven purchase decision, where impulse and personal preferences play a greater role.
• Complexity and information needs:
  B2B customers are looking for in-depth information, detailed specifications and concrete case studies to support their choice. They want to see how a solution actually performs in a comparable business environment and what ROI they can expect. B2C often involves simpler and faster messages that respond to emotion and direct consumer behavior, such as brand experience and trends.
• Relationship orientation and long-term commitment:
  Where B2C transactions are often one-off or repetitive but short-lived, the B2B relationship is about long-term partnerships. The customer journey in B2B is therefore not completed after the first purchase; it is essential to continuously support, inform and retain the customer. This requires proactive and ongoing communication, where customer satisfaction and loyalty are key. With a customer-focused approach, you ensure more conversions, higher customer satisfaction and more loyalty.

These differences make it crucial that the approach in each phase of the B2B customer journey is specifically tailored to the needs of the potential customer.

This is how Fonda supports your company during every phase of the customer journey

Based on in-depth B2B sector knowledge, we understand the unique challenges faced by SME manufacturers and wholesalers. Specifically designed to address these challenges, Fonda supports your business at every stage of the customer journey:

• Smart product data management: our platform offers an AI-supported Product Information Management (PIM) system, which allows you to efficiently manage comprehensive product catalogs. This ensures consistent and accurate product information for your customers.
• Online sales boost: by clearly applying the complexity of pricing online and creating a user-friendly ordering environment, we increase conversion and stimulate online sales.
• User-friendly self-service: customers can place orders, view product information and track their order status at any time via an intuitive customer portal, which increases customer satisfaction.
• Strengthening customer loyalty: with online communities and automated communication, such as post-purchase follow-up emails and personalized promotions, we build long-term customer relationships.

Our modular and scalable approach ensures that the platform grows with your organization, allowing your employees to work more efficiently and giving customers a top experience.

In conclusion: the importance of analyzing the B2B customer journey for manufacturers and wholesalers

A customer's decision process is different for B2B companies than for B2C companies. So it is often more complicated and takes longer. During the process, various issues can be addressed: problem identification, comparing solutions and consulting with various stakeholders. The customer journey varies from company to company, but has many advantages. These benefits can translate into higher conversion rates, improved customer satisfaction, long-term customer relationships, and lower acquisition costs.

Mapping the customer journey helps identify customer emotions, pain points and needs. In turn, you can respond to that with content and communication. With targeted marketing, you can guide the customer through the marketing funnel more effectively.

So the customer journey is not to be missed in your marketing strategy.