What I’m about to write shouldn’t surprise anyone. Unfortunately, based on how B2B firms compare with their B2C cousins, it might. Here goes: Customer experience (CX) management is not a “nice to have” for B2B firms — it’s mission critical. According to PwC research, 86% of clients say the quality of a professional services firm’s CX is a top factor in determining whether to hire them. Our own survey of B2B buyers revealed that 98% of clients expect a response to their calls and emails within 24 hours, and two-thirds expect a call back within 4 hours. What is CXM and what does it do for B2B firms? CX management (CXM) isn’t just about reacting quickly to calls and emails. It also includes efforts to make things quick and easy for customers, often by offering intuitive self-service tools. On the other hand, there may be times when a good CX means smoothing the way with high-touch customer care. Finally a truly CX-focused firm always ensures that it delivers its promised value to customers. To cover all those bases, B2B service providers need to manage and measure their CX success across multiple touchpoints, from publishing content that encourages self-guided research to training account reps to offer service and guidance to managing survey programs and acting on customer feedback. Yes, CXM is a lot — but it’s worth it! When you provide an exceptional CX, your customers’ loyalty and positive word of mouth will pay you back in dividends. As Gartner’s Customer Service Experience report states, “Great service experiences may stem customer attrition, but only ‘value enhancing’ service experiences drive retention and growth.” We’ll let the numbers do the talking: 86% of customers are likely to spend more money after receiving value-enhanced services, and 97% will share their positive experience with others. 3 points that prove B2B CX is having its moment If you haven’t yet announced to your team that 2024 will be your “CX Era,” get ready to. I’ll give you three more reasons. 1. Ignoring your CX leads to B2B customer loss. A bad experience is one of the top reasons a customer will leave a brand, and younger generations are increasingly likely to abandon ship for this reason. According to the B2B Buyer Report, 74% of B2B buyers would switch suppliers if offered a better experience. And it’s not all hypothetical. According to Forrester, 67% of clients say that they’ve already switched professional service firms due to a poor CX. 2. Your B2B clients are B2C consumers—and they expect a good CX. Your clients lead double lives. Shocking, I know. When they’re not at work, they’re at home… being consumers — consumers who benefit from great CX journeys provided by B2C companies. This means that B2B customer expectations are higher, and they’re losing patience. Kevin Neher, a McKinsey & Company Senior Partner on a Harvard Business Review-hosted podcast said it well: “What we’re seeing is that it’s B2B companies… companies that serve businesses, companies that serve all these other industries, are now the ones trying to catch up.” He points out that someone who can get a package from Amazon in less than 48 hours is going to start to wonder why they can’t get the supplies they need for their business as quickly. In fact, research from McKinsey has been pointing out B2B’s lagging CX since 2016, when it published comparison stats (back then B2B companies’ CX ratings already lagged 15–35% behind B2C ratings) and astutely predicted that the gap would grow ever more obvious as B2B customer expectations rise. 3. Great CXM fosters customer loyalty that fuels growth. Consider this stat from Forrester: 73% of clients are willing to pay more for a better customer experience. Sounds pretty good considering we’ve all been racked with inflationary pressure, right? Plus, customer retention is less expensive than customer acquisition. Here’s more from another McKinsey report: Companies that have improved their CX see their sales revenues improve by up to 7%, bumping their profitability by up to 2%. And that’s not all! Their overall shareholder return increased by up to 10%. Arrive early to the B2B CX buffet table—there’s a feast for the taking B2C companies have understood the innate value of investing in their CX for a while now, but B2B firms have been slower. According to research by B2B International, just 14% of large B2B companies are truly customer centric. While 31% are at least engaged in a fledgling customer focus, it still presents a huge white space for B2B CX champions to win the game. Imagine all the low-hanging fruit your firm could pick if you master it early. I’ll share a round up of our most updated NPS benchmarks by industry below. The Net Promoter Score® is a great gauge of a company’s CX efforts. As you compare the numbers, keep two things in mind: The firms included in our benchmarks are demonstrating a certain threshold of CXM by using our client satisfaction survey program, so they’re likely ahead of most competitors in their field and Leading B2C companies include Starbucks and USAA, with a 77% and a 75% NPS, respectively. Average 2023 NPS by industry Please notice the positive movement over the past few years, which shows the possibilities for quick improvement once you dedicate resources to your CX. B2B Services = 39% (-1% YOY, but +14 points since 2020) IT Services = 42% (-2 points YOY, +4 since 2020, +28 since its low in 2017) Legal Services = 37% (+5 points YOY; +11 since 2020) Insurance = 36% (-6 points YOY, +19% since 2020) HR Services = 46% (+9% YOY, +31 since 2020) Staffing = 36% (+5 YOY, +8% since 2020, +38 points since a low of -2% in 2019) Accounting –+41% (+2% YOY, +18 points since 2020) How to move your B2B CX forward To catch up with consumer expectations, B2B companies can’t just, well… catch up. They need to move beyond traditional internal CXM that simply “measures and diagnoses” into fully modernized, proactive CXM that acts on customer insights, enhances your online reputation and, based on the merit of your CX, helps acquire new business. To do this, keep in mind that your own employees are an important audience too, as they affect your CX. Happy employees help inspire 360-degree loyalty. To achieve this, you can’t just think you know how your clients feel, you must work to know how they feel. In fact, based on our own research we know that 16% of customers won’t ever tell you or your firm when they have a service issue, yet 74% will complain about it to others. Ouch. This is why companies must move from static, annual surveys that yield outdated intel by the time they get it, to timely, insight-focused surveys that you can act on now and use to anticipate upcoming needs. Learn more about how to move your tired B2B CX forward. Watch my webinar The Evolution of CX: What’s Now and What’s Next in which we share 10 ways to improve your CX.
