The document discusses the importance of customer experience (CX) for B2B brands, emphasizing that while B2B and B2C CX differ, both are increasingly influenced by technology and buyer behavior. It highlights the need for B2B marketers to understand and improve their CX strategies, revealing that many organizations struggle with ownership and measurement of CX. The document outlines best practices for achieving excellence in B2B CX, including centralized ownership, consistent plans, and active engagement with customer feedback.

1. Cxcellence: What CX success
looks like for B2B brands

2. › CX is a hot topic right now for marketers.
› It’s being driven by the parallel advances in tech and buyer behaviour,
particularly in the digital transactional realm.
› But as ever, the hype is driven from B2C, and that doesn’t necessarily
translate.
INTRODUCTION
Customer Experience:
What’s all the fuss about?

3. › Understand how this hype an advances in thinking translate to B2B
› Understand what B2B marketers and buyers of business products and
services really think about CX.
› Most importantly: we wanted to help define what great B2B CX looked like,
and how marketers could achieve it.
INTRODUCTION
What were we trying to achieve?
Our objectives

4. “CX is the sum-totality of how customers engage with
your company and brand, not just in a snapshot in time,
but throughout the entire arc of being a customer.”
Harvard Business Review
INTRODUCTION
How do you define
customer experience?

5. B2C CX
› Omnichannel
› Generally exclusively digital
› Transactional – focused on issues
in and around the short sales
cycle
› Geared around high volume, low
value engagements
INTRODUCTION
B2C versus B2B CX comparison
B2B CX
› Multichannel
› Emphasis on real-world (or at
least offline)
› Conversional – focused on issues
surrounding the long sales cycle
› Geared around low volume, high
value engagements

6. › Online survey with buyers of business products and services, worth at least
£20k, focusing on their experiences as customers throughout the cycle.
› Online survey of B2B marketers focusing on their approach to CX.
› Pulled together in one report.
INTRODUCTION
About this report

7. Part 1.
What we learned about
marketers and CX

8. PART 1. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM MARKETERS
1.1 CX is high on the marketing
priority list and getting higher

9. PART 1. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM MARKETERS

10. PART 1. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM MARKETERS
1.2 Responsibility for CX
is all over the place
37%
Yes
63%
No
Does responsibility
for the customer
experience sit within
a specific job function
or team in your
company?

11. PART 1. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM MARKETERS

12. PART 1. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM MARKETERS
1.3 Lack of clarity of ownership is
holding CX development back

13. PART 1. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM MARKETERS
1.4 Only half of B2B brands measure
the quality of CX
51%
Yes
49%
No
Does your company
regularly measure
the quality of
the customer
experience?

14. PART 1. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM MARKETERS
Measuring the quality of CX

15. PART 1. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM MARKETERS
1.5 Only half of marketers have
mapped CX
Mapping of the CX
30%
We’ve mapped it, but not what
makes a positive experience at
each stage
48%
No, we haven’t
mapped it
22%
Yes, we’ve mapped
it thoroughly

16. Part 2.
What we learned about
buyers and CX

17. PART 2. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM BUYERS
2.1 The impact of CX is felt long
before buyers even start the process
Before making any
detailed evaluation of
potential suppliers,
did you have an initial
preference for any
one of them?
41%
A strong preference
13%
No preference
46%
A slight preference

18. PART 2. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM BUYERS
Previous experience of
the supplier
82%
Yes
18%
No
Had you or your
company bought
from your preferred
supplier previously?

19. PART 2. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM BUYERS
94%
Yes
6%
No Did you ultimately
buy from this known
supplier?

20. PART 2. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM BUYERS
2.2 Great CX means offering information,
but keep a respectful distance
Imagine a potential supplier
to your company wanted
to promote themselves to
you. If they wanted to do so
effectively, what advice would
you give them about using each
of the following approaches?
Search engine
promotion
Direct mail Social media
advertising
Engaging with you
on social media
Telemarketing
A presence at trade
conferences and exhibitions
Seminars
and events
Publishing supplier magazine
with news and features
Holding webinars
and podcasts
Email newsletters
and promotions
68 30 3
%
53 35 13
%
47 41 13
%
46 33 12
%
41 42 17
%
20 28 52
%
22 43 35
%
28 40 32
%
37 38 25
%
40 36 24
%
Advise for
[Ranked
accordingly]
Wouldn’t
mind
Advise
against

21. PART 2. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM BUYERS
2.3 Face-to-face is fundamental

22. PART 2. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM BUYERS
2.4 Brands must bridge the
CX chasm

23. PART 2. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM BUYERS
2.5 Vendors need to work doubly
hard to prove they are listening

24. Part 3.
What CXcellence looks like

25. PART 3. WHAT CXCELLENCE LOOKS LIKE
1. Audit and define CXcellence at
each touchpoint
› Map and quantify customers needs and expectations at each touchpoint.
› Conduct competitive evaluations to identify best practice or stimulate new
thinking.
› Conduct an audit of current practice and determine a capability gap.
› Create feedback loops to ensure CX is adapting to changing expectations.

26. PART 3. WHAT CXCELLENCE LOOKS LIKE
2. Create a joined-up and
consistent plan
› Set clear objectives, which are ambitious but achievable.
› Demonstrate real commercial value.
› All relevant departments must be onboard and committed.
› Departmental collaboration and linkages must be (re) defined.

27. PART 3. WHAT CXCELLENCE LOOKS LIKE
3. Centralise ownership of CX
› Create processes for interdepartmental collaboration and ongoing
learning.
› Marketing must take responsibility for driving business value from CX.
› Sales cannot ‘own’ the customer for the duration of the entire
process.

28. PART 3. WHAT CXCELLENCE LOOKS LIKE
4. Establish a clear and balanced
set of metrics
› These must be agreed by all relevant parties and reported to the
board.
› They must encompass the full customer journey.
› By definition, this may be a disparate data suite – some difficult to
access.
› The board must show demonstrable commitment by feeding back on
progress.

29. PART 3. WHAT CXCELLENCE LOOKS LIKE
5. Make sure everyone gets CX
› Good CX is delivered at every touchpoint, therefore every employee
plays a role.
› A company-wise ethos of CX must be established, and implications
communicated.
› The board must live and breathe CX, and be its best advocates.

30. PART 3. WHAT CXCELLENCE LOOKS LIKE
6. Identify and engage influencers
› Who are they and where are they? What are their profiles?
› Tier them in levels of priority or accessibility.
› Audit or quantify their current relationship with your brand.
› Establish personal or brand relationships on mutually beneficial terms (ie.
‘stop selling, start helping’).

31. PART 3. WHAT CXCELLENCE LOOKS LIKE
7. Build a ‘customer alumni’
› Both formal and informal advocacy is essential to manage your reputation.
› Document and capture great CX via testimonials and case studies.
› Use storytelling techniques to bring these alive and propagate them.
› Continue to engage with customers beyond the commercial lifespan of your
relationship.

32. PART 3. WHAT CXCELLENCE LOOKS LIKE
8. Embrace and respond to feedback
› CXcellence is never a given – hard won success can be quick to
unravel.
› Ensure customer feedback is enshrined in corporate culture.
› Go out of your way to demonstrate you’re listening – and responding.
› Where you can’t change things, explain why not.

33. PART 3. WHAT CXCELLENCE LOOKS LIKE
A CX checklist
How can you tell if you’re getting it right?
› Have you mapped excellence in CX across all touchpoints?
› Do you have a coherent and consistent CX plan?
› Are all relevant departments aligned and onboard?
› Do staff at every level understand CX’s relevance to them?
› Do you have clear, coherent metrics which are reported to and discussed
by the board?
› Are you actively engaging influencers?
› Are you building your customer alumni?
› Do you cultivate feedback and demonstrably act on it?

34. PART 3. WHAT CXCELLENCE LOOKS LIKE
Download the report
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35. SECTION 3. WHAT CXCELLENCE LOOKS LIKE
In summary
› The battle for B2B CX is not exclusively fought let alone won in the digital realm.
› However, acceleration of change means the impact of digital will increase.
› Is CX Just Good Marketing (JGM)?
› The emergence of CX refocuses us on the customer, and therefore is good news.
› Those brands that can embrace CX, and tackle the challenges it presents, will
have a critical advantage.

36. Thanks for listening!
Any questions?