Here is a question for you: when was the last time you went to the city shopping?  I mean, the traditional shop until-you-drop type of shopping, coming home with too many bags and some regret?  Well, that seems to be more of a habit of the past. According to research, a whopping 60% of shoppers said they preferred online over physical stores during the holiday season in 2021. And predictions tell that 88,4% of UK shoppers will shop online by 2024.

Recognizing that many online shoppers for private purposes are also business to business buyers when at work, what is the impact of these trends for us as B2B sellers?

Brent Adamson of Gartner sums this up in a strong statement based on researching this phenomenon: An astonishing 23% of these B2B online buyers, shopping without the help from sales reps, experience regret of their purchase compared to those who do involve sales reps. So although B2B buyers think they can figure out what they need, the truth tells a different story.

In other words, as sellers, we need to be more aware that, like in B2C shopping, B2B buyers are also overwhelmed with the amount of data and options they find online. Being overwhelmed and under time pressure in their busy lives, they make wrong decisions and regret their purchase. This is good news for us as B2B sellers, providing you lead the conversation with new, insightful information that gets your stakeholder thinking:

• Have they been looking at their challenges the wrong way?
• Could their objectives be achieved differently than they initially thought?
• What does your insightful information mean to their strategy?
• Is there a risk of sticking to their status quo?
• Should they consider changing supplier, or at least explore options?

Selling with the Buyer’s perspective means that you look at the things you do and say – from their perspective:

• Do not bring unnecessary information into their already confusing world. They are not hungry for more information; they are hungry for insights.
• Spend time what insightful information your customers may not know and should know to shine a different perspective on their challenges.
• Focus on their business goals and show you have the same objectives in mind. That creates trust.
• Always involve more stakeholders and gain consensus to explore a change with you because of your ideas on achieving their business goals in ways they didn’t think of before.

The new B2B buyer is overwhelmed and needs your help.