2020 has been a rough year for most enterprise brands. However, these that have provided exceptionally good customer experience, are the ones that are witnessing immense growth and customer satisfaction. Here are some B2B customer experiences that brands need to watch out for to grow and strengthen their customer relationships in 2021.
2020 has forced enterprise brands to pivot from their traditional marketing strategies to go full-on with the digital ones. Though the initial steps provided created many challenges, enterprises slowly learned to find better ways – even better than the pre-pandemic scenario.
The economic environment in 2021 will play a key role in defining the B2B customer experience. Enterprises have to try a diverse set of approaches to meet the ever-changing and evolving behavior of their customers.
As Gil Allouche, founder and CEO of Metadata.io, “In 2021, B2B marketers will mimic a lot of the customer experiences from the consumer world, including a surge in customer data (1st and 3rd party).” He further adds, “Creating personal customer journeys for each individual/company (e.g. ABM on steroids), experimenting religiously with different audiences, channels, creative and content (e.g. multivariate testing) and finally using AI to automate all of that.”
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Going forward, the B2B customer experience is set to drastically change and will lay a foundation for creating its own legacy. Below are a few trends that will immensely shape the B2B customer experience in 2021:
How things are done
As customers are increasingly adopting and embracing digitalization, they’ll expect not only a better customer experience, but how they will receive it. They will pay more attention to how the brand design and develop a product to identify with them. Hence, brands must pull up the curtain and show how they design a product, treat their workforce, and show them why they should be trusted.
Delivering an omnichannel customer experience
As customers were forced to stay at their homes to support the COVID-19 spread, they started to interact with their brands across various platforms. These interactions with the prospects have increased the demand for omnichannel marketing. Even though the effect of the pandemic slowly recedes, experts believe that brands will continue to have to deliver an omnichannel customer service, as it has become a norm for them rather than a ‘nice-to-have’.
Providing avenues for self-service
In today’s digital era, customers have become more resourceful than ever before. They want to resolve their issue as quickly as possible even at the expense of resolving it independently. The brands that will provide touch points that can help customers resolve their issue independently, will have a stronger and loyal customer base in 2021.
Digitalization will be the key
“The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need for digital experiences. Businesses needed to change their practices virtually overnight as customers switched to conducting most, or all, of their interactions online. Many of these changes will last post-pandemic,” says Nitzan Shaer, co-founder and CEO of WEVO. COVID-19 has forced enterprises to accelerate their digital transformation journey.
Brands were forced to seek out tools that would help them survive. Now, as things continue to improve, some brands want to go back to their traditional practices. But that would be a huge mistake considering its long-lasting effects. As Nitzan puts it, “In 2021, B2B companies that are the fastest to adapt their digital customer experience to this new wave of digital interactions will rise to the top.”
Hence, brands must embrace the age of marketing, tools and methodologies and march forward in 2021 to deliver an exceptional customer experience.
