The most trusted suppliers B2B buyers choose for purchases can gain status in a variety of ways. Trust plays a key role — and not only in determining initial choices. It also determines how likely B2B buyers are to make additional purchases from suppliers and refer suppliers to colleagues, according to Forrester’s State of Global Business Buyer Trust In 2023 report.

What building trust with buyers means

When it comes to referrals, business buyers who trust suppliers are twice as likely to recommend those companies as buyers who do not trust suppliers, the report says. They are also more likely to pay a premium to collaborate with those companies.

Determining what constitutes a buyer’s trust in a supplier, however, can be viewed as a nebulous and highly subjective process. To bring clarity to what defines a buyer’s trust in a supplier, Forrester identified seven criteria buyers use as suppliers build trust. Those criteria, in alphabetical order, are accountability, competence, consistency, dependability, empathy, integrity and transparency.

A supplier’s competence, consistency and dependability are the three primary criteria most business buyers use to determine the level of trust they have in a supplier regardless of industry, types of purchases made and a buyer’s status within their organization, although the order can vary based on the geographic region, according to Forrester. Buyers in the Asia Pacific region, for example, rank a supplier’s competence first, followed by either consistency or dependability.

While a supplier’s perceived competence, consistency and dependability carry the most weight in building a B2B buyer’s trust in a supplier, accountability, integrity, transparency and empathy also play roles in building trust to varying degrees. Among these secondary criteria, a supplier’s integrity carries quite a bit of weight. Some 45% of business buyers, for example, said that if a supplier acted contrary to their company’s values, they were not likely to forgive the supplier. In comparison, empathy, on which consumers place a strong emphasis when building trust with a merchant, does not rate high with business buyers, according to the report.

Forrester surveyed 1,420 global purchase influencers, which the report refers to as business buyers.

Most important factors in building trusted B2B supplier status

When asked to rank the traits suppliers displayed during the purchasing process that built trust in the supplier, competency ranked first with a score of 18.5%. After that, consistency ranked second with a score of 17%. Dependability ranked third with a score of 16.8%.

To calculate the scores, Forrester used a MaxDiff analysis (also known as best-worst scaling), which plots rankings based on a 100-point scale. The top three criteria ranked above the neutral share of importance — i.e., the value at which all seven levers would carry an equal one-seventh share of importance, or 14.29%, according to the report. When the scores for all seven criteria are added together, they equal 100%.

“Furthermore, each [trait] distance from that neutral value provides a clear picture of which [trait] has the greatest or least utility in the buying process,” the report says.

Accountability ranked fourth with a score of 14.3%. Transparency ranked fifth with a score of 12.7%. Integrity ranked sixth with a score of 12.1%. Empathy ranked seventh with a score of 8.6%.

Importance of referrals and recommendations

A key part of a buyer’s trust with a supplier comes from gathering information from people, organizations and third parties. When asked to rank the sources of information they trust most about suppliers, 82% of respondents cited co-workers. 82% also cited company management. 79% cited vendors with whom they currently work. 72% cited industry peers. 68% cited industry analysts. Respondents were then asked to rank 10 sources of information.

“Business buyers trust people and organizations they already know and with whom they share a professional kinship. Coworkers and current vendors are among the most trusted sources of information,” says the report.

Surprisingly, vendors’ sales representatives ranked seventh on the list of trusted sources of information. Some 58% of respondents cite vendor sales reps as a trusted source of information. News media (56%), government officials (51%) and social media influencers (44%) rounded out the list.

“Salespeople don’t innately command trust, barely scoring higher than government officials,” the report says. “Vendors should recognize that trusted sources — including their own executives — are more likely to build trusting relationships and should be used to augment and support marketing efforts and sales processes. They should also co-opt more trusted sources of information like consultants and analyst research.”

Attributes associated with most trusted B2B suppliers

When B2B buyers were asked how likely they were to trust a supplier based on a set of 13 attributes, financial security ranked first (81%). That was followed by longevity (80%), innovation (78%), brand awareness (77%) and specialization (76%). Diversity, equity and inclusion (65%), entertainment (61%) and controversial (52%) ranked 11^th through 13^th.

Overall, gaining a B2B buyer’s trust is critical for suppliers looking to establish long-term relationships with buyers. As part of its research, Forrester asked buyers who expressed trust in their supplier, as well as those who did not, a series of the same questions.

Among buyers who expressed trust in their supplier, 85% said they would recommend the supplier to others within their organization. Similarly, 83% said they would continue to do business with the supplier. 83% also said they would recommend the supplier to peers and friends outside their company. In addition, 74% said they would continue to purchase additional products from the supplier, even if those purchases were unrelated to the products or services they currently purchase. Meanwhile, 74% also said they would trust other companies affiliated with the supplier.

Consequences when suppliers are not trusted

In comparison, among buyers who did not express trust in their supplier, 48% said they would recommend the supplier to others within their organization. 53% said they would continue to do business with the supplier. And 45% said they would recommend the supplier to peers and friends outside their company. In addition, 43% said they would continue to purchase additional products from the supplier, even if those purchases were unrelated to the products or services they currently purchase. Meanwhile, 42% said they would trust other companies affiliated with the supplier.

“Trust is an essential ingredient in the business buying process,” the report concludes. “Trusted companies are more likely to win and retain customers, receive the accolades of their peers, and enjoy a strong buyer preference.”

Sign up

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn and be the first to know when we publish Digital Commerce 360 B2B News content.