B2B sellers may need to reevaluate their practices as many digital business buyers express dissatisfaction with their purchasing experience.

“Many organizations are focused on the sales process rather than the people process,” says Barbara Winters, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester.

A recent Forrester survey revealed that a substantial number of B2B buyers, including purchasing executives and teams, are not just dissatisfied but deeply frustrated with their digital buying experiences. While buyers often cite budget and pricing challenges as reasons for delayed purchases, deeper issues within organizations play a significant role.

Forrester findings on B2B buyer dissatisfaction

Enterprise buyers (organizations with 1,000+ employees) or those making large purchases (exceeding $1 million), key challenges causing dissatisfaction include:

• Navigating complex purchasing processes
• Balancing competing priorities
• Resolving overlapping technologies and contracts
• Financial negotiations
• Gathering sufficient data to build a business case

“The B2B buying process is broken, leading to frustration and inefficiency for both buyers and sellers,” Winters and her colleagues note in a recent report.

To address these challenges, B2B sellers need to shift their approach, prioritizing customer needs over sales targets.

Recommendations to improve B2B buyer satisfaction

To improve B2B buyer satisfaction, organizations should adopt an integrated approach. Organizations must consider the entire buyer journey, integrating reputation management, engagement, and sales efforts. Disjointed processes frustrate buyers and reduce trust. To improve their experience, marketing and sales teams need to align seamlessly, ensuring timely handoffs and providing access to the expertise buyers seek.

They must also leverage artificial intelligence (AI). AI is becoming a critical tool in the B2B buying process. According to Forrester, 87% of global business buyers used generative AI in the past year, with 95% planning to use it in the next 12 months. Buyers rely on AI at every stage, from researching products and providers to generating RFPs and comparing solutions. Sellers must create content that directly addresses buyer questions to ensure AI-generated responses accurately represent their offerings.

By focusing on these strategies, B2B sellers can build stronger relationships with buyers, streamline the purchasing process, and improve satisfaction by addressing the frustrations that undermine digital buying experiences.

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