Forrester: To Master B2B Buying Mayhem, Providers Must Prioritize Buyers’ Needs

According to Forrester’s (Nasdaq: FORR) The State Of Business Buying, 2024 report, tight budgets, AI’s influence in buying and selling, negative buying experiences, and long purchase cycles are further complicating the B2B buying process and frustrating buyers and sellers alike. Currently, 86% of B2B purchases stall during the buying process and 81% of buyers express dissatisfaction with their chosen providers. While buyers rely heavily on self-service and autonomous interactions to make buying decisions, they also rely on providers to understand their challenges, be responsive to their needs, and collaborate on decision-making.

To help B2B buyers make better decisions, providers must transform their go-to-market approach and their understanding of buyers’ needs. At Forrester’s B2B Summit North America, Forrester analysts will help leaders navigate increased buying complexity and deliver better buyer satisfaction. Sessions will discuss specific actions that providers can take, including:

• Preparing for generative AI and enabling seamless interactions across channels. Almost 95% of buyers anticipate using genAI to support their decision and purchase process in the next 12 months. When creating campaigns and demand programs, providers should optimize for genAI-led buying activity to address questions across the entire buying journey.

• Shifting from selling to helping buying groups in their decision-making process. On average, 13 people within an organization are involved in the buying decision, with 89% of purchases involving two or more departments. Understanding the size and composition of the buying group and why purchases stall can help providers shift their go-to-market strategy to align to buying groups’ organizational needs and business priorities.

• Anticipating and managing external influencers that buyers turn to. Providers must think beyond their direct interaction with buyers by building strong influencer programs so that buyers feel confident that the provider they’re considering is represented and respected by others in their value network.

“A broken B2B buying process is creating mayhem for buyers and providers,” said Amy Hayes, VP and research director at Forrester. “As buyers reevaluate how they engage with organizations, providers must ignite action and put buyers first to create meaningful experiences. Forrester’s research is designed to help providers better understand the obstacles that buyers face and where they can upend outdated go-to-market strategies to help buyers make better, more informed purchasing decisions.”

Featuring more than 50 interactive sessions and eight dedicated B2B tracks, Forrester’s B2B Summit North America — being held in Phoenix and digitally, March 31–April 3, 2025 — will offer marketing, sales, and product leaders and their teams new frameworks and guidance to drive growth and better adapt to the changing buyer landscape.

Resources:

• Learn more about The State Of Business Buying, 2024 report, part of Forrester’s Buyer Insights series that will publish between now and the end of January 2025. Other reports in the series focus on buyer motivations and preferences by industry, region, company size, persona, and other variables. These interactive reports allow providers to drill down to more specific details about their target audiences to make data-informed decisions about campaigns, programs, content assets, and messaging.
• To learn more about this topic, register to attend Forrester’s B2B Summit North America and view the full Summit agenda here.

About Forrester

Forrester (Nasdaq: FORR) is one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world. We help leaders across technology, customer experience, digital, marketing, sales, and product functions use customer obsession to accelerate growth. Through Forrester’s proprietary research, consulting, and events, leaders from around the globe are empowered to be bold at work — to navigate change and put their customers at the center of their leadership, strategy, and operations. Our unique insights are grounded in annual surveys of more than 700,000 consumers, business leaders, and technology leaders worldwide; rigorous and objective research methodologies, including Forrester Wave™ evaluations; and the shared wisdom of our clients. To learn more, visit Forrester.com.

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