Why Your Customers Are Leaving: Fixing Friction Points in the B2B Buying Process

Had it occurred to you that 68% of customers abandon because they feel the company is inefficient in handling their needs? 

In this day and time, customer churn is a crucial criterion for measuring any business. Retaining existing customers is necessary rather than acquiring new ones, as the latter will cost a fortune. Robust customer retention is a secret to the success of the B2B model.

In hindsight, the best way to avoid high churn rates is to fix the friction points in the buying process.

The friction points in any B2B buying process primarily cause customer churn. These friction points are frustrating and can create confusion, often leading to customer abandonment. Think of long wait times, slow website navigation, complicated checkout process, and unclear product information. These friction points can create an unpleasant customer experience and lead them to seek easier substitutes.

Therefore, reducing customer friction points is paramount. It leads to increased sales and revenue and also lowers customer attrition. It chiefly improves customer engagement.

This article helps in identifying friction points. This also serves as a modulus operandi to put the friction points at bay.

Common Friction Points in the B2B Buying Process

Here are some of the most common friction points that obstruct sales in the B2B buying process

Customer Enrollment And Development of Business

The customer enrollment is an excellent space to begin with. The enrollment process is where the customer gets to know the product or service. If this process gets overwhelming with redundant procedures and information, this will lead to premature customer churn.

Solution: If a customer is ready to purchase the product, the process needs to start immediately. Below are some ways to provide clear, personalized, streamlined checkout experiences.

Using appropriate software to record customers’ acceptance and streamline the enrollment procedure.

Assigning personalized onboarding managers to complete the enrollment process without any setbacks

Provide the customer with a manual to help them understand the product or a brochure containing frequently asked queries. The customer can read them at his pace to understand and execute.

Not Involving Pre-Qualified B2B Leads

One of the most common friction points in the B2B process is not engaging qualified leads for a business. A well-qualified lead knows their customers well. They focus on conversions (customers likely to add value to the B2B). By doing so, your business is closer to generating revenue.

Solution:

Well, how to pre-qualify a B2B lead?

Ensure you clearly understand what makes an ideal customer profile (ICP). Enlist the traits (like revenue, location, and company size) which are significant for business growth. With ICP, it is easier to determine a qualified B2B lead that converts.

Also, consider factors such as BANT (budget, authority, need, timing)

Complicated Legal or Contractual Information

B2B agreements often include terms and conditions that can be tedious and hard to understand. It causes friction when the customer tries to read and adhere to the agreement. This leads to delayed decision-making from the customer’s end.

Solution:

Provide an understandable synopsis of the terms and conditions. Simplify the legal terminology as much as possible. Additionally, video backups simplify complicated sections of the agreement. Therefore, it is good to include videos too.

Difficulties in the Payment Process

A customer looks forward to the hassle-free payment options. When the payment process is inflexible, it may hinder customers from proceeding with the purchase or cause delays in finalizing the sale.

Solution: Offer various payment options such as installments and other financing plans.

The Impact of Friction Points on Your Business

The friction points are inevitable, but the companies can be proactive and handle them ahead of time. Let’s dive deep into the factors that highly impact the B2B process.

Impact on Brand Reputation

Friction points can hugely impact a company’s brand explicitly, where the customers are more expressive about the service. It can tremendously put the reputation at stake across global platforms.

Consequence: Negative feedback will change how others perceive your business.

How to Address It:

Periodically monitor social media and review platforms for B2B customer feedback. Take necessary action by quickly responding to issues.

A strong customer service team can handle issues efficiently and resolve problems proactively.

Impact on Customer Support Costs

Friction points often lead to frequent customer inquiries. When customers face difficulties navigating processes, they are more likely to reach out to customer support. This increase in the number of support requests can overwhelm teams.

Consequence: A higher number of customer inquiry calls leads to longer wait times and the need for a larger workforce to handle the influx.

How to Address:

Invest in AI-powered chatbots to reduce the stream of customer service calls.

Engaging customer support teams who can resolve issues efficiently and reduce escalations.

Impact on Revenue and Profitability

In the B2B realm, where relationships are key, how companies align sales and commission can hugely impact profits. Whether it is low customer engagement or delayed payments, friction creates barriers. Such roadblocks can prevent the business from utilizing its potential.

Consequence: This leads to lower customer engagement. If the conversion process turns haywire, the customer might abandon their purchase.

How to Address:

Focus on customer retention. Deliver seamless transactions and consistently take feedback and reviews from customers post-purchase.

Leveraging Technology to Reduce Friction

The term “automation” has been used diversely with the constant technological advancement. It finds its foothold in the B2B arena to redefine the business success rates. Now, with the revolution of AI (artificial intelligence), every business wants to leverage automation in one way or another.

It makes perfect sense to adapt AI and chatbots to automate the rut. The representative who responds to frustrated customer calls suffers stress big time. This amounts to a slower response cycle for any sale. This lack of automated tools gives rise to friction.

AI-driven chatbots can answer frequently asked questions. They re-direct customers to the appropriate team without any need for human intervention.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems can come in handy to improve B2B customer experience. These two features are beneficial in designing the products according to user needs. With the information the company gathers on customers’ preferences, needs, and purchase history, it can tailor products accordingly.

Integrating an eCommerce platform like DCKAP into the B2B process offers many advantages. It helps integrate ERP and CRM seamlessly into the business model by automating monotonous tasks and improving communication.

Measuring the Success of Your Changes

It is an ongoing process that requires qualitative and quantitative analytics.

You can track metrics like ROI, product adoption, customer satisfaction, B2B conversion rates, performance improvements, and revenue growth.

Track user behavior with analytic tools like Google Analytics, heatmaps, or eCommerce platform analytics

Take customer feedback by conducting surveys and interviews. This can tremendously help corrections in the B2B approach and improve the business.

With the above insights, you can hone your strategies. This leads to meaningful and sustained success.

Conclusion

Resolving customer struggles is vital for a competitive edge in B2B. It can significantly impact customer retention strategies, sales conversions, and overall business performance. Customers can abandon your brand if they encounter any hindrance while making the purchase.

The friction points need to be fixed through a holistic approach, such as using technology, optimizing workflows, and customer-centric solutions. Implementing eCommerce platforms, automating order management, improving communication channels, and providing clear pricing and payment terms are effective strategies to reduce friction and create a seamless buying experience.

Friction point elimination ensures customer satisfaction and sustainable growth within a marketplace.

Check out DCKAP blogs and case studies for more information and insights into the field.