Gartner shines light on B2B buyer challenges

The channel has seen its list of buyer contacts expand as budgets spread across various lines of business and dilute the concentration of funds held by the IT director.

The need to engage with marketing, sales and technical leaders has been a challenge for partners, but it has also created problems for customers, according to insights shared by Gartner.

The analyst house shared the results of a survey of B2B buyers that revealed “unhealthy conflict” was emerging during the decision-making process, undermining the chances of investments being a success.

“Buying groups are more diverse than ever, ranging from five to 16 people across as many as four functions. Each member may have differing priorities and opinions,” said Delainey Kirkwood, principal of research in the Gartner sales practice. “Fostering buying group consensus and minimising conflict must be a key priority for chief sales officers [CSOs].”

Gartner is advising decision-makers to take steps to minimise internal discord, with its survey indicating that buying groups that reach consensus are 2.5 times more likely to report a high-quality deal.

“CSOs must properly equip their sellers to foster agreement and alignment among diverse buyer groups. By focusing on buying group relevance, sellers can aid members in understanding each other’s viewpoints and validate the decision-making process. In doing so, sellers can secure a higher number of high-quality deals,” said Kirkwood.

There is a balance that needs to be struck between providing tailored information to a buyer or taking an approach that pitches a more general brief, she added: “Messages that are tailored to the buying group or the organisation can foster understanding and consensus among stakeholders. However, content with individual-level relevance can lead to confirmation bias, reinforcing individual perspectives so that stakeholders are less likely to embrace a unified direction as a group.”

As well as highlighting challenges B2B buyers were facing, Gartner also warned at its Supply Chain Symposium/Xpo this week that many digital adoption measures will fail to deliver due to a lack of investment in learning and development (L&D). Across the supply chain, there is pressure to increase the use of digitisation and to roll out more automation and AI to increase productivity and unlock efficiencies.

Tom Enright, vice-president analyst in Gartner’s supply chain practice, said that there was pressure to manage costs and deliver efficiency gains through the use of new technology: “While technology promises long-term cost savings, the lack of investment in L&D jeopardises these initiatives, as it is crucial to equip teams with the skills needed to leverage these new tools effectively.”

He added that business that are prepared to provide training to staff will stand out as examples of best practice: “High-performing learning environments are emerging as strategic differentiators. Leaders in these enterprises embed L&D initiatives in their new technology investments and are therefore better able to shield these activities from short-term budget pressures.”

Gartner advised a strategy of providing learning before, during and after deployment to ensure investments deliver successful results.