January 22, 2025 • 33 mins
Discover how to master the B2B buying experience with insights from Bruce Scheer and David Svigel. Learn key strategies to delight your buyers and drive growth.
- Importance of the buying experience in 2025.
- Critical statistics highlighting buyer preferences and behaviors.
- Introduction to the B2B Buying Experience Index.
- Four key phases of the buying journey.
- Ten essential pillars for an exceptional B2B buying experience.
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00:00 "Enhancing B2B Buying Experiences"
04:55 "B2B Buying Experience Index"
06:21 B2B Buying Experience Framework
10:46 "Trust & Education in B2B Buying"
14:18 "Listening: Key to Trust Building"
17:35 Personalized Context in Buying Solutions
21:25 Trusted Adviser: Key to B2B Sales
24:02 "Accelerating Impact Through Collaboration"
27:12 "Post-Sale Commitment and First Impact"
31:21 Transforming B2B Buying Experience
32:48 "Experience Over Product"
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Welcome to the ValuePro Show, where value pros get value
ready.
Hi. My name is Bruce Shearer, the host of the ValuePro Show. In this
episode, we're talking with David Spiegel, fellow cofounder and business
partner at valuepros.io. We're talking to him
about a very important topic, a buyer centric topic,
(00:25):
how to rate your b to b buying experience. Now
David is a seasoned expert who works closely with clients to
revolutionize their high consideration b to b buying
journeys. Together, we've been diving deep into creating a
robust framework we call the b to b buying experience
index. This episode will unpack the critical dimensions
(00:47):
of what makes a great buying experience, why it's more important
than ever in 2025, and how companies can use this
framework to drive growth and customer loyalty. Let's dive
in. Well, David, thanks so much for joining the show. We're
gonna have some fun on this one. The title for this episode,
how to rate your b to b buying experience. And David, I'm
(01:09):
just so excited to get into into this with you. I know we've
been working on this so hard lately in framing up what
we're calling, buying experience index. So so
we'll jump into that, but I guess to begin with, why is
this so dang important? Why are we futzing
and and rotating so much
(01:31):
onto the buying experience? Why is that so important, especially in
2025? 3 really hard
hitting, stats that we have, David. The
first one is 75. 75%,
b to b buyers prefer to have a sales free experience
as dictated by Gartner. And that is just
(01:54):
such a hard hitting statistic. You know? So something's
not going right there. Secondly, 59%.
So in the world that you and I live in, we're supporting our
clients with their, what I'd call high consideration
solutions. So maybe they're disruptive to the client environment.
Maybe they're kind of expensive and multiple buyers have to vote
(02:17):
in on them or maybe they're strategic, but they're high consideration.
So for high consideration bold buying
decisions, 59% of
the influence on the decision comes from the buying
experience, not from the offering. The offering's
only 41% of the decision making influence.
(02:40):
59%, way more is on the buying
experience. And if that's good or bad, that influences the decision being
made. Again, with high consideration deals, not low consideration.
And then a final stat here for high
consideration solutions, 92%
of those buying decisions need to be
(03:03):
supported by a business case. So, David, let
me review these stats with you just for a minute here. 75% of b to
b buyers are saying, hey. Seller run. You know, we don't wanna be part
of that situation. 59% of that
buying decision is based above and beyond the offering
on the experience itself. And then 92% of
(03:26):
those buyers need a business case, which I know those
sellers aren't providing, especially because 75% of b to b
buyers don't wanna interact with sales. Any observations,
day David, on the on these nasty stats?
Yeah. I mean, it's it's stuff I hear from, you know, my clients all the
time, and and they're struggling to understand,
(03:49):
you know, what our buyer's looking for. You you
know, they they think they know, and they think, well, we'll just, you know,
throw our sales process out there, but, you know, buyers really want, like,
trust and clarity and confidence, and and for the
the vendor to come across as a a trusted vendor and,
you know, or a trusted adviser, and that's just not happening today.
(04:12):
So, you know, our my clients are frustrated. Buyers are
frustrated. So, it it's really cool that that we've
got some good ideas on on how to make this work for both sides.
Absolutely. Yeah. I'd I'd it's this catchphrase that, you know, I don't know if
anybody here has seen Apollo. What was it? Apollo 13 or something
like that, David? Or Houston, we have a problem. You know, we need
(04:35):
to get that that rocket ship back to Earth. We've got a problem. And
and we've got a problem here with the buying experience. And that's why
we're so, you know, obsessed with it right now, David, and
helping clients and helping people kinda look at the world from the
buyer's perspective, the the buyer expense,
experience perspective. And so,
(04:57):
business partner, David, or excuse me, Darren Fleming
and I, we did another episode I'd encourage everybody to check out,
talking about the total value experience. And,
you know, we kinda broke that down, you know, the difference between a low
total value experience and a high total value experience and what
gets in the way. So that's just talking about
(05:21):
the total value experience, and that's the cumulative
impact that the go to market team, the revenue team has at
each critical step of the buying journey. That's what we're calling
the total value experience. But how do we
measure for that? How do we get our heads around? How are we
doing in delivering that buying experience?
(05:43):
And, David, that's where we put together this b to b
buying experience index. So these
are some really tangible dimensions
where we can measure ourselves on what kind of
buying experience are we delivering? You know, is it good, bad? How do
we understand that? So we've created some measurable
(06:05):
dimensions and formulated again, the b to b buying
experience index. And this is research backed. We've,
we've used all the AI tools, including
Google, Gemini's, you know, deep research and chatty bitty,
etcetera. You know, just triangulating around all the different
studies that have been, b to b buying studies
(06:28):
and what are the factors? What in this instance, we're
calling the pillars that make up for how
we measure against the b to b buying experience.
So this is our framework, David, and we've got, you know, it
it's aligned along the buying journey and the
in 4 key phases of that buying journey where they need to gain
(06:51):
trust in the vendor or or the solution provider and and
make sure it's trustworthy to proceed. They need to work
with that vendor to clarify requirements. They need
to frame value because they, actually need to understand the
value themselves and they need to sell that value internally
to so they can buy said solution. And, again, 92%
(07:13):
of these buyers need a business case in order to do that.
And then finally, the final phase is they wanna accelerate impact and they
want vendor support, solution provider support to make
sure they're getting impact and they're getting it fast. You know?
So they get through all the contracting and all that nonsense, but they they
demonstrate real value and confirm to
(07:36):
themselves that they made the right decision. Most b to b buyers,
literally upon signing the contract, David, they have buyer's
remorse because they weren't clear in the value that they they expected to
receive. They weren't clear in the solution itself, and
they have no mechanisms for proving they made the right decision. Hence, they've
got buyer remorse. And when buyers have remorse, are they gonna buy again?
(07:59):
You know, you know, probably not. They're gonna ditch that
contract, especially if it's a software as a service type of
play or something like that, and and an easy switch to something
else. But this is our framework, David. In any observations
at the top level before we kinda dig into it?
You know what? Just, you know, I think it's important to know it needs to
(08:21):
be, you know, a holistic experience, so buyers and
sellers need to both invest in creating that unforgettable
buyer journey. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.
So in our model, we've got these 10, what we
call, buying experience pillars that
that line up under under underneath each one of these
(08:44):
phases. So I thought what we do, David, let's go ahead
phase by phase and just kinda unpack these pillars
and talk about them in terms of what it is and, you know, why it's
important and and how b to b
sellers and vendors can do a better job of
improving the buying experience against each one of these pillars.
(09:06):
So, let's start with gain trust, and we'll just go
1 by 1, David, and kinda unpack these.
So on gaining trust, we've you know, our 1st b to b
buying experience pillar is trust and transparency.
So, you know, how trustworthy are we
showing up either from a digital to human perspective, you know,
(09:29):
from from website, for example, to to that
buyer or from g 2 or or other
reputable types of reference sites? You know, how are
we showing up, digitally to that
buyer? And then also personally, you know, with our people,
you know, how trustworthy are we as we show up and
(09:51):
and transparent? Do do the buyers believe that there's
a a degree of transparency where, you know, what they're gonna learn
from this vendor is gonna be trustworthy because there's a
degree of transparency. David, do you wanna talk to us
just a little bit about, you know, you know, why that's important
than than how vendors could be thinking about this?
(10:14):
Yeah. I mean, so yeah. Trust and transparency. I mean, that's the the
real currency that the you know, how you
measure the relationship you have with with your buyer and, you
know, to be it simple, just be forthright upfront,
share, share timelines, share expectations.
Just tell your buyer whether it's good or bad, just tell them what's going
(10:36):
on. Don't try to hide stuff. That's, you know, just
gonna take you down a bad path. So just
think forthrightness is the way to go. Absolutely. Yeah. And
just having, you know, content there that
that's credible, trustworthy, you know, especially with
the digital to human perspective, you know, of course, your case
(10:58):
studies and value studies and things like that, but
just, you know, where where there's a degree of transparency
and and and content to help and and and
just showing up right. So that's the trust and transparency
dimension that that pillar of the b to b buying experience
next, educational value. So, you know, the
(11:20):
definition around this is, are are you educating the
customer on, you know, the the problem
that they might have or, you know, why they should
even be considering interacting with with you said
b to b vendor or solution provider. Is there educational
value where your buyer would perceive that, you know, hey, that piece
(11:43):
of content that I read from, you know, that perhaps the marketing department
produced or or that conversation I just had, was there a
real insight, real educational value in
that? That that's, again, one of these critical buying
experience pillars for that b to b buying experience.
Tell us a little bit more why that's important, David, and and how do we
(12:06):
do that? Yeah. For sure, Bruce. So I think,
you know, people in general have a knowledge mindset, and
they want to feel empowered and informed
and confident that they're ready to make a decision.
So, you know, sellers that are focused on selling
instead of educating are at a disadvantage. This is a real
(12:28):
opportunity for sellers to help their
buyers learn, about the solution about, you know, we just talked
about the process and expectations, and that's gonna go a long way
to, creating that exceptional buying experience.
Yep. Too true. True. True. Well, let's move on,
David, to the 3rd, pillar here for the
(12:51):
b to b buying experience, and that's emotional
connection. So, you know, this is
emotional connection from from brand to buyer.
This this is emotional connection, you know, critically for these
high consideration b to b buying solutions. It it's
from, a revenue team and a seller perspective.
(13:14):
You know, be it the seller, be it somebody from marketing, product
marketing, product, sales engineering, be
it somebody from success that's involved in that buying journey.
But, you know, are are you able to create this emotional bond?
And how are you doing against this pillar? Why is that
important, David? And then how how can people think about going about doing
(13:37):
this? Yeah. Well, so, I mean,
buyers, you know, fundamentally, of course, are are no different than
than anybody else. You know, everybody, everyone wants to feel that they're
heard, they're connected, they're understood.
It's just human nature to, to have those emotions
and, you know, sellers can get there by just building rapport
(13:59):
by listening to their buyers. You know, you can, you can learn so much more
by listening to what your buyer is saying than just going
down. Pre canned spiel that you rehearsed,
and just disregarding the buyer and just like, oh, these are the the
100 words I need to say to close this deal, and it it just doesn't
work like that. Oh, I am telling you. Not not listening to respond.
(14:21):
And I I we've got an upcoming episode, David, with,
a person that just wrote a book on listening, and he,
oh, he founded an improv, theater
and place here in Seattle, Washington. And,
gosh, to to do great improv, you have to be, you know, one of the
best listeners in the world, and he and he kinda breaks that down for the
(14:43):
world of DDB marketing and sales that would that we live
in. So, but, yeah, as you say, so absolutely
critical just to build that emotional bond listening. It's such a
key factor that that, people don't focus on. So thanks
for highlighting that. So those are the kind of the 3,
key pillars under gain trust. Just trust
(15:06):
and transparency, educational value, and then emotional
connection. Let's let's next talk about clarifying
requirements. So, you know, you kinda won that battle. You've gained some
trust. Now we're moving deeper into that buying journey
and buying experience and clarifying requirements.
So let's let's talk about those. We've got a a one of those buying
(15:29):
experience pillars under, you know,
clarifying requirements would be personalized experience.
So what that means is you're you're really not just
doing cookie cutter, but you're really doing your best effort to
understand that that customer, their
needs, and and playing to that and how you communicate
(15:51):
and the information you serve up, etcetera. The conversations you
have, they're highly personalized to the context of
that buyer. David, why is that important and and
ideas for how to do this? Yeah.
So, you know, for sure one size fits all is
is just going to alienate your buyer. The it's the
(16:13):
opposite of what you're trying to do. You want to create that personal
connection. As I just said, you you get to that by
by listening to people and to understanding what they're
saying, you know, paying attention to what their
requirements are, what their goals are, and weaving that into
the relationship that you're building with them. So do you know, it could be
(16:35):
industry specific challenges, role specific challenges,
and and recognizing and responding to those is critically
important. Ab absolutely. Yeah. And and,
also, I'd I'd argue, David, just really having really
great context about that customer.
And, you know, maybe it's a new prospect and and you need to use your
(16:56):
AI tools, etcetera, to do some fabulous homework to
to show up what we call value ready, but really understanding their their
context. Or maybe you know that account and and it's repeat visit
because you wanna sell them something new and and help them along their journey
in different ways. But really understanding
their context and personalizing to their context.
(17:19):
I used to do, oh, gosh, a little over $1,000,000 a year
of consulting with the Hewlett Packard, but I knew their world so
well. I knew the executives and what they cared about and some of the people
I was serving, some of the buyers, I'd like to go, oh, this executive, this
is really important to them. And I and I I was able to personalize because
I had just a a high degree of context
(17:41):
personalized context to to bring into those, you know, buying and
selling conversations. So just absolutely critical to do that
versus just showing up products first and generically
as you state. So, David, let's talk about
solution clarity now. This is one of the other,
buying experience pillars. And, what this means is
(18:03):
just really making sure the customer has enough
context around the solution to clearly
see it for what it is, managing their expectations for what it is and
what it isn't. But but they they understand that,
and you've done enough grounding with them. It doesn't have to
be understanding all 160 features, but
(18:26):
enough clarity where where they've got comfort and confidence that they
understand what it is that they're they're considering.
David, any thoughts around why that's important
and and how to do this? Yeah. I mean, clarity
is so key. I mean, you know, if you're
overly complex in your interactions, in the
(18:48):
information you're presenting, in the information you're trying to teach to
your buyer, the retention is not there, so complexity
is a turnoff. So you just wanna have a compelling narrative
that connects the dots between what the buyer's
objectives are and what your solution could do from them. It's really
simple. Just be crystal clear in how your
(19:10):
solution can solve their problems and strip the complexity out of
that. Absolutely. Yeah. And and even, you know, there's a
big theme right now in the market, but just doing fantastic discovery and
then mapping back with the solution how it solves, like, David, as you're saying,
those those acute problems that they see in their context need to be
solved for and making that connection real, really super
(19:32):
clear. So perfect. So, so we hit on those two
points and that was under clarify requirements. Now we'll
move on to, you know, the the the next critical part of the buying journey
in which we're calling that phase, frame the value, frame
value. So we've got 2 buying experience pillars
that just need to be nailed to do this properly.
(19:55):
So the first one is value articulation
and quantification, this this pillar. And this is
pretty self explanatory, but just doing a beautiful
job of explaining the value from an acute communication
standpoint, but then also taking the next step to
quantify that value. And all this, of course,
(20:17):
is gonna roll into helping that buyer, the 92% of those
buyers that require it, to have a business case so they can do their
internal selling for you. David, thoughts about
why this is important and how to do it?
Yeah. This so this is, you know, the the bread and butter stuff that
every sales rep should be striving towards, but, you know,
(20:39):
sadly, at times, we're you know, everyone's not quite there yet, but
you need to, you know, have your buyers
understand the value and believe in the value
that your solution can deliver. And you can do that through things like
ROI tools or case studies, even
success stories you've had with similar clients. So there might not be a case
(21:01):
studying sitting in your tool bag, but you still
have the conversation with your buyer, you know, companies similar to
yours, here's how I help them. So it's just really, you
know, communicating that value, which then becomes the cornerstone
for the trust and the confidence and places you in the
trusted advisor role that you really should covet your relationship with
(21:24):
buyers. Oh, I love what you're saying there.
I absolutely love it. Some 2 stats that
are, oh, just a little over a year old, I think. But one of them
is 87% of b to b buyers, expect to be
interacting with a trusted adviser, And then 88%
of b to b buyers will only buy from
(21:46):
somebody who they perceive as a trusted adviser. And I like
how you tied that, David, back to this importance of
value value articulation and quantification that, you know,
you do that well, you are a trusted adviser. So,
and which is expected and required to to help that
customer buy from you. So, David, let's talk about,
(22:09):
one more here, and that's, confidence and risk
mitigation. So as it relates to the buying experience pillar of confidence
and risk mitigation, what this means is you're instilling
confidence and and you're minimizing or taking away risk
as part of the buying decision. And, David, you just talked about, you
know, loading up the value proposition, quantifying that, and having
(22:31):
some evidence around that, but I think that really helps here too. What what what
would you have to add to this? Yeah. I mean, you
know, so we're talking, you know, high consideration deals, so
there's risk. Right? And you need to, you know, instill
that confidence in buyers that they're making the right decisions. So we've talked about
it earlier, educate your buyer, inform them, help them feel
(22:53):
confident that they're making the right decision. You know, use customer
testimonials if you need to rely on market research, you
know, you know, magic quadrant, maybe your solution's represented
in the magic quadrant. So use that to your advantage. Use that
information. Try to assure your buyers that they're
making the right decision at this point. I love it. Yeah. And that
(23:16):
social proof is your highlighting. It's just so absolutely critical,
making sure that, oh, the management team sees what are the
potential risk areas. You know? So in in the business case
that's being shaped, you do wanna show potential risks and
being really clear and upfront and transparent with the buying committee
about that as part of the business case, but then also have
(23:38):
ideas for how to ever overcome those risks and also
some social proof of others that have had success. I I think that all flows
into building up this confidence and making sure you're
you're taking the the wind out of some of those risk areas that might get
in the way, of buyers buying from you. So I think we
hit that, David, on framing value. And, again, this is just
(24:00):
fly over to do it right. You know, easy to say, not not so easy
to do. You gotta do this right, and that's why top top b to b
sellers are are earn their paycheck, of course. But then the,
the 4th phase here is accelerate impact, and
let's unpack some of those key pillars for the buying experience
for accelerating impact. The first one's collaboration
(24:22):
and partnership. So what this means is how would the buyer
rate you on your collaboration and partnership with them? Were were you
responsive? Were you, you know, really kind of to
to, 22 peas in a pod, you know, really tight at the hip
working together to shape that value, shape that buying
experience, you know, help that buyer buy more easily
(24:45):
from you in that spirit of collaboration,
co constructing the value proposition and that partnership,
showing that commitment to win. So that's the definition.
But, David, any any thoughts on, you know, why that's important and
and how to approach this? Yeah. So,
you know, it it goes back to, something I said at the very
(25:08):
beginning. You know, the the buying journey needs to be an
investment by both parties. You know, so
buyers need to engage and participate and
sellers likewise need to engage or participate to
create, you know, the open dialogue that's required to, you know,
as you said, Bruce, you know, co create the value narrative,
(25:30):
co create the solution. What's what's the best answer here.
So it's it's not, you know, a process of 1
person or one side of the, the buying experience
dominating here really needs to be collaboration to achieve
alignment. Oh, cool. You know, well well stated.
Well stated. So let's hit on a few others. The
(25:52):
next buying pillar would be process efficiency.
And so how how was the buying process? Was was
there much friction in the process, or were
there things missed that derail the whole thing? I I you
know, for example, you get all the way, get ready to, you know,
you create a contract and, you know, then the question comes
(26:14):
up, have we gone through information security? You know, no. And
then, oh my god, you know, then lose another month and, you know, things that
we could, you know, the, you know, the the revenue team and the
buyer could have gotten in front of and they didn't. Just how
efficient and effective had was that buying journey, the buying
process? That's what this means. David, help us understand
(26:36):
the importance and how to how to do this.
Yeah. So, I mean, buyers are just really looking for simplicity
and for sellers to outline for them what needs to be
done next. So we talked about communicating expectations.
It's critical. You you don't want the last, you know,
the last minute proverbial monkey wrench thrown into the deal. So
(26:59):
like you said, Bruce, get out in front of it, be proactive, and
and collaboratively figure out what the next steps
are and make it simple for your buyer is really what it boils down to.
It's just making it simple. Love it. Love it. Alright,
David. Well, let's, round the corner here. This is our
final, pillar of the b to b buying index,
(27:22):
and how to rate ourselves against it, and that's the post sale commitment.
Now, David, we have another episode of the Value Pro
Show, and it's it's talking about first
impact. And so what this means, post
sale commitment, is making sure things are getting installed and
set up and people are adopting and, you know, you know,
(27:44):
so you're assimilating the solution in the context of that that
buyers, the buyers universe, that organization.
But even more so, you are also
helping your buyer demonstrate value, confirming
they made the right decision to to, you know, buy from
you, and and that's what we call first impact. You know?
(28:07):
So identifying something that's measurable and then
measuring against that. Maybe, you know, a quarter or a couple of
months after they've, you know, signed contract and you've started to implement,
you know, they're getting an indication of success and the
and the value that's being promised. That's what this means, post sale
commitment. David, any thoughts on why that's important and
(28:30):
and how to go about this? Yeah. I
mean, just, you know, buyers react so favorably if
if they hear from the seller. Like you said, 2 months later, like,
oh my gosh. I I never thought you'd call to see how we're doing. You
know, we've we've had these challenges and these successes. So, you
know, sellers can work to help resolve the challenges and
(28:53):
celebrate the successes. And, and the real value
there is you're just building a loyal customer that's gonna
become an advocate for you, and that and that's just crucial
to your, you know, personal sales success is having
buyers advocate for you. I love it. Love
it. Well, David, this has been a fun one. You know, we've covered a lot
(29:15):
of ground here. I'll swing back to the, framework itself,
you know, just to anchor some any any other observations or thoughts
that we wanna share with our audience. But, you know, just the buying experience
index, you know, 10 key pillars that we have under 4
key phases. And, you know, it's a way
(29:35):
to rate yourself against the buying experience you're providing to
your buyers. And so, you know, you you provide a better
buying experience. People are gonna buy more and more often and certainly
less discounting pressure, faster sales cycles, a
lot of different benefits of getting this right. And we talked a lot
about the benefits in in, the episode that Darren Fleming and I
(29:57):
did on total value experience. So I'd encourage everybody to check that out.
But this is a way this is a rubric or or
where you can truly measure how are you doing against
these 10 critical buying dimensions buying
experience dimensions. And I haven't seen anything like this in the
market, David. I don't know if you have as well, but I think we're we're
(30:19):
cutting into some new territory here where we're gonna help
some of our b b to b, clients with high consideration
solutions. Think think more deeply and and
act more deeply against the the buying experience that they're
providing. And and these are 10 dimensions as kind of guidepost
or pillars to help them move move towards and do a
(30:42):
better job against. Any other thoughts you have, David,
just in in summary thoughts about this?
Yeah. Just I I think it's so important that, you know, product
marketers and sales enablement leadership and
revenue teams recognize that, you know, it's
not the solution that is going to fuel your growth,
(31:04):
fuel your growth. It's the buying experience that's going to
fuel growth, and it needs to be an investment by all
parties involved. So everyone needs to engage and align
and communicate in transparent and simple ways. And
that's really the the key to success. I I like
what you say, and and, gosh, if you're intrigued on this, everybody listening
(31:26):
or watching, we have another episode featuring Scott
Preci, one of our affiliates, on the connected revenue,
you know, you know, that that whole function, how
everybody across success product marketing and sales, if
that's connected well, it'll really juice this
buying experience, and and you'll score so much better
(31:49):
against these dimensions when everybody's working in concert. So
definitely check out that other episode on connected revenue with Scott
Pressi. I I hope you'll love that too. Well,
David, just in conclusion, thanks for walking through all
this with us, and, that that was really helpful. What an
enlightening conversation with David Spiegel about transforming the b to b buying
(32:11):
experience. We learned about the b to b buying experience index,
a powerful framework to measure and improve the buyer journey
across the key phases where buyers form impressions about us.
From gaining trust to clarifying their requirements, to
framing the value so they can sell internally, to
accelerating impact so they are grateful versus remorseful
(32:33):
about the buying decision they made with us. One of the biggest
takeaways for me was the statistic that 59% of the,
buying decisions for high consideration solutions hinge on the
buying experience, not just the offering. This really
drives home the point that the experience we create as
marketers, sellers, and product leaders can be a bigger
(32:55):
differentiator than the product itself. Think about that for
a while. If you enjoyed this episode, please like
and subscribe to the ValuePro Show. And if you're feeling kind,
leave a review so others can find and enjoy it too. Thanks for
tuning in, and I'll see you next time.
Welcome to the ValuePro Show, where value pros get value
ready.
Hi. My name is Bruce Shearer, the host of the ValuePro Show. In this
episode, we're talking with David Spiegel, fellow cofounder and business
partner at valuepros.io. We're talking to him
about a very important topic, a buyer centric topic,
(00:25):
how to rate your b to b buying experience. Now
David is a seasoned expert who works closely with clients to
revolutionize their high consideration b to b buying
journeys. Together, we've been diving deep into creating a
robust framework we call the b to b buying experience
index. This episode will unpack the critical dimensions
(00:47):
of what makes a great buying experience, why it's more important
than ever in 2025, and how companies can use this
framework to drive growth and customer loyalty. Let's dive
in. Well, David, thanks so much for joining the show. We're
gonna have some fun on this one. The title for this episode,
how to rate your b to b buying experience. And David, I'm
(01:09):
just so excited to get into into this with you. I know we've
been working on this so hard lately in framing up what
we're calling, buying experience index. So so
we'll jump into that, but I guess to begin with, why is
this so dang important? Why are we futzing
and and rotating so much
(01:31):
onto the buying experience? Why is that so important, especially in
2025? 3 really hard
hitting, stats that we have, David. The
first one is 75. 75%,
b to b buyers prefer to have a sales free experience
as dictated by Gartner. And that is just
(01:54):
such a hard hitting statistic. You know? So something's
not going right there. Secondly, 59%.
So in the world that you and I live in, we're supporting our
clients with their, what I'd call high consideration
solutions. So maybe they're disruptive to the client environment.
Maybe they're kind of expensive and multiple buyers have to vote
(02:17):
in on them or maybe they're strategic, but they're high consideration.
So for high consideration bold buying
decisions, 59% of
the influence on the decision comes from the buying
experience, not from the offering. The offering's
only 41% of the decision making influence.
(02:40):
59%, way more is on the buying
experience. And if that's good or bad, that influences the decision being
made. Again, with high consideration deals, not low consideration.
And then a final stat here for high
consideration solutions, 92%
of those buying decisions need to be
(03:03):
supported by a business case. So, David, let
me review these stats with you just for a minute here. 75% of b to
b buyers are saying, hey. Seller run. You know, we don't wanna be part
of that situation. 59% of that
buying decision is based above and beyond the offering
on the experience itself. And then 92% of
(03:26):
those buyers need a business case, which I know those
sellers aren't providing, especially because 75% of b to b
buyers don't wanna interact with sales. Any observations,
day David, on the on these nasty stats?
Yeah. I mean, it's it's stuff I hear from, you know, my clients all the
time, and and they're struggling to understand,
(03:49):
you know, what our buyer's looking for. You you
know, they they think they know, and they think, well, we'll just, you know,
throw our sales process out there, but, you know, buyers really want, like,
trust and clarity and confidence, and and for the
the vendor to come across as a a trusted vendor and,
you know, or a trusted adviser, and that's just not happening today.
(04:12):
So, you know, our my clients are frustrated. Buyers are
frustrated. So, it it's really cool that that we've
got some good ideas on on how to make this work for both sides.
Absolutely. Yeah. I'd I'd it's this catchphrase that, you know, I don't know if
anybody here has seen Apollo. What was it? Apollo 13 or something
like that, David? Or Houston, we have a problem. You know, we need
(04:35):
to get that that rocket ship back to Earth. We've got a problem. And
and we've got a problem here with the buying experience. And that's why
we're so, you know, obsessed with it right now, David, and
helping clients and helping people kinda look at the world from the
buyer's perspective, the the buyer expense,
experience perspective. And so,
(04:57):
business partner, David, or excuse me, Darren Fleming
and I, we did another episode I'd encourage everybody to check out,
talking about the total value experience. And,
you know, we kinda broke that down, you know, the difference between a low
total value experience and a high total value experience and what
gets in the way. So that's just talking about
(05:21):
the total value experience, and that's the cumulative
impact that the go to market team, the revenue team has at
each critical step of the buying journey. That's what we're calling
the total value experience. But how do we
measure for that? How do we get our heads around? How are we
doing in delivering that buying experience?
(05:43):
And, David, that's where we put together this b to b
buying experience index. So these
are some really tangible dimensions
where we can measure ourselves on what kind of
buying experience are we delivering? You know, is it good, bad? How do
we understand that? So we've created some measurable
(06:05):
dimensions and formulated again, the b to b buying
experience index. And this is research backed. We've,
we've used all the AI tools, including
Google, Gemini's, you know, deep research and chatty bitty,
etcetera. You know, just triangulating around all the different
studies that have been, b to b buying studies
(06:28):
and what are the factors? What in this instance, we're
calling the pillars that make up for how
we measure against the b to b buying experience.
So this is our framework, David, and we've got, you know, it
it's aligned along the buying journey and the
in 4 key phases of that buying journey where they need to gain
(06:51):
trust in the vendor or or the solution provider and and
make sure it's trustworthy to proceed. They need to work
with that vendor to clarify requirements. They need
to frame value because they, actually need to understand the
value themselves and they need to sell that value internally
to so they can buy said solution. And, again, 92%
(07:13):
of these buyers need a business case in order to do that.
And then finally, the final phase is they wanna accelerate impact and they
want vendor support, solution provider support to make
sure they're getting impact and they're getting it fast. You know?
So they get through all the contracting and all that nonsense, but they they
demonstrate real value and confirm to
(07:36):
themselves that they made the right decision. Most b to b buyers,
literally upon signing the contract, David, they have buyer's
remorse because they weren't clear in the value that they they expected to
receive. They weren't clear in the solution itself, and
they have no mechanisms for proving they made the right decision. Hence, they've
got buyer remorse. And when buyers have remorse, are they gonna buy again?
(07:59):
You know, you know, probably not. They're gonna ditch that
contract, especially if it's a software as a service type of
play or something like that, and and an easy switch to something
else. But this is our framework, David. In any observations
at the top level before we kinda dig into it?
You know what? Just, you know, I think it's important to know it needs to
(08:21):
be, you know, a holistic experience, so buyers and
sellers need to both invest in creating that unforgettable
buyer journey. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.
So in our model, we've got these 10, what we
call, buying experience pillars that
that line up under under underneath each one of these
(08:44):
phases. So I thought what we do, David, let's go ahead
phase by phase and just kinda unpack these pillars
and talk about them in terms of what it is and, you know, why it's
important and and how b to b
sellers and vendors can do a better job of
improving the buying experience against each one of these pillars.
(09:06):
So, let's start with gain trust, and we'll just go
1 by 1, David, and kinda unpack these.
So on gaining trust, we've you know, our 1st b to b
buying experience pillar is trust and transparency.
So, you know, how trustworthy are we
showing up either from a digital to human perspective, you know,
(09:29):
from from website, for example, to to that
buyer or from g 2 or or other
reputable types of reference sites? You know, how are
we showing up, digitally to that
buyer? And then also personally, you know, with our people,
you know, how trustworthy are we as we show up and
(09:51):
and transparent? Do do the buyers believe that there's
a a degree of transparency where, you know, what they're gonna learn
from this vendor is gonna be trustworthy because there's a
degree of transparency. David, do you wanna talk to us
just a little bit about, you know, you know, why that's important
than than how vendors could be thinking about this?
(10:14):
Yeah. I mean, so yeah. Trust and transparency. I mean, that's the the
real currency that the you know, how you
measure the relationship you have with with your buyer and, you
know, to be it simple, just be forthright upfront,
share, share timelines, share expectations.
Just tell your buyer whether it's good or bad, just tell them what's going
(10:36):
on. Don't try to hide stuff. That's, you know, just
gonna take you down a bad path. So just
think forthrightness is the way to go. Absolutely. Yeah. And
just having, you know, content there that
that's credible, trustworthy, you know, especially with
the digital to human perspective, you know, of course, your case
(10:58):
studies and value studies and things like that, but
just, you know, where where there's a degree of transparency
and and and content to help and and and
just showing up right. So that's the trust and transparency
dimension that that pillar of the b to b buying experience
next, educational value. So, you know, the
(11:20):
definition around this is, are are you educating the
customer on, you know, the the problem
that they might have or, you know, why they should
even be considering interacting with with you said
b to b vendor or solution provider. Is there educational
value where your buyer would perceive that, you know, hey, that piece
(11:43):
of content that I read from, you know, that perhaps the marketing department
produced or or that conversation I just had, was there a
real insight, real educational value in
that? That that's, again, one of these critical buying
experience pillars for that b to b buying experience.
Tell us a little bit more why that's important, David, and and how do we
(12:06):
do that? Yeah. For sure, Bruce. So I think,
you know, people in general have a knowledge mindset, and
they want to feel empowered and informed
and confident that they're ready to make a decision.
So, you know, sellers that are focused on selling
instead of educating are at a disadvantage. This is a real
(12:28):
opportunity for sellers to help their
buyers learn, about the solution about, you know, we just talked
about the process and expectations, and that's gonna go a long way
to, creating that exceptional buying experience.
Yep. Too true. True. True. Well, let's move on,
David, to the 3rd, pillar here for the
(12:51):
b to b buying experience, and that's emotional
connection. So, you know, this is
emotional connection from from brand to buyer.
This this is emotional connection, you know, critically for these
high consideration b to b buying solutions. It it's
from, a revenue team and a seller perspective.
(13:14):
You know, be it the seller, be it somebody from marketing, product
marketing, product, sales engineering, be
it somebody from success that's involved in that buying journey.
But, you know, are are you able to create this emotional bond?
And how are you doing against this pillar? Why is that
important, David? And then how how can people think about going about doing
(13:37):
this? Yeah. Well, so, I mean,
buyers, you know, fundamentally, of course, are are no different than
than anybody else. You know, everybody, everyone wants to feel that they're
heard, they're connected, they're understood.
It's just human nature to, to have those emotions
and, you know, sellers can get there by just building rapport
(13:59):
by listening to their buyers. You know, you can, you can learn so much more
by listening to what your buyer is saying than just going
down. Pre canned spiel that you rehearsed,
and just disregarding the buyer and just like, oh, these are the the
100 words I need to say to close this deal, and it it just doesn't
work like that. Oh, I am telling you. Not not listening to respond.
(14:21):
And I I we've got an upcoming episode, David, with,
a person that just wrote a book on listening, and he,
oh, he founded an improv, theater
and place here in Seattle, Washington. And,
gosh, to to do great improv, you have to be, you know, one of the
best listeners in the world, and he and he kinda breaks that down for the
(14:43):
world of DDB marketing and sales that would that we live
in. So, but, yeah, as you say, so absolutely
critical just to build that emotional bond listening. It's such a
key factor that that, people don't focus on. So thanks
for highlighting that. So those are the kind of the 3,
key pillars under gain trust. Just trust
(15:06):
and transparency, educational value, and then emotional
connection. Let's let's next talk about clarifying
requirements. So, you know, you kinda won that battle. You've gained some
trust. Now we're moving deeper into that buying journey
and buying experience and clarifying requirements.
So let's let's talk about those. We've got a a one of those buying
(15:29):
experience pillars under, you know,
clarifying requirements would be personalized experience.
So what that means is you're you're really not just
doing cookie cutter, but you're really doing your best effort to
understand that that customer, their
needs, and and playing to that and how you communicate
(15:51):
and the information you serve up, etcetera. The conversations you
have, they're highly personalized to the context of
that buyer. David, why is that important and and
ideas for how to do this? Yeah.
So, you know, for sure one size fits all is
is just going to alienate your buyer. The it's the
(16:13):
opposite of what you're trying to do. You want to create that personal
connection. As I just said, you you get to that by
by listening to people and to understanding what they're
saying, you know, paying attention to what their
requirements are, what their goals are, and weaving that into
the relationship that you're building with them. So do you know, it could be
(16:35):
industry specific challenges, role specific challenges,
and and recognizing and responding to those is critically
important. Ab absolutely. Yeah. And and,
also, I'd I'd argue, David, just really having really
great context about that customer.
And, you know, maybe it's a new prospect and and you need to use your
(16:56):
AI tools, etcetera, to do some fabulous homework to
to show up what we call value ready, but really understanding their their
context. Or maybe you know that account and and it's repeat visit
because you wanna sell them something new and and help them along their journey
in different ways. But really understanding
their context and personalizing to their context.
(17:19):
I used to do, oh, gosh, a little over $1,000,000 a year
of consulting with the Hewlett Packard, but I knew their world so
well. I knew the executives and what they cared about and some of the people
I was serving, some of the buyers, I'd like to go, oh, this executive, this
is really important to them. And I and I I was able to personalize because
I had just a a high degree of context
(17:41):
personalized context to to bring into those, you know, buying and
selling conversations. So just absolutely critical to do that
versus just showing up products first and generically
as you state. So, David, let's talk about
solution clarity now. This is one of the other,
buying experience pillars. And, what this means is
(18:03):
just really making sure the customer has enough
context around the solution to clearly
see it for what it is, managing their expectations for what it is and
what it isn't. But but they they understand that,
and you've done enough grounding with them. It doesn't have to
be understanding all 160 features, but
(18:26):
enough clarity where where they've got comfort and confidence that they
understand what it is that they're they're considering.
David, any thoughts around why that's important
and and how to do this? Yeah. I mean, clarity
is so key. I mean, you know, if you're
overly complex in your interactions, in the
(18:48):
information you're presenting, in the information you're trying to teach to
your buyer, the retention is not there, so complexity
is a turnoff. So you just wanna have a compelling narrative
that connects the dots between what the buyer's
objectives are and what your solution could do from them. It's really
simple. Just be crystal clear in how your
(19:10):
solution can solve their problems and strip the complexity out of
that. Absolutely. Yeah. And and even, you know, there's a
big theme right now in the market, but just doing fantastic discovery and
then mapping back with the solution how it solves, like, David, as you're saying,
those those acute problems that they see in their context need to be
solved for and making that connection real, really super
(19:32):
clear. So perfect. So, so we hit on those two
points and that was under clarify requirements. Now we'll
move on to, you know, the the the next critical part of the buying journey
in which we're calling that phase, frame the value, frame
value. So we've got 2 buying experience pillars
that just need to be nailed to do this properly.
(19:55):
So the first one is value articulation
and quantification, this this pillar. And this is
pretty self explanatory, but just doing a beautiful
job of explaining the value from an acute communication
standpoint, but then also taking the next step to
quantify that value. And all this, of course,
(20:17):
is gonna roll into helping that buyer, the 92% of those
buyers that require it, to have a business case so they can do their
internal selling for you. David, thoughts about
why this is important and how to do it?
Yeah. This so this is, you know, the the bread and butter stuff that
every sales rep should be striving towards, but, you know,
(20:39):
sadly, at times, we're you know, everyone's not quite there yet, but
you need to, you know, have your buyers
understand the value and believe in the value
that your solution can deliver. And you can do that through things like
ROI tools or case studies, even
success stories you've had with similar clients. So there might not be a case
(21:01):
studying sitting in your tool bag, but you still
have the conversation with your buyer, you know, companies similar to
yours, here's how I help them. So it's just really, you
know, communicating that value, which then becomes the cornerstone
for the trust and the confidence and places you in the
trusted advisor role that you really should covet your relationship with
(21:24):
buyers. Oh, I love what you're saying there.
I absolutely love it. Some 2 stats that
are, oh, just a little over a year old, I think. But one of them
is 87% of b to b buyers, expect to be
interacting with a trusted adviser, And then 88%
of b to b buyers will only buy from
(21:46):
somebody who they perceive as a trusted adviser. And I like
how you tied that, David, back to this importance of
value value articulation and quantification that, you know,
you do that well, you are a trusted adviser. So,
and which is expected and required to to help that
customer buy from you. So, David, let's talk about,
(22:09):
one more here, and that's, confidence and risk
mitigation. So as it relates to the buying experience pillar of confidence
and risk mitigation, what this means is you're instilling
confidence and and you're minimizing or taking away risk
as part of the buying decision. And, David, you just talked about, you
know, loading up the value proposition, quantifying that, and having
(22:31):
some evidence around that, but I think that really helps here too. What what what
would you have to add to this? Yeah. I mean, you
know, so we're talking, you know, high consideration deals, so
there's risk. Right? And you need to, you know, instill
that confidence in buyers that they're making the right decisions. So we've talked about
it earlier, educate your buyer, inform them, help them feel
(22:53):
confident that they're making the right decision. You know, use customer
testimonials if you need to rely on market research, you
know, you know, magic quadrant, maybe your solution's represented
in the magic quadrant. So use that to your advantage. Use that
information. Try to assure your buyers that they're
making the right decision at this point. I love it. Yeah. And that
(23:16):
social proof is your highlighting. It's just so absolutely critical,
making sure that, oh, the management team sees what are the
potential risk areas. You know? So in in the business case
that's being shaped, you do wanna show potential risks and
being really clear and upfront and transparent with the buying committee
about that as part of the business case, but then also have
(23:38):
ideas for how to ever overcome those risks and also
some social proof of others that have had success. I I think that all flows
into building up this confidence and making sure you're
you're taking the the wind out of some of those risk areas that might get
in the way, of buyers buying from you. So I think we
hit that, David, on framing value. And, again, this is just
(24:00):
fly over to do it right. You know, easy to say, not not so easy
to do. You gotta do this right, and that's why top top b to b
sellers are are earn their paycheck, of course. But then the,
the 4th phase here is accelerate impact, and
let's unpack some of those key pillars for the buying experience
for accelerating impact. The first one's collaboration
(24:22):
and partnership. So what this means is how would the buyer
rate you on your collaboration and partnership with them? Were were you
responsive? Were you, you know, really kind of to
to, 22 peas in a pod, you know, really tight at the hip
working together to shape that value, shape that buying
experience, you know, help that buyer buy more easily
(24:45):
from you in that spirit of collaboration,
co constructing the value proposition and that partnership,
showing that commitment to win. So that's the definition.
But, David, any any thoughts on, you know, why that's important and
and how to approach this? Yeah. So,
you know, it it goes back to, something I said at the very
(25:08):
beginning. You know, the the buying journey needs to be an
investment by both parties. You know, so
buyers need to engage and participate and
sellers likewise need to engage or participate to
create, you know, the open dialogue that's required to, you know,
as you said, Bruce, you know, co create the value narrative,
(25:30):
co create the solution. What's what's the best answer here.
So it's it's not, you know, a process of 1
person or one side of the, the buying experience
dominating here really needs to be collaboration to achieve
alignment. Oh, cool. You know, well well stated.
Well stated. So let's hit on a few others. The
(25:52):
next buying pillar would be process efficiency.
And so how how was the buying process? Was was
there much friction in the process, or were
there things missed that derail the whole thing? I I you
know, for example, you get all the way, get ready to, you know,
you create a contract and, you know, then the question comes
(26:14):
up, have we gone through information security? You know, no. And
then, oh my god, you know, then lose another month and, you know, things that
we could, you know, the, you know, the the revenue team and the
buyer could have gotten in front of and they didn't. Just how
efficient and effective had was that buying journey, the buying
process? That's what this means. David, help us understand
(26:36):
the importance and how to how to do this.
Yeah. So, I mean, buyers are just really looking for simplicity
and for sellers to outline for them what needs to be
done next. So we talked about communicating expectations.
It's critical. You you don't want the last, you know,
the last minute proverbial monkey wrench thrown into the deal. So
(26:59):
like you said, Bruce, get out in front of it, be proactive, and
and collaboratively figure out what the next steps
are and make it simple for your buyer is really what it boils down to.
It's just making it simple. Love it. Love it. Alright,
David. Well, let's, round the corner here. This is our
final, pillar of the b to b buying index,
(27:22):
and how to rate ourselves against it, and that's the post sale commitment.
Now, David, we have another episode of the Value Pro
Show, and it's it's talking about first
impact. And so what this means, post
sale commitment, is making sure things are getting installed and
set up and people are adopting and, you know, you know,
(27:44):
so you're assimilating the solution in the context of that that
buyers, the buyers universe, that organization.
But even more so, you are also
helping your buyer demonstrate value, confirming
they made the right decision to to, you know, buy from
you, and and that's what we call first impact. You know?
(28:07):
So identifying something that's measurable and then
measuring against that. Maybe, you know, a quarter or a couple of
months after they've, you know, signed contract and you've started to implement,
you know, they're getting an indication of success and the
and the value that's being promised. That's what this means, post sale
commitment. David, any thoughts on why that's important and
(28:30):
and how to go about this? Yeah. I
mean, just, you know, buyers react so favorably if
if they hear from the seller. Like you said, 2 months later, like,
oh my gosh. I I never thought you'd call to see how we're doing. You
know, we've we've had these challenges and these successes. So, you
know, sellers can work to help resolve the challenges and
(28:53):
celebrate the successes. And, and the real value
there is you're just building a loyal customer that's gonna
become an advocate for you, and that and that's just crucial
to your, you know, personal sales success is having
buyers advocate for you. I love it. Love
it. Well, David, this has been a fun one. You know, we've covered a lot
(29:15):
of ground here. I'll swing back to the, framework itself,
you know, just to anchor some any any other observations or thoughts
that we wanna share with our audience. But, you know, just the buying experience
index, you know, 10 key pillars that we have under 4
key phases. And, you know, it's a way
(29:35):
to rate yourself against the buying experience you're providing to
your buyers. And so, you know, you you provide a better
buying experience. People are gonna buy more and more often and certainly
less discounting pressure, faster sales cycles, a
lot of different benefits of getting this right. And we talked a lot
about the benefits in in, the episode that Darren Fleming and I
(29:57):
did on total value experience. So I'd encourage everybody to check that out.
But this is a way this is a rubric or or
where you can truly measure how are you doing against
these 10 critical buying dimensions buying
experience dimensions. And I haven't seen anything like this in the
market, David. I don't know if you have as well, but I think we're we're
(30:19):
cutting into some new territory here where we're gonna help
some of our b b to b, clients with high consideration
solutions. Think think more deeply and and
act more deeply against the the buying experience that they're
providing. And and these are 10 dimensions as kind of guidepost
or pillars to help them move move towards and do a
(30:42):
better job against. Any other thoughts you have, David,
just in in summary thoughts about this?
Yeah. Just I I think it's so important that, you know, product
marketers and sales enablement leadership and
revenue teams recognize that, you know, it's
not the solution that is going to fuel your growth,
(31:04):
fuel your growth. It's the buying experience that's going to
fuel growth, and it needs to be an investment by all
parties involved. So everyone needs to engage and align
and communicate in transparent and simple ways. And
that's really the the key to success. I I like
what you say, and and, gosh, if you're intrigued on this, everybody listening
(31:26):
or watching, we have another episode featuring Scott
Preci, one of our affiliates, on the connected revenue,
you know, you know, that that whole function, how
everybody across success product marketing and sales, if
that's connected well, it'll really juice this
buying experience, and and you'll score so much better
(31:49):
against these dimensions when everybody's working in concert. So
definitely check out that other episode on connected revenue with Scott
Pressi. I I hope you'll love that too. Well,
David, just in conclusion, thanks for walking through all
this with us, and, that that was really helpful. What an
enlightening conversation with David Spiegel about transforming the b to b buying
(32:11):
experience. We learned about the b to b buying experience index,
a powerful framework to measure and improve the buyer journey
across the key phases where buyers form impressions about us.
From gaining trust to clarifying their requirements, to
framing the value so they can sell internally, to
accelerating impact so they are grateful versus remorseful
(32:33):
about the buying decision they made with us. One of the biggest
takeaways for me was the statistic that 59% of the,
buying decisions for high consideration solutions hinge on the
buying experience, not just the offering. This really
drives home the point that the experience we create as
marketers, sellers, and product leaders can be a bigger
(32:55):
differentiator than the product itself. Think about that for
a while. If you enjoyed this episode, please like
and subscribe to the ValuePro Show. And if you're feeling kind,
leave a review so others can find and enjoy it too. Thanks for
tuning in, and I'll see you next time.
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