Fresh Experiences in B2B CX

Complacency can creep into even the strongest B2B partnerships. This episode shares practical ways to keep long-term relationships fresh, valuable, and resilient—without changing your core product. From proactive reviews and co-created thought leadership to milestone moments and small human gestures, you’ll learn how to spark momentum your clients can feel and measure.

We also explore a “Disruptor Day” exercise to out-innovate yourself, reduce friction, and design micro-surprises that remind clients they’re seen and valued. Through the lenses of goals, fears, and energy, you’ll see how to turn satisfaction into advocacy.

Press play to protect key accounts and strengthen partnerships—and don’t forget to subscribe, share with your team, and leave a review with one change you’ll try this quarter.

Resources Mentioned:
Experience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.com

Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)

Episode Transcript

Jeannie Walters (00:05):
While there's a lot of overlap between B2B and
B2C customer experience, thereare things that sometimes feel a
little different.
Let's talk about that today onthe Experience Action podcast.

Listener Question (00:19):
Hey Jeannie, this question was recently
submitted to us.
In B2B relationships, ourclients often stay with us for
years, sometimes decades.
What are some of the ways wecan keep that experience fresh
and engaging over the long haul,especially when our service
itself doesn't change all thatmuch?

Jeannie Walters (00:35):
You know, this is such a fantastic question
because long-term B2Brelationships, and dare I say,
any long-term relationship youhave, whether that's a
friendship or a family member ora partner, we have to think
about keeping that fresh,keeping that interesting,
keeping it something that feelsvaluable to the person that

(00:58):
we're in that relationship with.
And so B2B relationships thatare long-term like this, they
can be both a gift and achallenge.
It's very, very easy to becomecomplacent.
It's very easy to look aroundand think, well, everything's
working, so that's all we reallyhave to worry about.
But if all we're doing in along-term B2B relationship is

(01:20):
essentially sending invoices,then we are missing
opportunities to enrich therelationship so that there is no
question when that new vendorcomes along and says, hey, we
might have an offer for you,they won't even look at it
because they're so happy withthe relationship they have with
you.
So let's talk about when thingsfeel routine, when maybe the

(01:45):
services don't change, when youhave that long-term
relationship, things are justhumming along.
What can you do in the B2Bspace to make that relationship
feel fresh and interesting andmost importantly valuable to the
people that we serve?
One thought here is that wewant to keep checking in on

(02:06):
them.
Now, what they need at the timemight not change, but their
goals will.
Everybody is always evolving.
So check in with them on theirevolving goals.
We want to do this by not justreporting on performance, not
just saying how well we'redoing, but checking up, checking
in in a very proactive way,setting up something like a

(02:29):
partnership review, or simplytaking somebody out to lunch and
saying, what do you see for thefuture here?
Look for ways that you canover-index on those positive
things that you already do.
If they are showing anxiety orfear about the future, is there
anything you can do in thatpartnership to reassure them

(02:49):
that your partnership, yourservice is solid and will
continue to serve them and meetthose goals?
But make it about them, notyou.
The other thing we want to dois bring valuable information.
How can they do their jobsbetter?
Usually intelligence is a bigpart of this.
What insights do we have intothe industry that might be

(03:11):
valuable to share?
Is there thought leadership wecould build?
Are there white papers orvideos or things like that?
Better yet, can you invite yourcustomer to be a part of that?
Can you invite them to sharetheir insights and maybe even
promote them through thosethought leadership avenues?
People love to be included.
And when you can reallyshowcase your customers, that is

(03:35):
telling the rest of the worldthat you are a great partner as
well.
Now, one of my favorite thingsto look for in a long-term
relationship are ways tocelebrate milestones.
We all love this.
We celebrate birthdays, wecelebrate anniversaries in our
personal lives.
We might mark the occasion thatwe moved into our house or the
first time we went on a datewith our spouse, all sorts of

(03:59):
fun little milestones.
So think about how when you gothrough this relationship, what
are those important milestonesfor your customers?
And how can you celebratethose?
Now, the person who asked thisquestion mentioned that
sometimes these relationships goon years or even decades.
Could you celebrate thoseanniversaries?

(04:20):
Could you make it about them?
Can you give them somepartnership swag?
Can you invite them into aprocess that maybe they don't
get to see very often?
One of the things I saw thatwas really interesting was
essentially a data company.
They were providing a serverfarm, essentially, where they
said, okay, we are going toprovide all these servers so you

(04:42):
have your data and it's allsafe.
Great.
But all of that happens in thebackground.
So once somebody hit a yearwith them, they actually had a
process where they would invitethem in to see how this all
worked.
It was a really special thingbecause most people are not
invited to see the background,to see what happens behind the

(05:04):
scenes.
So some of these milestones areperfect opportunities for that.
Another example of this is inthe restaurant space, sometimes
the farmers will invite thechefs, say, you know what,
you've been receiving ourproduce for a long time.
I'd like to invite you to thefarm for a day to explore and
see what we have and see ifthere are things that we could

(05:27):
provide for you in the nextyear.
It really becomes acollaboration when you invite
people to things behind thescenes and celebrate those
milestones in a big way.
It's also important to keepyour finger on the pulse of what
is important to them.
And if there is news aboutthem, follow that news so you
can proactively acknowledgethose milestones as well.

(05:47):
And of course, you know me, Ilove micro moments.
I love looking for moments thatare often neglected or
overlooked in the customerjourney and just turning up the
volume a little bit on them.
If we can do that, that reallyover-indexes on those positive
moments.
Because then when things do gowrong or there's a little
complacency, we have enough inthat emotional bank.

(06:09):
We have invested in thisrelationship.
So micro surprises, micromoments of delight can really go
a long way, especially whenthey are surprises.
Something like a handwrittennote can go a long way, as well
as just a spontaneous way to saythank you.
I was actually in one of myclients' offices.

(06:31):
It was a large insurancecompany.
When out of nowhere.
They got a big package.
The secretary brought it in,put it on the desk, and he said,
I have no idea what this is.
Do you mind if I open it?
And it was from theiradvertising agency, who they had
a long, long relationship with.
It was so long that theoriginal contract was signed by

(06:53):
the original uh owner of theagency, which you all know the
name, in their corporate museum.
That's what we're talkingabout.
And their uh account directorhad sent this big box of things
that they knew were important tothis client.
Now, this individual was reallyinto classic cars.

(07:14):
He had pictures all over hisoffice.
It was a big deal.
So the advertising agency senta box that had some swag, some
things like a coffee cup andthings like that, but then a lot
of things that were reallyabout the classic car world,
things that he could use forthat hobby, that passion that he
had.
And the note just said, we justwant you to know that we

(07:36):
appreciate your partnership andwill continue to do so.
Out of nowhere.
And I remember watching himopen this box and he was
thinking, wow, this is reallysomething.
Because they had this long-termrelationship.
Everybody kind of accepted thatthat was the partnership that
would continue.
And it wasn't really at risk,nothing was wrong.

(07:56):
But it meant so much to himpersonally because he understood
that he was making decisions ontheir behalf and they were
really partnering with him tomake sure that it was a good
relationship.
He felt valued and appreciated. Those things go a long way. Andthen the last thing I want to
leave you here with is if youfind that you are complacent, or

(08:18):
if you find that you are reallyexcited about new customers, I

want to ask (08:23):
how can you get curious about the customers you
have?
Those long-term relationships,how do we still show up in a way
that we can continue to servethem, continue to make sure that
the experience changes, even ifthe services don't?
Really, it's about curiosity.
We want to be as curious aspossible about these

(08:46):
relationships.
What really gets themenergized?
What are the fears andanxieties that they have?
How can we provide them withthe right tools, resources,
intelligence, thought leadershipso that they can succeed even
more in their jobs?
This is where the magichappens.
So make sure that if you arefinding yourself only focused on

(09:08):
those new customers in your B2Bspace, take some time, look at
all the customers you have andthink, what do I know about them
and what should I know aboutthem?
And then reach out and ask.
Make sure that you are buildingthese relationships day after
day, month after month, yearafter year, decade after decade,
because that's what it takes.

(09:29):
Sometimes we do get complacentand we assume, we think, well,
they have to use us because ofXYZ.
Those reasons are changing.
We are seeing this all thetime.
We are not locked into theaccounts like we used to be.
Vendors change.
People raise their hand and saythis isn't enough.
And every day, including today,and including in your industry,

(09:53):
there is somebody right now whois trying to disrupt.
And they are trying to disruptyour industry through
improvements in experience.
So if you have not examinedyour customer journey lately,
now is a great time to do it.
This is when we do we usesomething called the disruptor
day, where we literally gettogether and we think about what

(10:16):
we would do if we weredisrupting our own industry
today.
How would we improve theexperience?
This can be a great exercise ifyou're in one of those
industries that's been aroundfor a while, everybody does it
the same way, you feel kind oflike, well, it's fine.
This is a great exercise foryou to do.
If you need help, we are herefor you.

(10:38):
We have resources atexperienceinvestigators.com.
But right now, I just want youto think about who are those
clients that maybe we're takingfor granted?
What can we do to help themfeel valued, appreciated,
understood, and seen?
What can we do to stay curiousso that we can continue to serve

(10:59):
them in the best possible way?
And what can we do to changethe experience for the better,
even when the service or productdoesn't change?
This is such a great question.
I appreciate all of yourquestions so much.
Do not be shy.
Check outaskjeannie.vip so you can leave your question.
You can either record it or ifyou're uncomfortable with that,

(11:24):
you can leave us a message andwe will record it on your
behalf.
I am so excited that you'rehere.
We have so many exciting thingscoming up.
If you are looking for events,they are coming up at experience
investigators.com.
And I cannot wait to talk toyou next time.
Thanks, everybody.
To learn more about ourstrategic approach to

(11:46):
experience, check out freeresources at
experienceinvestigators.com,where you can sign up for our
newsletter, our year of CXprogram, and more.
And please follow me, JeannieWalters, on LinkedIn.