While you might not realize it, good customer service is crucial for business-to-business engagements. And just like its B2C counterpart, B2B customer service is undergoing many exciting changes. Let’s see what 2024 holds for the field and discover how Virtua Solutions can help you get more out of these.
2024 B2B Customer Service Trend No. 1: The Search For Increased Internal Alignment
A major challenge for B2B customer service is keeping everything aligned. Unlike singular customers, client companies will often have several departments engaging you. These departments have differing needs that you need to bring together to create a complete solution.
Image from Emotive Brand.
In 2024, there will be more clamor for greater efficiency in meeting this internal alignment effort. Companies want to be able to connect with a brand through one department and then effortlessly transition to different departments across their journey. Additionally, they want that journey to fit their specific company needs.
How Your Company Can Make It Happen
The first step in bringing together your different departments to better align with the B2B customer is defining the correlations between the various departments. Note that these correlations differ between customers. One customer might approach your company from a specific angle and proceed through a specific chain of departments.
Study these journeys to better understand the rationales of your customers for taking that particular part. From there, you can define the common goals for the departments. The idea here is to ensure that they are all on the same page and can lead customers to the next point seamlessly.
You will also need the right facilitators to ensure a smooth transition. Virtua Solutions is ready to help you with this one. Our customer support agents can fill the gaps between departments. With that, client companies can come in and converse with our team. We can then guide them to the correct apartments for a successful translation.
2024 B2B Customer Service Trend No. 2: The Growth Of New Engagement Methods
Easy access to information is also becoming critical for B2B clients. They want to get the info and make decisions faster. For that, companies also want new ways of getting that information.
One such method that will see plenty of growth in 2024 is video. According to a Google survey, 70% of B2B decision-makers watch at least one video during their customer journey. The number is expected to grow further in the next few years.
Image from Forbes.
However, clients are also looking for new approaches to consuming video content. Short-form video, in particular, is gaining popularity. It allows company heads to go through the info they want in a more digestible manner.
Another customer engagement trend for B2B is the growth of voice search. As it is, 50% of customers now use it daily. And it is no surprise that this figure also extends to B2B clients. Voice search gives decision-makers a more intuitive way of looking up the information they need.
Bringing These Engagement Methods Together
But you don’t just throw in these new engagement modes at random. Just like the above, B2B clients want a more integrated engagement experience. They would also want it to align with their business goals.
You need to know how client businesses use these engagement methods. Virtua Solutions can help you here by gathering feedback from clients we engage. That will also contain information on the level and kind of engagement companies want to see on each channel.
From there, we will help you create your engagement strategy. Our team can handle the various channels you want to connect with clients. Here, we can provide dedicated agents to guide clients through each engagement point.
2024 B2B Customer Service trend no. 3: The Growth Of The Self-Service Buyer
Traditionally, B2B clients expect a company will guide them through the buying process. That is not surprising, as B2B products can be quite complex. And businesses would want help in getting more out of these products.
But a growing number of companies also want a self-service option. They are looking for greater control in their customer journey. The goal is to better fit that journey into their greater business goals.
Image from GoB2B.
One area where self-service is desired is the purchasing stage. Here, companies want to freely study the product and run demonstrations at their own pace. They also want to be able to test the solutions in different scenarios before making the purchase.
How Your B2B Company Can Provide Good Self-Service
The main challenge with self-service is deciding which ones to offer. While you want customers to have everything within their grasp, there might be limitations. As such, you want to devise the best self-service strategy within these limitations.
Here, consider which points of the customer journey they might want to have self-service. Aside from the purchase stage, clients might also want this at some part of the support stage. Note that each client has different preferences here. So ensure that you can match those preferences.
The self-service option should also be well integrated into the overall customer service experience. Virtua can help you ensure this is the case. We map the customer journey and determine how to position our agents to create a more seamless flow. We can also help you maintain these self-service channels so they are always available.
Keep Up With The Latest Trends And Keep B2B Customers Happy
These B2B customer service trends are certainly going to make 2024 an exciting one for the field. And your company should be ready for the ride. Virtua Solutions is here to provide you with all the support you need. Contact us today and let’s do MORE for your clients.