B2B buyers researching solutions to their problems spend less than a fifth of their time meeting with potential suppliers. And your sales reps? They get 5% of a customer’s time. (Gartner)
5%!
That should wake up any distributor.
It starts to make sense when you consider the dramatic shift in how you shop in your personal life. Where do you start? I go to Google. Or I start on the website of a respected company, where I’ll spend untold amounts of time researching. I’ll compare solutions. I’ll read reviews. I’ll ask my friends for their recommendations. All in the name of making sure I get the right [insert item here].
Obviously, B2B and B2C are different. But when it comes to the customer’s journey, they aren’t as different as they once were.
B2B journeys may be more complex and have more influencers on the sale – but online research now plays a significant part. And that will only continue as the generations shift.
The buying process isn’t linear, either. Gartner found that buyers often went back and forth during the journey to find the right solution.
Up to 70% of that process happens before they even reach out to your sales rep. That means your sales reps have a lot less influence on the sale than they once did.
And that your website has a much larger influence.
The problem is most distributors’ websites aren’t filling that gap; they’re falling flat in meeting customers’ needs. That means distributors are losing influence with customers.
How do you know if your website has stepped up to the plate? Start by asking these questions:
- Does it provide useful information your customers can immediately apply in their jobs? Do you offer non-salesy, helpful content that can inform their next steps or make their lives easier in some way?
- Does it help them solve a pain point? I’m talking about more than just a product offer. You need to know your customers to really speak to their pain points. We’ve seen great websites that even segment their readers by industry or role to tailor products and solutions, as well as articles and other content filled with niche advice for those customers.
- Does it help them pick the right product or service (and use it correctly) the first time around? Think beyond a sales pitch. Your sales reps historically have played the consultative role, identifying which product is the right fit for a customer’s need. They’ll continue doing that, but your website needs to support that process. Remember what I said above: Most of the customers’ research will be done before they confirm their findings with a sales rep.
To do this right, your website must be as consultative and informative as your best sales rep. Robust product data plays a part in this, but that’s table stakes today for distributors. You’ll need to go far beyond just listing products and features. For example, you’ll want:
- Educational articles to support your customers with the challenges they are facing – and that you know a lot about. That includes choosing the right part for a specific application or keeping tools in tip-top shape.
- Case studies on how companies like theirs are solving similar problems (ideally with your help).
- Product comparisons to inform your customers of key differences so they make the right choice the first time around. This has the added benefit of keeping them on your website instead of bouncing around between your suppliers’ websites to get the info they need.
- Videos that showcase product use.
When Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein talk about rethinking how you calculate ROI on ecommerce, this type of content is a key part of that equation.
To reiterate their take, just because your website’s shopping-cart revenue (i.e., transactions completed on your website) does not yield a positive ROI for your website on its own, it does not mean that your ecommerce website isn’t a success. Customers may go to a website to research product options, read comparisons, better understand applications and review product availability and pricing.
After doing all of this, they will finally reach out to a customer service rep or send an email to finalize the sale. If a distributor doesn’t give the website any credit for that sale, they’re not seeing the bigger picture – and a key value driver.
Distribution Strategy Group’s own research found less than 18% of distributors’ customers place orders online. But the website still plays a big role in their shopping experience.
So, what’s your plan to bolster your website’s role in your business today? Give it a promotion. Invest some time and money. If you strengthen your web presence in line with your customers’ needs, you’ll not only help your customers – you’ll make it easy for them to keep doing business with you.
That’s a win for customers and for you, as well.
As Chief Operations Officer of a Distribution Strategy Group, I'm in the unique position of having helped transform distribution companies and am now collaborating with AI vendors to understand their solutions. My background in industrial distribution operations, sales process management, and continuous improvement provides a different perspective on how distributors can leverage AI to transform margin and productivity challenges into competitive advantages.