Council Post: Customer Loyalty Starts With The Payment—Even For B2B

CEO of TreviPay, a global B2B payments and invoicing network that believes loyalty begins at the payment.

When cultivating customer loyalty, providing choice and convenience is fundamental. It may have been a nice-to-have in years past, but today it’s a must. It matters so much that according to a 2022 survey, 91% of consumers indicated a satisfying checkout experience influences whether they will buy from that merchant again. Businesses that fail to meet these expectations will undoubtedly lose out to their competition.

With business-to-business e-commerce continuing to accelerate—forecast by Forrester to top $2 trillion this year and $3 trillion by 2027—supporting a seamless purchasing journey and the right payments and invoicing options is the gateway to building loyalty with business buyers.

How can you apply what you know about consumer loyalty to business transactions? Here are three key considerations.

1. Business buyers are consumers, too.

Think of your first ride-hailing experience with Uber or Lyft. There was likely a feeling of awe and delight with the seamless payments experience. No cash was counted, and no credit card was swiped. You simply exited the vehicle, and the payment occurred.

This seamlessness has become an expectation for consumers and is now the desired standard for B2B transactions. After all, businesspeople are consumers, too. When something is easier for a buyer to use, they will choose to use it more in other areas of their lives. A recent report discovered that 67% of B2B buyers have switched vendors to those that “offer a more consumer-like experience.”

Plus, trust and reliability are attributes that are increasingly important to both consumer and business online shoppers, set up by not only choice of payment and shipping options, but also by clear communication of terms and service levels.

2. In B2B, it’s not just about one person making a purchase.

While it’s clear that many B2B buyers prefer the simplicity of a one-click experience, executing on that transaction experience is more challenging for B2B merchants serving enterprise buyers. For instance, Gartner research found that the decision-making process for a complex B2B solution could include six to 10 people, such as the purchaser, the budget owner, the procurement group and the accounts payable team.

The additional complexity and stakeholders involved in a nonlinear B2B buying process require a different approach. B2B transactions that feel seamless to the purchaser are deeply orchestrated and effectively connect various departments within buyer and seller teams, systems, processes and existing platforms. Your B2B payments vendor should bring the order-to-cash experience and technology to successfully operate in complex B2B commerce environments.

3. A shift to B2B customer personalization is needed.

Merchants can make all the difference by meeting B2B buyers where they are with payment options to match. For instance, small-business buyers may have a need for trade credit financing to protect their cash flow. However, enterprise buyers may be more likely to need reliable, automated accounts receivable options that synch with their internal systems. A manufacturing firm may expect volume discounts, whereas an electronics retailer may expect shipping discounts.

Finding the right customized solution could be based on many factors—such as business size, types of sales channels, cross-border strategies, etc.—but regardless, identifying buyer payment preferences can unlock powerful insights to drive repeat sales.

Increase customer loyalty with a consumer-first approach to B2B payments.

Choice and speed in payments are here to stay, and these expectations will become just as entrenched in B2B as they are in consumers’ lives. Providing buyers with their preferred payment and invoicing options can result in higher average order value, which is even more beneficial in B2B sales as these buyers often make bulk orders.

Additionally, if buyers have a positive payments experience and can easily track their spending, they may be more likely to continue buying from the same seller. The implications for not evolving your payment options are huge: B2B buyers will take their business elsewhere. This is especially true for millennials. A 2022 survey found that of millennial B2B buyers, 74% had switched their vendors to ones offering B2B payments experiences more similar to B2C.

And in a world where digital experiences come first, the importance of loyalty increases significantly because your competitors are only a click away. Modernizing your B2B payments and accounts receivable processes should be viewed as a critical step in bolstering loyalty with your buyers now so you can be prepared for the future.

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