Part of our Micro-Lessons series giving you the most important lessons in B2B marketing, designed to be read in 60 seconds.
Using Spend and Strategic Importance to Distill Complex Buyer Decisions
B2B buyer decisions are far more complex more than consumer choices.
B2B International CEO Matthew Harrison notes that decision units comprise many experts, whose business accountability creates unique needs.
To determine who and which needs to target, we use a two-variable matrix:
Spend: If the customer spends less than 5% of their annual budget on your offer, classify this as ‘low’. Otherwise, classify it as ‘high’.
Strategic Importance: Whether your offer is critical to your client’s operations.
With these factors known, your offer falls into one of four groups:
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Low spend, low importance: Your commodities must be low hassle or clients will quickly move on.
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Low spend, high importance: A switch from a proven supplier offers little to gain, but everything to lose.
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High spend, low importance: Good service is a chance to differentiate, but customers care about price.
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High spend, high importance: These purchases are strategic partnerships, unique to each client.
Determine spend and strategic importance to understand your client’s decision making.
Then, make complexity work for you, not against.
For more insights on crafting client-focused offers, listen to our two most recent podcast series, CX Masters & CX Practitioners, on the B2B Insights Podcast.
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