Here’s What B2B Can Learn from B2C About Customer Experience

The customer experience gap between B2B and B2C is a long-running issue, and one that’s been exacerbated by the seamless service now offered by consumer brands like Amazon, Apple and Uber.

There are plenty of reasons why this divide exists – from the inherent complexity of B2B buying processes to the growing number of stakeholders involved, the time it takes for buying groups to reach a consensus, and the often-technical nature of the products and services themselves.

After decades leading global consumer brands – including founding BBC Earth, serving as the BBC’s first Global Chief Marketing Officer, and later holding CMO roles at A+E Networks and Harrods – Amanda Hill had a clear benchmark for what best-in-class customer experience looks like. So when she tried to purchase a business service online, the contrast was immediate:

“I tried to purchase a business service online and felt like I'd stepped 10 years back in time. The clunky interface, the opaque pricing, the lack of follow-up... it was a far cry from the seamless eCommerce experiences I was used to as a consumer.”

That experience reflects a broader reality: today’s B2B buyers are still consumers in every other part of their lives, and they increasingly expect the same clarity, convenience, and responsiveness at work. The good news is that, with the right tools and intent, that gap is far from unbridgeable.

B2B is no exception to rising customer experience standards

Consumer transactions have evolved significantly over the last decade. More and more purchases now take place online, with 22.9% of all global retail sales expected to happen digitally by 2028.Today, 63% of shoppers begin their journeys in this way, even if the final purchase is completed offline.

As experiences have evolved, so too have expectations. 90% of consumers now expect a response to their customer services queries in 10 minutes or less. Responsiveness and convenience play a growing role in their decision-making: almost three-quarters of customers (70%) prioritize speed, convenience, and helpful employees, while 32% will stop doing business with a brand they love after just one bad experience.

Standards have never been higher – and B2B is no exception to this behavioral shift. 87% of B2B buyers identify new suppliers online, and three-quarters (74%) use online platforms to make purchases for their business.

Yet while expectations have risen, the evidence suggests many B2B organizations are falling behind. Buyers cite numerous frustrations ranging from inaccurate pricing and shipping costs (40%), to slow website load times (29%) and poor customer support (28%). Others report confusion caused by either too little information or an overload of details, along with inconsistencies between what a website promises and what sellers say.

How B2B can take inspiration from B2C customer experience

There’s clearly a gulf between expectation and reality in B2B – and it’s only growing wider. Fortunately, the tools, techniques, and tactics required to close this gap already exist. The most effective B2B organizations are following the example set by their B2C counterparts and adopting the following practices:

1. Map your B2B customer journey from end to end

Customers rarely follow a single, linear path before enquiring about your services. While it’s impossible to map every variation, building a clear view of the end-to-end journey – and the specific touchpoints along the way – will help you identify major weaknesses in your customer experience.

Look for friction points such as delayed responses after certain actions are completed, manual processes that could be automated, or unclear next steps. It can also be valuable to ‘mystery shop’ with other competitors to understand where their experience may outperform yours.

As Amanda Hill notes in her latest guide, Six Things B2B Gets Wrong About Marketing, B2B relationships often involve repeated interactions – from renewal to support and upsell. Each touchpoint is therefore an opportunity to either build goodwill, or erode it.

2. Don’t neglect the basics (and mobile users)

With so much of the typical buying process taking place online, the impact of seemingly minor issues – functionality, page load speed, broken buttons, missing pages – become magnified.

Modern users have little tolerance for poor digital experiences. One in two people expect a page to load in less than 2 seconds; the longer it takes, the higher the bounce rate.

Here are just a handful of critical experience factors that can make or break a potential lead:

• Page load speed
• 404 errors
• Broken links, call-to-action (CTA) buttons, and contact forms
• Confusing website navigation
• Missing trust signal indicators (e.g. security and compliance indicators)

Mobile experience is another area that is often overlooked – almost all 96%) internet users access the web via mobile devices at least some of the time, and mobile accounts for close to 60% of the world’s web traffic. It likely represents a significant share of touchpoints within a B2B buying group. Over half (53%) of mobile users will abandon a page if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load.

In short: complexity in the buying process does not excuse poor digital hygiene.

3. Embrace personalization

The size and complexity of buying groups adds another layer of challenge. While it can be frustrating for marketers to navigate, it also raises expectations among buyers, who expect relevant, role-specific experiences at every stage.

A one-size-fits-all approach to advertising is unlikely to resonate when stakeholders are working to different priorities and pressures. This is where role-based personalization becomes essential. Designed with large B2B buying groups in mind, and informed by intent data drawn from research behavior and previous interactions, it enables brands to deliver relevance at scale while reducing friction throughout the buying process.

Over time, structured nurture sequences can reinforce that relevance – building familiarity and value at each stage of the journey.

4. Deliver multichannel and omnichannel experiences

The most successful B2C brands excel at delivering experiences that reflect the multi- and omnichannel habits of modern consumers. Buyers often start a purchase on one channel (e.g. mobile) before moving to another (e.g. tablet, laptop, in-store), yet the experience remains relatively consistent throughout.

While B2B buyers navigate the same fragmented landscape – moving between personal and corporate devices, switching networks, and engaging across an average of ten channels during the buying journey – the expectation of a seamless experience is no less present. According to McKinsey, more than half of customers will turn elsewhere if companies cannot deliver a smooth cross-channel experience.

When mapping the customer journey, treat those channels as connected rather than isolated. Look for:

• Conflicting information between platforms
• Unclear next steps as buyers move from one stage to another
• Repeated requests for the same data
• Breaks in tone, messaging, or positioning

Each disconnect introduces friction – and friction compounds across complex buying journeys.

5. Make use of proven B2C tools and features

The tactics above are only a starting point. Many tools that define modern B2C experiences translate effectively into B2B environments:

• Self-service options: Buyers aren’t always ready to talk to sales – 75% prefer a rep-free experience.
• Live chat support: Now standard in B2C, visitors who engage with live chat are 2.8x more likely to convert.
• Intuitive recommendation engines: Surface relevant resources and content without forcing a sales conversation.
• Transparency: Support buyers with ungated content, rather than withholding information in exchange for details they may not be ready to share.

Make experience your competitive advantage

The gap between rising expectations and the typical B2B buying experience is not an insurmountable obstacle. It is a strategic opportunity.

As Amanda Hill observes, customer experience should be an ongoing opportunity to build trust, rather than a recurring pain point. Organizations that lag in digital experience risk losing ground to those that prioritize clarity, convenience, and consistency.

In Six Things B2B Gets Wrong About Marketing, Amanda explores why experience is so often underestimated in B2B – and how reframing that assumption can unlock a competitive advantage.

To translate these principles into practice, explore how our centralized content hubs support seamless, role-specific journeys across complex buying groups.