Complexity of the B2B Customer Journey

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In B2B relationships, understanding your customers is far more complex than it seems. Unlike B2C settings, where you can measure customer sentiment with sweeping generalizations, B2B interactions involve multiple stakeholders, varied roles, and unique decision-making processes.

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Yet, many businesses still rely on the same old feedback loops—like the Net Promoter Score (NPS)—or worse, simply trust the instincts of their sales and account teams.

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While account managers may have valuable insights into their clients, relying solely on their subjective feedback may not reflect the whole, unfiltered truth.

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The Problem With Overconfidence in B2B Relationships

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It’s common for sales teams and account managers to feel an almost personal ownership over their client relationships. After all, they’re the ones on the front lines, right? They know the ins and outs of daily interactions.

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But herein lies the issue: B2B relationships are too intricate for any one person to fully grasp as well as confirmation bias of our own employees can alter perspectives.

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The complexity stems from the layers of stakeholders involved—decision-makers, influencers, end-users, and more. And when an RFP (Request for Proposal) suddenly hits the desk and a previously “locked” contract goes up for bid, the surprise and scramble to hold on to the account can be overwhelming.

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Here’s where simple feedback systems like the Net Promoter Score (NPS) should come into play but often fail to deliver. While many organizations resist implementing them due to the protective stance of account teams, there is a need for a system that can provide the kind of early warning signals that might otherwise be missed.

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Getting Granular: The Key to Effective Feedback

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The power of feedback in B2B relationships isn’t just about gathering more responses; it’s about collecting the right feedback from the right individuals within an organization. This requires three critical elements:

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1. Operational Relationship Feedback: It’s not enough to gather feedback from the surface level. You need to dig deep and gather insights from the individuals who are most directly impacted by your services. This means collecting feedback from more than just the decision-makers. Everyone involved, from the people dealing with your products or services daily to those who handle resupply, should have the opportunity to share their perspective.

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2. A Broader Reach: This approach demands a different kind of account mapping. You need to know who’s who within your client’s organization. Who are the decision-makers? Who are the influencers? Who handles operations? A broader group means more diverse insights that can highlight areas for improvement or new opportunities before it’s too late.

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3. Rigorous Follow-Up: Once you’ve collected this feedback, the real work begins. It’s not enough to nod and say, “Thanks for your input.” You need to take action, especially with those clients who have offered suggestions or shown an experience gap (mismatch between their expectations and their actual experience). Understanding the root of their concerns and making a plan to address them is crucial to maintaining and improving the relationship.

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The Danger of Over-Focusing on Aggregate Scores

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In B2B settings, many organizations focus too much on the overall score, how does the account as a whole experience as a client? But in reality, aggregated scores can be misleading. It's much more effective to zero in on individual feedback from key stakeholders within the account. What do specific roles think? Where do you stand with them, and how can you improve those individual relationships?

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In most B2B cases, the real value comes from this granular feedback and the trends across cohorts. It’s not about the score; it’s about understanding the people behind the score and what you can do to foster stronger relationships with each one of them.

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Balancing Individual Insights with Broader Patterns for a Complete Picture

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While individual feedback is incredibly valuable for understanding personal expectations and experiences, relying solely on one person’s perspective, or the “gut feelings” of your sales team, only gives you a sliver of the bigger picture.

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True insight comes from understanding both the unique experiences at the individual level and identifying patterns across a broader group, such as on a cohort level.

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This dual approach allows you to make adjustments tailored to individuals while also addressing commonalities that inform larger, strategic improvements to the overall client experience. It’s not just about who you know; it’s about seeing the broader dynamics at play within the account and across the organization.

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Bottom line:

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B2B relationships are complex, and while subjective feedback is crucial for understanding your clients, NPS falls short because it lacks the insights and actionable follow-up needed to drive real change.

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NPS often focuses on a vocal minority, ignoring the broader picture and failing to address the root causes of dissatisfaction.

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Cliezen’s approach, on the other hand, gathers valuable, in-depth feedback from all key stakeholders and turns it into actionable insights, ensuring that businesses don’t just collect feedback - they use it to strengthen relationships and eliminate churn.

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