The new business landscape is propelling organizations, especially in B2B, to begin thinking about how to create a rewarding buyer experience that fosters engagement and long-term loyalty. Here, I share key management principles that leaders today should consider for being successful in shifting their corporate culture and competencies towards innovative buyer experiences. There are five key management principles applicable to Buyer Experience Innovation.

1. Buyer Experience Innovation
5 Management Principles
By Tony Zambito, President & CEO , Goal Centric
www.goalcentric.com
www.thebuyerexperience.om
Copyright 2010 Goal Centric Management, Inc.

2. Introduction
Executives today, to achieve revenue growth strategies, will
need to think radically different than at any time since the
80’s and 90’s when technology and the Internet altered the
landscape. Once again, the business landscape is being
altered by advances in technology and new mediums that
could not be fathomed as little as five years ago. What we do
know today is that each time the business landscape
undergoes significant rearrangement; the balance of power
continues to shift to buyers versus sellers.

3. Challenges
This new business landscape is propelling organizations,
especially in B2B, to begin thinking about how to create a
rewarding buyer experience that fosters engagement and
long-term loyalty. Significant challenges in top-line revenue
growth as well as in new customer acquisition means
executives need to make Buyer Experience Innovation a top
priority. Here, I share key management principles that
leaders today should consider for being successful in shifting
their corporate culture and competencies towards innovative
buyer experiences.

4. Five Management Principles
There are five key management principles applicable to Buyer
Experience Innovation:
1. Led by senior executives overseeing sales, marketing, and
service
2. There is a focus on shifting culture to “experience driven”
3. Insight is foundational to buyer experience innovation
4. Experience knowledge is integrated into the DNA of the
organization
5. Buyer experience is designed for the digital and social age

5. The Five

6. Principle 1: Senior executives lead
This is a refrain that is heard often for all important
initiatives. In this case, a CEO is wise to choose a senior
executive with that special attribute and capability of unifying
sales, marketing, and service into alignment with buyer
experience. It is important to note that while much has been
made of the need for sales and marketing alignment, service
is often the forgotten third spoke in the wheel. While service
is a significant component of overall customer experience in
retaining existing customers, many procedural efforts in
acquiring new buyers pass through service. It can make as
well as cause a break in a buyer’s overall experience. Equally
important, this appointment makes a statement respective to
the priority of Buyer Experience Innovation within the
organization.

7. Principle 2: Focus on cultural shift
Many organizations can be described by the predominant
driving force that is exhibited culturally. Culturally as well as
structurally organizations have been described as sales-
driven, marketing-driven, or product-driven; just to name
three examples here. While strides have been made in B2C to
become experience-driven and consumer friendly
organizations, B2B has lagged behind significantly in
embracing a cultural shift to becoming experience-driven and
buyer friendly organizations.

8. Principle 3: Insight is foundational
Qualitative buyer insight is essential to attaining a deeper
understanding of existing buyer experiences, buying
processes, and the how and why on decision-making. Many
decisions on sales, marketing, and service strategies have
been made in a vacuum over the years without critical
understanding of whom true buyers are and their
processes. Presumed understanding has led to a constant
recycling of approaches all meant to spur growth. CEO’s
today, especially in B2B, will need to embrace attaining
qualitative buyer insight as a competitive edge in designing
innovative buyer experiences. Buyer Personas and Buyer
Experience Journey Mapping are two critical tools that are
essential to buyer insight gathering.

9. Principle 4: Experience knowledge is shared
To become experience-driven, knowledge and insights on
buyer experiences is shared widely and integrated into the
DNA of the organization. Experience knowledge also
becomes a key component of how organizations make
informed decisions on overall customer strategy. Employee
engagement in the buyer experience is significantly enhanced
when there is an understanding of how they contribute to the
overall buyer experience.

10. Principle 5: Buyer experience is designed
The advent of the digital and social age has made design
thinking a much sought after competency for many B2C as
well as B2B organizations. Buyer Experience Innovation is a
modern day business design imperative that CEO’s will need
to adopt to gain not only a competitive edge but also to gain
customer and buyer loyalty. Many existing customers
become “repeat” buyers and an inconsistent stream of buyer
experiences can be detrimental to loyalty. Buyer Experience
Design improves an organizations competency to deliver on
consistent experiences that builds loyalty that lasts.

11. A New Way

12. Conclusion
These principles provide management guidance for leading
organizations towards adopting a plan to make Buyer
Experience Innovation a difference maker in their
future. Buyers today and in the future will make critical
judgments as well as decisions on the basis of their
interactions with every facet of an organization’s touchpoints
during the buying experience. Organizations that heed the
call for designing superior and consistent buyer experiences
acquire the rewards of long term loyalty and profitable
growth.

13. Produced By:
Tony Zambito
Buyer Experience
President & CEO
Goal Centric
Innovation:
www.goalcentric.com
www.thebuyerexperience.com
5 Management
Copyright 2010 Principles
Goal Centric Management, Inc.