🎯 Winning Back Control: 6 Tactics CROs Can Use to Engage the Modern B2B Buyer

In my last newsletter, I spotlighted the shift in B2B procurement power dynamics and shared a number of compelling statistics to back it up. In summary, buyers are taking more control of the procurement process, reducing the influence of sales.

In fact, they’re underwhelmed by the value sales and marketing teams are bringing - 80% of B2B buyers, according to Forrester, are dissatisfied with the provider they chose! See the full newsletter here: “Beware – Your Buyers’ Habits Are Changing! Are You?”

I highlighted six key shifts:

1. Younger buyers have changed the landscape
2. Buyers are more savvy than ever
3. Buying teams are bigger and more complex
4. Buyers are busier
5. B2B buyers expect the convenience of a B2C experience
6. Buyers are more dispersed

What does all of this mean for CROs?

CROs need to take stock and ask: Is our current engagement model still relevant for today’s buying behaviours? Do we have a buyer-centric, multi-channel strategy that meets customers where they are - both digitally and personally?

Below are six specific tactics I’ve helped CROs deploy to meet this modern buyer shift head-on:

1. Develop B2B Buyer Personas

Given the cross-section of potential buyers and the potential complexity of products and services, it’s critical to target your audience with precision.

That starts with understanding buyers’ motivations, behaviours, and challenges, alongside their formal roles and responsibilities. Armed with this knowledge, buyer engagement can be optimized and you can tailor and personalize messaging that actually resonates.

📌 These personas should be:

• Documented
• Saved in a central CRM
• Shared across internal teams

Building them requires 360° input, gathering intelligence from front-line sales to back-office teams.

2. Unify Marketing, Sales & Customer Success Around the Buyer Journey

Every part of the CRO’s empire must be joined at the hip with one shared goal: understanding and serving the customer. And be incentivized to do so!

This unity must extend to the Product team to ensure propositions are relevant and well-positioned.

This cross-functional, unified team should map the buyer journey in detail:

• What does each persona need at each stage?
• What are their key questions and objections?
• What content or tools help them move forward?

3. Invest in Digital Channels & Platforms

The current buyer community demands to be engaged across all digital channels effectively. But their ‘self-serve’ experience must be consistent with all other touchpoints across the business, from internal sales or face-to-face communications.

Before investing in digital channels, segment your audience properly to define which customers need low-touch vs high-touch engagement.

💡 In many cases, a hybrid approach is ideal - blending technology with human-led support.

4. Leverage Data to Shape Customer Engagement

B2C brands have long mastered data-led personalization in their communications. In comparison, most B2B businesses have barely scratched the surface.

Consider:

• What tools can reveal buyer intent by sector?
• What insight can be mined from our CRM?
• How could AI help forecast more accurately?

You’re likely sitting on a goldmine of data, it’s time to activate it.

5. Differentiate as a Thought Leader

In competitive and particularly in commoditized markets with more automated procurement processes, it’s difficult to differentiate the value proposition.

Even when buyers have access to vast amounts of online content, they still need guidance. They still want to be educated.

Position your business as a trusted advisor by sharing:

• Opinions on your industry
• Relevant commentary on trends and topical events
• Original thinking that buyers can’t get from Google

Despite sanitized procurement decisions, customers seek trusted advisors (it’s a cliché, but it’s true).

Ask: What could we give the buyer beyond our product or service?

6. Invest in Solution Sales Training

Everywhere I go, I see training being deprioritized, and it’s a massive mistake.

I’ve highlighted how the buyer landscape is changing. That means sales and marketing teams must evolve too. One-dimensional, old-school tactics simply don’t cut it anymore, you need to:

• Set aside a dedicated budget for training
• Make it ongoing - not a one-off
• Focus on real-time application and coaching

In Summary

Modern B2B buyers are:

• More uncertain 
• More cautious 
• Budget-sensitive 
• Laser-focused on outcomes 
• Younger, more digital, and harder to impress 

CROs need to become architects of seamless, data-driven, trust-building revenue engines that reflect how modern B2B buyers actually behave. Of course, as an optimist, this is an opportunity, not just a threat!

🎙️ Upcoming Free Live Webinar on the 29th May

“THE SILENT KILLER OF REVENUES (AND CROS): TEAM MISALIGNMENT”

📅 Thursday 29th May | 16:00 BST

Join me live as I unpack why team misalignment is quietly sabotaging revenue — and how to fix it with practical frameworks and free tools.

👉 Reserve your spot here

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