Avensia : The B2B Funnel Demystified

The customer service needs also tend to be pretty different for B2B than they are for B2C. Consumers generally don't want to talk to anybody when they're making a purchase. They visit, browse, study, add to cart, and buy. It's a journey from one end to the other without a lot of opportunities for diversion.

B2B, on the other hand, is a longer and more complex buying process, though not as complex as it used to be. Traditionally, B2B buyers would require a heavy amount of interaction with sales reps throughout the buying journey. These days, however, they're doing the product and service research on their own at an increasing rate. In fact, according to Gartner, B2B customers today are already 57% of the way down the sales funnel before they contact a sales rep.

What that means is that you have to have the materials available to help potential customers conduct their research and reach their own conclusions. You'll need more comprehensive product information, educational materials, and supporting information on hand to help guide your B2B customers towards making the purchase.

There is even a chance that the client may ask for formal presentations and product demonstrations. There may be contracts involved.

It's all of these things that lead to a longer and more complex sales funnel for B2B, and it can be a lot to take in at a glance.

Let's look at the funnel itself now and break it down step by step.