When B2B survey respondents say that 73% of their revenue originates from current customers, retaining and growing those accounts must be a top priority, one that is well coordinated across all postsale motions, from onboarding to servicing and expanding business on the back of attained goals.
Especially in volatile economic markets and geopolitical times, every business needs its customers to continue using its offerings to achieve positive business outcomes. But what happens when buyers encounter a problem and come to you for help? Isn’t reactively solving customer issues an essential part of the B2B postsale customer experience? Of course, it is!
And that’s one of the reasons I’m now covering B2B customer service — technical support, field support, support services, and the like — in collaboration with Forrester analysts Kate Leggett, Christina McAllister, Max Ball, and Vasu Srinivasan, who have all been deeply involved with this market. I say “and the like” because I’ve just begun to explore what makes B2B customer service special. I’m curious to learn how AI-backed automation and changing customer expectations are altering this key business function in which every B2B company invests but often treats as a cost of simply doing business. In this new role, I look forward to exploring the following:
1) Differences that matter in a B2B postsale support motion. B2B support volumes are typically much lower than B2C, yet each call can put tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of customer value at risk if it goes awry. How, then, do service elements such as the knowledge base, queuing/routing, customer service representative (CSR) collaboration, quality management, feedback gathering, and omnichannel communications flex to serve unique B2B use cases? Which technology providers best accommodate these differences, and how well are they doing it?
2) The impact of AI on customer service. Before ChatGPT came along, automating even routine service interactions over the phone or by email/chat was an onerous task. Today, generative AI and AI agents let service teams achieve a workable, practical balance between reducing the cost to serve and enhancing the customer’s experience. As more tier-one interactions benefit from automation, how does AI now improve the way that service teams and their technologies interact with customers? How will this next generation of service teams measure its impact on the business — and on customers’ experiences — because of these trends?
3) Changing CSR roles and skill sets. Where are B2B service teams in their evolution from reactive problem-solving to proactively identifying, addressing, and resolving service failures or potential issues before customers formally complain about or get impacted by them? How will the ability to mine data, capture signals, build context, and synthesize insights about — and for — customers make B2B customer experience better? As AI becomes commonplace, how much — and what type — of human interaction will still matter in B2B? (Hint: I think it’s a bigger opportunity than budget-pressured customer service managers may recognize today as the changing role of CSRs becomes a lever for creating competitive differentiation and brand distinction.)
4) Ways to create self-service experiences that customers prefer. Historically, B2B companies lagged their B2C counterparts in digital delivery and self-service capabilities. What do B2B companies that excel at providing an outstanding self-service experience do differently? How do self-service and digital channels help them create a tiered service model that customers pay for willingly? How does this support a broader B2B postsale digital experience that extends across all phases of the customer lifecycle?
5) The use of data-driven insights to keep pace with change and demonstrate impact. Compared to other customer-facing functions, customer service has adopted and benefited from AI and automation to a great degree. What new data sources and signals will these teams need to integrate to continue to increase their understanding of the issues that each specific customer account faces? Or to provide more personalized interactions that satisfy changing buyer behaviors? What new objectives and metrics will define best practices in tomorrow’s B2B customer service?
These are exciting times for B2B customers and their providers. I am thrilled to look ahead as I begin to work on research that will help customer service teams bypass timeworn practices to focus instead — along with their customer success and customer marketing peers — on creating delightful customer experiences. Feel free to schedule some time with me to explore the service challenges you face and your plans for addressing them. I would love to share with you what I’ve learned so far.
