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Industrial customer journey

Industrial Customer Journey and the Digital Experience

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Understanding the industrial customer journey is essential to the success of digital marketing with content. Based on my conversations with manufacturers, I sometimes get the impression that it is just a marketing exercise to them and is not taken seriously. Why do I say that? Let me give you two examples.

Example #1: Conversation with the VP of Business Development of a manufacturer of industrial mixers and agitators.

Me: “How long is your sales cycle?”

VP: “Oh, it is just a matter of a week or two for us to get an RFQ or PO after we’ve talked to the right decision-maker(s).”

He was either clueless or chose to ignore the time it took for the prospect to go through his or her process or journey before deciding to contact this manufacturer. The concept of mapping the customer journey was alien to him, and he told me that it was a waste of time.

Example #2: Conversation with the National Sales Manager of a manufacturer of Butterfly and Control valves.

Me: “How do you define a qualified lead?”

Manager: “I don’t consider a prospect a lead until we have a serious conversation about putting together a quote.”

He couldn’t care less about top-of-the-funnel Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs), nurturing them into Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) before handing them off to Sales. All he was interested in are leads that were ready to buy. (See my article, “SAL is the Glue that Binds Sales and Marketing in Lead Generation.”)

FYI: I published that article in December 2010, and it is still the third-highest visited post after more than ten years. Talk about the power of blogging!

Industrial buy cycle and the customer journey

The industrial buy cycle consists of four distinct stages, at least that is the conventional definition. The stages are:

  1. Needs Awareness
  2. Research
  3. Consideration & Comparison
  4. Procurement

According to the research done and published by THOMAS™ for industry (Thomas Publishing Company), the industrial buying process is now made up of 6 stages. Their version applies to all industrial buyers—Engineers, MRO, and Purchasing professionals in companies of various sizes and industries.

Industrial buying process - ThomasNet

Now, you may be saying to yourself, “Okay, it has grown from 4 to 6 stages. No big deal.” Wait, things get a lot more complicated because engineers and buyers face many challenges at each stage, and they present new opportunities for the supplier. Look at this chart from another ThomasNet presentation.

Industrial customer journey & challenges

Personal buying experiences influencing industrial buying expectations

Buyers of generators, pumps, motors, etc., expect the same kind of easy access to digital information, search capabilities, and comparison features that they are familiar with and similar to their personal online buying experiences. Anything less, and the visitor is off to another site with a click of the mouse.

I recently read a fascinating white paper published by Accenture. They defined this change in industrial customers’ expectations as Industrial Consumerism. I think that’s a brilliant and apt label.

Here’s a direct quote and an illustration from the white paper, which was published in 2016.

“By 2020, thanks to a seismic shift in customer expectations, B2B companies will need a completely different approach to driving growth. Is your sales and marketing organization ready?”

Industrial consumerism

Conventional differentiation of the past where industrial companies relied on superior product features, may no longer be enough. Today, they must leverage newer technologies to better understand the customer journey and meet the digital expectations of industrial buyers who are in self-serve and self-select mode.

The Accenture report identified areas where digital technologies will have the most significant impact and where gaps exist.

Impact of digital technologies on industrial companies and existing gaps

Enter the 4th Industrial Revolution and the COVID pandemic

If the changes in industrial buyer expectations weren’t enough, the 4th Industrial Revolution has brought about significant digital disruptions in industrial sales and marketing. The COVID pandemic of 2020 has only accelerated some of these changes, and many will become permanent.

Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), introduced the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in his article which was first published in Foreign Affairs in December 2015.

Most manufacturers and engineering companies are playing catchup when it comes to digital disruptions. That extends well beyond just sales and marketing. Some companies have taken the lead and embraced digital initiatives in transforming their industrial sales and marketing strategies to better align with customer expectations.

I came across the article “Industrial Firms Need to Give Their Customers a Digital Experience,” published in the Harvard Business Review which cited several good examples. Here’s one:

Linde AR AppLinde, a global industrial gases and engineering solutions company, developed an augmented reality (AR) application to engage customers and facilitate the sales conversion process. Their tool uses AR to give customers a ‘live’ experience with the company’s cryogenic freezers by projecting an image of the freezer into the customer’s factory setup. While clarity on dimensions within the actual production space had previously driven a lengthy sales process, Linde’s use of AR has helped customers get over the conversion hump and improved the overall purchase experience.”

Also, read my earlier post, “Manufacturing Marketing in the Age of Industry 4.0.”

The importance of mapping the industrial customer journey

Google the phrase mapping customer journey, and you’ll get 245,000,000 results as of writing this post. Obviously, there’s a ton of information out there. However, information or someone’s opinion doesn’t easily translate into actual action.

The point is, there are no shortcuts when it comes to understanding the customer journey. Apply those insights to rethink your industrial marketing strategies and sales processes to deliver a better experience to your customers and align well with their expectations.

You can read some of my earlier articles on industrial content marketing to learn more about using this strategy for engaging with industrial buyers at every stage of their customer journey.

Achinta Mitra

Achinta Mitra calls himself a “marketing engineer” because he combines his engineering education and an MBA with 35+ years of practical manufacturing and industrial marketing experience. You want an expert with an insider’s knowledge and an outsider’s objectivity who can point you in the right direction immediately. That's Achinta. He is the Founder of Tiecas, Inc., a manufacturing marketing agency in Houston, Texas. Read Achinta's story here.
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Comments:

  1. Understanding the industrial customer journey is essential to the success of any industry like the casting iron manufacturing industry. We are an industrial cast iron products manufacturer and do understand the value of going digital and leveraging the benefits from it!

  2. Great post about customer journey through the funnel.
    Checkout @https://www.hclvietnam.com for future endeavours

  3. So, It can be said that for industrial firms that have been slow to adopt digital mindset, the time is now to make thoughtful investments as the gap between the companies that are digitally advanced and those who are not is widening and effects the firms in long term.

    • Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

  4. Very Well explanation, Achinta. Actually Manufactures have to rethink their industrial marketing strategies and sales processes to deliver a better experience to their customers through various digital platform and grab the potential lead. We are industrial cast iron products manufacturer and do understand the value of going Digital and leverage the benefits from it!

    • Thanks for your kind words. Appreciate you sharing your experience with industrial marketing and wishing you continued success.

  5. Achinta,

    great post. I’m a manufacturing consultant in the UK who has spent time out in Financial Services and Insurance both with consumer and business brands. You’re right mapping the customer journey is key to knowing what your sales might look like, through the funnel. It’s also really important to understand how they use the products to know how you might improve them.

    As someone who often spends time improving supply chains and manufacturing processes to get products out faster, it can be disappointing to find the sales cycle (need to shortlist) can be easily 2 or 3 times longer than we get to build the products.

    I’m off to read some more.. Mark

    • Mark,

      Thanks a lot for adding your insights. Appreciate you taking the time to read this one and my other posts.

  6. Achinta,

    great post. I’m a manufacturing consultant in the UK who has spent time out in Financial Services and Insurance both with consumer and business brands. You’re right mapping the customer journey is key to knowing what your sales might look like, through the funnel. It’s also really important to understand how they use the products to know how you might improve them.

    As someone who often spends time improving supply chains and manufacturing processes to get products out faster, it can be disappointing to find the sales cycle (need to shortlist) can be easily 2 or 3 times longer than we get to build the products.

    I’m off to read some more.. Mark

    • Mark,

      Thanks a lot for adding your insights. Appreciate you taking the time to read this one and my other posts.

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