It is almost universally agreed that the last year and a half were devastating for many businesses. In terms of profit, definitely, but there is another side to this economic crisis. It changed how companies view and interact with each other. Most businesses experienced a massive shift in relationships with their customers and partners.

Executives realized that collaboration, rather than hard competition, brings greater profit. They recognized a value of a healthy business ecosystem and are now willing to partner on occasional projects or permanently. This change was catalyzed even more by rapid digitalization, which is partly a consequence of the pandemic as well. When businesses moved their operations online, they unlocked more opportunities for quick and easy communication, strengthening their cooperation. 

One of the essential elements companies utilize to successfully navigate this new era of valuable partnerships is a B2B portal.

Distinctive Features of the Modern B2B Relationships

The business landscape is evolving all the time. It would be wrong to attribute all of the current trends to the COVID-19 aftermath, but many of them were noticeably accelerated. 

Crucial Stages of Decision-making Happen Online

In 2021, 61% of B2B transactions start online according to the stats collected by Finances Online. In order to find a solution that fits their company, hundreds of people search the web first. Only then do they make a contact with the provider of their choice, which also happens through digital channels.

Only a year or so ago, it would be difficult to imagine two large companies coming to an understanding and signing a deal without a number of face-to-face meetings. After everyone was forced to stay home, however, most people discovered that online interaction is nearly as effective in building trust and transparency as offline meetings but much cheaper and faster. Now, an overwhelming majority of executives prefer digital communication. This leads to a higher demand for accessible, reliable, and secure ways to exchange information and ideas.

More Focus on Personalization with a Twist

The hyper-personalized customer experience has been in the spotlight recently both on B2C and B2B markets. The difference is that while personalized B2C content is targeted towards a particular person’s needs, in B2B the end goal is to appeal to a board of executives that act on behalf of the company. Based on the aforementioned Finances Online collection of statistics, 76% of B2B clients expect providers to tailor their solutions around their specific needs. Most of them think that a vendor’s website must have content to address the industry’s needs, issues, and trends. 

This tendency extends to customer care as well. In B2B, a product is used by multiple people. Each of them may have different questions or requirements for the vendor. All of them want to have crucial information accessible, and customer support easily reachable and efficient. The same Finances Online stats say 97% of B2B clients would like their provider to have some kind of a self-care system with an intuitive interface, which would help them solve their issues faster.

How B2B Portals Support Building and Maintaining Partnerships

Business networks are getting broader and more intricate right now. Therefore, solutions that help companies accommodate their partners, vendors, and customers are getting more popular. A B2B portal covers all stages of these interactions, starting from the discovery and exploration of business opportunities through to effective customer support. Such portals serve the entire business ecosystem by being a one-stop hub for partner access, self-service, transactions, and information. 

All Information and Support Are Available in One Place

With a B2B portal in place, users don’t have to go on a quest to find product and service documentation anymore. All business representatives can quickly access information that is valuable specifically to them. In addition, B2B portal design implies a sophisticated system of user management, so each user would have individual permissions in regards to what data is accessible to them. 

Commercial, financial and other documentation can be exchanged between parties quickly and securely. Marketing content can also be easily distributed, and results of the campaign analyzed with a variety of filters based on particular account specifics.

Each user of the portal can count on quick and easy support. Firstly, the abundance of information leads to fewer support requests, as users can often find answers to overcome challenges on their own. Self-care smart automation can guide a user with a particular request to the needed piece of information, as it is stored in the same B2B portal system. Secondly, users are connected to all relevant third-party vendors as well as the provider’s customer service representatives, so the request goes directly to the people responsible for solving it without getting stuck in communication silos.

More Effective and Quicker Collaboration

There’s no need for face-to-face interaction with B2B portals that are integrated with instant communication capabilities. Partners, vendors, and customers have chats, video conferencing, audio or video messaging to choose from if they want to have an immediate conversation. Some portals also feature forums to host extensive discussions that might not be urgent but require the presence of multiple participants.

A traditional signature has seen the end of its time too. Digital signatures with encryption keys stored in the system are much more secure. They enable companies to sign deals in seconds, even from the opposite sides of the globe.

Conclusion

Modern times need modern solutions. Digital transformation has been seeping into the B2B market for years now, but the recent health crisis has stimulated it and transformed many traditions and routines. 

Economic hardships boosted companies’ desire to broaden partner networking, at the same time as travelling and meetings became restricted. B2B portals turned out to be a perfect fit for the situation. They simplified collaboration and provided secure digital channels for communication between partners, vendors, and customers, eliminating the necessity of face-to-face interactions. They also serve as hubs that contain documentation, information, and support needed for each participant of the business ecosystem. The more businesses adopt B2B portals, the more blossoming partnerships we are to see in post-COVID days. 

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