According to Gartner® Press Release, a new survey by Gartner, Inc. found that “fifty-six percent of organizations said they had a high degree of purchase regret over their largest tech-related purchase in the last two years.”[1] To avoid regret, IT should start by asking these questions of their boss to create a solid foundation for success:
- What strategic priorities should our B2B ecommerce site support (i.e. geographic expansion, increased sales targets, lowering our cost to serve customers)?
- What threats in the market do we believe our B2B ecommerce site will help us mitigate?
- What B2B ecommerce websites have you seen that you like and why?
- What KPIs have been set for the overall business that this B2B ecommerce site will contribute to?
- What are the biggest pain points with the site we have today?
- Would you prefer to see incremental value in 6 months or a full release in 2 years?
How to Use These Questions to Drive Value
What strategic priorities should our B2B ecommerce site support (i.e. geographic expansion, increased sales targets, lowering our cost to serve customers)?
The most common cause of regret is conflicting objectives during a project. By creating clarity on how the project aligns with strategic objectives, your organization can prioritize more effectively.
What threats in the market do we believe our B2B ecommerce site will help us mitigate?
There are many threats in today’s economy that digital helps organizations respond to. Common threats include:
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- Business buyers increasingly want to self-serve.
- Digital giants (aka Grainger, Amazon business) are taking increasing market share.
- Lower-priced competition driving a need for additional value creation for customers.
- Workforce challenges drive the need for tech systems that enable your team to do more with fewer people.
By understanding the threats your boss sees as the highest priority, you can focus efforts there.
What B2B ecommerce websites have you seen that you like and why?
A great customer experience is informed by data and focused on your customer needs. In future steps, we will share how to use data and customer insights to take the best approach to your digital ecommerce site. For now, It is important to understand what opinions your leadership has. This allows you to understand their perspective and address it early in your future planning steps – in some cases confirm their direction, and in others offer information to support why a different direction is better.
What KPIs have been set for the overall business that this B2B ecommerce site will contribute to?
Often, teams don’t know why it is that the organization is taking on this project. Understanding the organizational “why” and the bigger picture will create greater alignment and focus for the project team. This will motivate team members and help the team to collaborate more effectively on solutions throughout the project.
What are the biggest pain points with the site we have today?
You will have pain points from your perspective, but it is important to hear what the pain points are from your boss. While they may align with yours, where they are different it gives you important information to address as a part of the project.
Would you prefer to see incremental value in 6 months or a full release in 2 years?
This question sets the stage for future conversations. It is good to recognize that a phased approach is often beneficial, and it would be helpful to understand the position your boss is coming from.
These questions will help you get on the same page with your boss. They want this to succeed as do you. By hearing their feedback early and working it into your project plans, you will increase the likelihood of their future support.
Setting Up Your Project for Success
How will you avoid a project that ends with regret? It is possible. It requires a different mindset and approach. The short answer is that you need to take a focused, continuous, iterative approach to your digital customer experience. To really understand what that looks like in practice, it is helpful to learn from others who have done it before.
[1] Gartner®, Gartner Survey Finds That Majority of Technology Purchases Come with High Degree of Regret, July 12, 2022. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-07-12-gartner-finds-that-majority-of-technology-purchases-come-with-high-degree-of-regret. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
