What Is Buyer Enablement? A Comprehensive Guide to an Approach That Benefits Both Businesses and Customers! | Blog

What Is Buyer Enablement? A Comprehensive Guide to an Approach That Benefits Both Companies and Customers!

Updated: May 15, 2024

What Is Buyer Enablement?

In recent years, with the widespread adoption and development of the internet, it has become standard practice in the B2B purchasing process for customers to conduct independent research before selecting and purchasing products or services.

On the other hand, the ease of gathering information has created a downside: it can complicate the customer's purchasing process. Specifically, as the volume of available information grows, customers often face increased effort in collecting and comparing data. In this context, the concept of "Buyer Enablement" is gaining significant attention.

This article explains the key points for achieving buyer enablement. In addition to the functions required to realize enablement, we also discuss how to create a "Buyer Journey" using the massive corporate database uniquely built by uSonar. We hope you find this information helpful.

>> Click here for details on uSonar, powered by Japan's largest corporate database

What Is Buyer Enablement? Definition

Buyer enablement refers to the information that companies provide to customers for the purpose of advancing their purchasing process. In a broader sense, it can also refer to the initiatives and strategies themselves used to provide this information to customers.

Gartner, the firm that proposed the concept of buyer enablement, defines information that satisfies buyer enablement as meeting the following four points:

Relevance

It must be relevant to the specific challenges the customer is facing.

Ease of Use

It must be easy for the customer to use quickly and effectively.

Utility

It must be useful for the customer in advancing their intended purchasing process.

Credibility

It must be reliable and backed by data and facts.

A key point common to all of these is a "customer-centric perspective." It is important to go beyond simple product introductions and provide the information necessary to help customers advance their purchasing process with that process in mind.

Creating a "Buyer Journey" is a recommended method for understanding the customer's purchasing process. We explain the Buyer Journey in detail in the article below, so please take a look.

>> Click here for an explanation of the Buyer Journey

By understanding the buyer journey, it becomes easier to grasp the stages a customer goes through when purchasing products or services, and to determine what information should be provided to help them progress through those stages.

Examples of Content That Meets Buyer Enablement

What kind of content fulfills the definition of buyer enablement mentioned earlier?
Gartner lists the following seven types of content that satisfy buyer enablement requirements.

Analytical Content

Provides data and functionality for customers to conduct their own analysis regarding their challenges.

Diagnostic Content

Provides frameworks that help evaluate the customer's current situation and identify available options.

Shared Content

Provides the information necessary for all stakeholders involved in the purchase to maintain a common understanding.

Recommendations

Provides clear options based on the customer's own input.

Advice

Provides guidance to lead the customer through their purchasing activities.

Comparison Content

Provides comparison information against competing products or services using data that is otherwise difficult for customers to obtain.

Simulation

Provides tools to estimate the benefits of implementing a product or service.

When creating content that fulfills buyer enablement, using the seven examples above as a starting point is the most efficient path forward.

On the other hand, even if content does not fall into these specific categories, any information that aligns with the aforementioned definition of buyer enablement is effective in advancing the customer's purchasing process. It is necessary to design engagement points tailored to your company by considering the characteristics of your products or services, as well as the specific features of your market and industry.

Key Points for Practicing Buyer Enablement

Another crucial element for successful buyer enablement is timing. Even if you create content that perfectly meets buyer enablement criteria, you cannot practice it effectively if you fail to provide the necessary information at the appropriate time.

Providing information at the wrong time not only wastes resources but also risks creating a negative impression of your service or damaging your credibility, which can lead to a degraded customer experience.

To determine the appropriate timing for providing information, you must grasp which stage of the purchasing process each customer is currently in.

In the later stages of the purchasing process, it is possible to capture the customer's stage through two-way communication between the customer and the sales representative.

Conversely, in the early stages of the purchasing process, information tends to be disseminated one-way from the company, making it difficult to identify the customer's purchasing stage. In such cases, it is necessary to estimate the stage based on information such as the buyer's website browsing history and behavioral data.

Services Useful for Realizing Buyer Enablement

To realize buyer enablement, the following tools and resources are useful.

Content Marketing Platform

Used for creating and managing content that attracts customer interest, such as case studies and white papers.
Utilized to provide information tailored to the specific challenges and needs of different targets and stages.

Sales Engagement Tool

Enables management of dialogues and tasks to provide information and support according to customer needs.
Builds trust with customers while gaining insights into their needs based on past interactions.

Data Management Platform

Possesses functions such as CRM and DWH to manage and integrate customer information.
Utilized to provide information at the right time and build trust with customers.

Customer Experience Management

Provides resources such as support desks and information portals that allow for information delivery and feedback sharing, while acquiring data used for analyzing and segmenting customer behavior.

By combining and utilizing the tools and resources mentioned above, it is possible to realize buyer enablement to advance the buyer journey.
At uSonar Co., Ltd., we believe that the key to our unique method of creating a buyer journey is to clearly define three elements: Customer Persona, Customer Stage, and Engagement Points.
Please take a look at the article below for a detailed explanation.

>> Click Here for uSonar's Unique Buyer Journey Creation Method

Conclusion

Buyer enablement is an approach that offers benefits to both companies and customers.
By focusing on buyer enablement, you can establish a competitive advantage during the product and service selection phase, while simultaneously building a strategy that leads to long-term business relationships through the establishment of trust.

Achieve Sales Efficiency and Maximize Marketing Effectiveness
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About the Author

uSonar Editorial Department

MX Group Editor-in-Chief

We are the uSonar Editorial Department.
We provide information on data utilization and digital technology useful for considering future business operations, primarily for companies engaged in B2B business.