In Brief

The Assumption

B2B suppliers increasingly believe that their customers are highly empowered and need sellers only at the very end of the purchase process.

The Problem

But customers today are overwhelmed by information and choice, and they struggle to make good purchase decisions.

The Solution

To make buying easier, suppliers must create relevant tools, messaging, and guidance that help customers at every stage of the process.

Most B2B sellers think their customers are in the driver’s seat—empowered, armed to the teeth with information, and so clear about their needs that they don’t bother to engage with suppliers until late in the process, when their purchase decision is all but complete.

A version of this article appeared in the March–April 2017 issue (pp.118–125) of Harvard Business Review.