Business decision making has shifted from the C-Suite only sign off we once knew, to a process that has never been more complex. After years of digital transformation, far-reaching economic pressures through economic hardships and many organisations changing how they operate post pandemic, it’s not easy to reach the ultimate decision maker, or even know who that is.

And this is certainly becoming increasingly difficult in B2B.

In B2C, the buying process is based on an individual’s own purchasing decisions. It is usually mass targeted, less rational, more impulsive and doesn’t require much hyper-personalisation in marketing and advertising materials to encourage customers to buy a product or use a service. Whereas in B2B, a buying decision has an important commercial purpose. It requires building deeper, more personal relationships, targeting niche audiences and having greater open communication with the client throughout the decision-making process. It’s complex and marketers are desperately looking for a decision maker willing to make a choice on behalf of an entire business.

Unfortunately for B2B marketers, the days of the all powerful decision maker are no more. Welcome to the era of the decision matrix.

The new business decision maker

Research carried out by alan. for B2B media business Raconteur, revealed that between six and 10 people are now involved in 41% of business purchase decisions. The survey of 1,100 UK senior business leaders also revealed that over half (52%) of decisions involve more than 11 people.

So far, so complicated. But in addition to this, this group of business decision makers are now no longer just made up of the C-Suite. Departments such as  IT, operations, finance, marketing and sales are now wielding influence over much wider business decisions than previously expected; in fact most have decision-making power over four or more products and services.

The previous ‘decision-maker’ has now evolved into a team of business leaders, each with their own departmental responsibilities, business priorities, objectives and feelings.

New buying committees are a complex web of stakeholders facing their own internal challenges and pressures. alan’s research revealed that 76% of business leaders rarely make decisions without consulting other stakeholders and departments within their organisation. And, 86% find that they value regular communication, insights and/or updates from different functions for decision-making.

The role of a business leader has become much more interconnected to other departments, and in order to succeed leaders now need to better understand their own and others' work environments, or risk being stifled in their contributions to larger business decisions.

Another reason for this collaborative approach to decision-making is minimising potential risk. If one department was to sign off on a bad business decision, they are solely to blame. Whereas if it was an interdepartmental decision, no one person can be held responsible.

The changing expectations of the B2B customer

This evolution of the decision matrix follows changing customer needs and expectations. Forcing B2B marketers to reassess their audiences and rethink the logic behind what they are basing their work on. For example, marketers intent on targeting a CFO can’t just create an analytical number-crunching campaign and expect positive results. We now know that the CFO won’t sign-off the purchase alone, and is likely to share the campaign with other departments like HR, marketing, or IT. The days of churning out endless whitepapers and turning to third party reports for stats and data are over. To create B2B campaigns that work in today’s environment and secure the ‘purchase’, marketers should be speaking directly to their customers. They need to hear their customers narrate what the purchase decision looks like, who’s involved, how much influence they have, what they’re really driven by. It's not all about the quant, qual is crucial too.

Decision makers now also range across departments, both in seniority and expertise, and B2B marketing campaigns need to cater for all; experts and novices, as well as incorporate elements of B2C, including, personalisation, emotive storytelling and creative experiences. Marketers must throw away any preconceived notions of what their audience ‘should’ be, because regardless of who is being targeted, there isn’t one person making the call on business purchase decisions.

HR now wields so much power

alan’s research reveals that HR has a surprisingly significant influence over purchasing decisions and is classed as one of the top five decision-making functions by 49% of executives - alongside finance (64%), operations (60%), sales (55%) and IT (54%).

The coronavirus pandemic has given HR more credibility, with the department managing the transition to working from home and employee needs for the past couple of years. This escalation of responsibilities has enhanced HR’s function for many businesses. Thus making them invaluable to the decision making process ahead of marketing, tech, legal and procurement.

B2B marketing needs to be provocative. Business leaders yearn for it. All too often, marketers haphazardly create campaigns just to achieve campaign goals and meet the bottom line, neglecting the importance of truly understanding their audience and what makes them tick. Marketing needs to influence over a variety of functions, not what may previously have been considered the most obvious.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to B2B marketing, but in order to create provocative and relevant campaigns – marketers need to strip back to basics and do what we do best, communicate. The landscape has changed, and in order to succeed marketers need to adapt and interact more with their potential customers. What are their drivers? What are their influences? What does their purchase decision look like? It’s time for re-education.