Digest...

My big concern is that most journey maps focus on the needs of one buyer persona.  But our research shows that B2B technology purchase decisions are made by teams.   Fulfilling the journey of a single buyer may not get the job done.

 

If you think about, B2B Buying is a lot like The Wizard of Oz or other similar quest oriented stories.  You have one lead character (the champion) who is the focus of the quest—without that person, there is not story.    But she is joined by others on the journey.  They want different things.  While supporting the main character, they will also follow some different paths.  

 

As a technology marketer and seller, it is crucial to understand all the players on buying teams and what decisions they are responsible for.  You need to understand their buying process in detail. (If we had asked the right questions about what it takes to buy, we might have been able to address the approved vendor issue earlier in the process and helped our champion accelerate the process).  There will be commonalities across customers, but some unique attributes for each one (everyone’s quest is a bit different).  You should ask them what their buying process is.   Then make sure you are addressing all of the sub-decisions that have to be made, by different people, to get to the final decision.

 

One good idea is to map the journey of the persona of your internal champion.  That persona is the most invested in seeing the purchase move to completion.  As part of their journey, they’ll want to understand and assist other’s in completing their work.   You may find you then need to map the journeys of other key players, but the “champion map” becomes your lead.

 

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