The gap between assumptions and reality
Many B2B companies invest hundreds of thousands or even millions in marketing campaigns, website redesigns or trade fair participation. And yet, they often lack the most important thing – a clear understanding of the customer.
According to a study by Bain & Company, 80% of companies believe they provide customers with an excellent experience, but only 8% of customers agree. This gap clearly shows that most investments are based on assumptions, not facts.
Why 10 customers are enough
In practice, a simple rule applies: if you ask 10 customers, you’ll gain 80% of the most crucial insights.
Why? Because customers’ needs, motivations and problems tend to repeat themselves. All it takes is a few well-conducted in-depth interviews to uncover patterns that are key to your business’s decision-making.
An interview is not a questionnaire. It is a structured conversation where you ask about stories, motivations and experiences. This allows you to find out what customers are actually dealing with – not just what they ticked off in a table.
What you’ll discover from in-depth interviews
- Real motivations for purchasing – customers often don’t buy a ‘production machine’, but the certainty that it will reduce downtime and increase capacity.
- Decision-making process – who is involved in deciding on the investment, how long the process takes, and what the final deciding factor is.
- Key pain points – where the customer is wasting time, money or energy.
- Expectations of the supplier – not just the product, but also service, availability of spare parts, communication and logistics.
If you don’t ask customers, you often don’t have this information at all – and campaigns are then based on assumptions.
Case study: a machinery manufacturer
One of our clients, a manufacturer of industrial machinery, was convinced that its greatest competitive advantage lay in the technical precision and reliability of its equipment. When we conducted in-depth interviews, it turned out that customers valued a rapid service response above all else. Every day of downtime meant losses running into millions, and this was a key factor for them when selecting a supplier.
Based on these findings, the company changed its sales pitch, marketing and website. The result was a surge in demand of tens of per cent – without massive investment in advertising.
Why this is more effective than campaigns
A marketing campaign will give you figures – the number of views, clicks and enquiries. But it won’t tell you why customers buy or don’t buy. An
in-depth interview will reveal:
- why the customer doesn’t trust your brand,
- what convinced them to choose the competition,
- what they would need to hear to choose you.
This is information you wouldn’t uncover from campaigns even in a year.
Why entrust interviews to an independent party
If a sales representative calls a customer, they will rarely be completely honest. They fear that the sales representative will simply ‘tick the box’ and that any criticism will be turned against them.
When the interview is conducted by an independent agency, the customer speaks more openly and shares even the unpleasant things. And it is precisely these that are the most valuable.
Summary for owners and CEOs
- Just 10 customers are enough to learn more than you would from a year’s worth of campaigns.
- In-depth interviews reveal real needs, motivations and obstacles.
- The investment is minimal, the benefit enormous.
If you make decisions about marketing, sales or product development, ask yourself: are you basing your decisions on facts or on assumptions?
How to get started
We also discuss how in-depth interviews work in our webinar, where we showcase specific examples from B2B practice: Webinar recording on YouTube.
If you’d like to find out how to use interviews specifically for your business, get in touch with us.
AITOM Digital helps B2B manufacturing and industrial companies build sales and marketing strategies based on facts, not assumptions.