A recent CMO.com article quotes Cisco SVP and CMO Blair Christie: “There was a point in time when the customer journey was predictable. In B2B, it was like fishing in a barrel. There was a finite group of customers you were going after. But the customer journey has changed and is now filled with impromptu conversations.” The ad hoc conversations your customers and potential customers have with your employees and sales teams often take place on social media and other digital platforms. In fact, 85 percent of B2B buyers utilize social media during the buyer journey. And unless you have a documented Corporate Messaging Platform and are committed to infusing that message into your company and culture through sustained Organizational Change programs, these conversations can become barriers to achieving future business success.

B2B companies that earn the trust of their customers during the self-service phase of the buying process and maintain that trust throughout the sales and post-purchase experience are the companies that have invested in developing a clear, compelling and consistent corporate message and have taken the appropriate measures to ensure customer-facing stakeholders can communicate strategic messaging and positioning throughout the customer journey.

So while the buying process and customer experience as a whole has become more unpredictable, one thing remains constant: The companies that win put themselves in a position to deliver a clear, compelling and consistent message at every touchpoint.

Learn the one single action you must take in 2015 to transform your customer conversations here.