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Insights and Expertise
Lessons from T is for trusted relationships
Whether today or five years ago, trust remains the bedrock
COVID-19 can of B2B commerce. At an April 2025 Crossroads FinTech
salon that brought together leaders in payments and
apply today digital transformation, trust emerged as a defining theme.
One global payments executive noted, "Trust takes years
to build, but seconds to break," while an ecommerce leader
By Allen Bonde from a major electronics brand remarked, "Trust scales far
better than features."
TreviPay
In a survey my team conducted before the event of 300 B2B
ith today's swirl of trade shifts, tariffs, buyers across the United States and UK, 90 percent cited
political uncertainty and recession fears, trust as the most important factor in supplier selection,
some unexpected forces are shaping busi- rating it above all other factors, including price and
W ness strategy. However, amid the disrup- payment terms. Loyalty was also strongest among buyers
tion, I remain cautiously optimistic. We've faced similar who were offered their preferred payment methods (see
challenges only five years ago—and not only endured, but https://bit.ly/44MAHYL).
used the opportunity to rethink and future-proof opera-
tions. In short, businesses must show up now, and they need to
be the trusted adviser and partner who says, "We see your
Recent conversations with sector experts, consultants and costs rising, and we're here to help."
business leaders reinforce this view: with lessons from
the past and today's digital infrastructure, we're better A is for adaptive infrastructure
equipped than ever to respond with agility and resilience.
Think back to how businesses pivoted during the 2020 to
Consider COVID-19. Initially viewed as a monumental 2022 global health crisis, and even during earlier events
shock, it brought the world to a halt. Yet businesses reacted like SARS. Airlines repurposed passenger routes for cargo,
with speed and innovation. While today's pressures— retailers transformed storefronts into distribution hubs,
tariffs, supply chain strains, inflation and shifting global and warehouses served as vaccination and treatment
dynamics—differ in origin, the response can be the same. centers.
And once again, this may be opportunity in disguise.
These shifts happened because leaders prioritized flexibility
A crisis playbook over rigidity. CEOs called for adaptable infrastructure
that empowered experimentation under pressure. With
Why? Because during COVID, urgency drove rising tariff and trade uncertainties, companies would
unprecedented digital acceleration. In October 2020, be wise to embrace that same agile mindset once more.
McKinsey & Co. estimated three to four years of progress
had occurred in just six months. Organizations that can rapidly adapt to new pricing, extend
trade credit and streamline settlement are best positioned
That same sense of urgency can serve us well in 2025. to gain market share. In another study, McKinsey found
Tariffs might spark the change, but the bigger opportunity that improving order-to-cash workflows can deliver up to
is to rethink how we operate, go to market with more $6 in return for every $1 invested, making this a prime
bespoke offerings, and strengthen buyer relationships focus for both consultants and ROI-driven leaders.
through consistent, experience-led loyalty.
I is for intelligent decision-making
When the pandemic hit, I was leading the digital
transformation team at Forrester Research. To support our AI itself isn't new, but tools like ChatGPT have made it far
clients, my team met with leaders across sectors—from easier to leverage for everyday work like understanding
airlines to manufacturing to retail—to understand what customer needs, personalizing offers, and modeling
made top performers stand out. Three traits consistently risk and market scenarios. New multimedia tools like
emerged: adaptability, creativity and resilience. Google NotebookLM and ElevenLabs, and specialized AI
assistants now provide unmatched capabilities to create
These findings, paired with insights into buyer-seller new tailored experiences and drive customer engagement.
loyalty (see https://bit.ly/40dbcyf), led my colleagues and me Make sure to take advantage of them.
to a new framework focused on four characteristics critical
for B2B sellers in today's market environment. Those are To tackle today's challenges, businesses need to apply AI
to be trusted, adaptive, intelligent and localized. As we with urgency and precision, mapping buyer journeys,
look to cope with new stresses, these tactics continue to identifying friction points like pricing or sourcing shifts,
be crucial. and acting quickly.
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