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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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