Introduction: A New Era of Buyer Power and Expectation

We are in a moment of transformation for B2B sales. Prof. Bert Paesbrugghe’s presentation illuminated how digitalization is disrupting the old model of sales: no longer sufficient is the “talking brochure” salesman who touts features and leaves it to the buyer to figure out value. Today’s buyers are better informed, more demanding, and backed by procurement functions that extend far beyond cost negotiations—they are about innovation, resilience, compliance, and reducing risk.

Paesbrugghe’s work, including The Buyer’s Balance: What Your Customers Want to Share With You, offers a framework for understanding what customers truly expect: not just good products, but consistent delivery of value, transparency, and a seller who listens. As B2B ecosystems become more complex and procurement departments more central, understanding these shifts is no longer optional—it is essential.

Understanding the Buyer’s Changing Landscape

One striking point made by Prof. Paesbrugghe is how much the purchasing or procurement department has evolved. It is now involved in far more than cost savings; it is increasingly tasked with ensuring business continuity, managing risks, reducing dependencies, monitoring the market for shifts, and even influencing or driving innovation in supplier products or processes. This aligns with trends we see in broader procurement research. For example, leading procurement groups are now expected to deliver more than just efficiency—they are judged on transparency, supply chain resilience, sustainability (ESG), and their capacity to co-innovate.

At the same time, buyers are overwhelmed. Many companies report managing hundreds or thousands of suppliers, yet not having enough buyers, tools, or processes to keep up. In such contexts, the ability of a selling company to simplify, to be clear about value, and to build trust over time becomes a major differentiator.

Prof. Paesbrugghe observes that many suppliers and sales organizations aspire to be “strategic partners” — but in practice, buyers often see such claims as aspirational rather than real. Simply saying you are strategic doesn’t suffice; you must demonstrate this through how you manage expectations, deliver value, and engage in partnerships.

Value, Expectation, and Trust: Core Assets

One of the thorniest problems in account management is expectation management. It’s tempting to over-promise in order to win contracts. However, Paesbrugghe’s insight that “don’t over deliver once, even if you can; manage expectations so you can always meet them” points to a deeper truth: consistency is what builds trust. One great delivery does little if follow-up or ongoing performance fails.

Recent B2B buying behavior research emphasizes this too. Buyers now expect faster turnaround times, tighter alignment of offerings with customer outcomes, and personalization. Sellers who cannot meet those expectations, or who misalign their promises, risk losing credibility.

Further, Paesbrugghe advocates for triangulation of feedback: using multiple sources (customer feedback, satisfaction surveys, direct observation) rather than relying on a single number or KPI. The creation of a “conductor” role—someone within the organization responsible for orchestrating and integrating these signals—is something many firms still lack, yet it is foundational to maintaining customer health over time.

Emerging Trends that Amplify Paesbrugghe’s Message

Several broader market dynamics are reinforcing the relevance of what Paesbrugghe describes.

One is the growing role of AI and predictive analytics in procurement. Procurement teams are increasingly using AI tools not only to analyze spend, but to forecast disruptions, predict supplier risk, and even automate parts of contract negotiation.

This shift means buyers are more empowered than ever, able to compare offerings, detect risk, and demand transparency. Sellers must therefore be ready with insights, not just pitch decks.

Another is the trend toward more strategic procurement — the idea that procurement is judged not only on cost savings but on value delivered, innovation, resilience, and supplier relationships. For example, collaborative cost‐reduction has become more common, as has supplier-led innovation, meaning that suppliers who can partner early in a customer’s value chain often have an advantage.

Finally, buyer behavior itself is changing: buyers tend to do more research before engaging sellers; buying committees are larger; decision-makers expect more personalization; and B2B purchasing cycles are more complex. These changes mean that sellers must engage earlier, listen deeply, and provide clear signals of value even before a formal sales process begins.

ARPEDIO’s Reflection: How to Bring These Insights to Life

For ARPEDIO, these shifts are not academic. In our work implementing Account-Based Selling (ABS) programs with B2B companies, we see that embedding Paesbrugghe’s lessons—around expectation management, triangulation, and buyer-centricity—tends to separate the high performers from the average.

Putting customer value first means rethinking organizational processes. For example, companies need to ensure account plans are built around what the buyer values, not what the seller wants to highlight. That means aligning internal metrics and KPIs accordingly: measuring not just revenue growth or number of sales calls, but metrics that reflect customer trust, risk mitigation, repeat business, and feedback signals.

Another important dimension is investing in the capability to listen. This means systems for regular feedback, but also roles that are accountable for sense-making (the “conductor” role Paesbrugghe suggests) so insights are aggregated, analyzed, acted upon. Technologies—especially AI or analytics tools—can help, but only if connected with human judgement and aligned incentives.

Finally, we believe that ABS programs that emphasize consistency over “one big win” tend to succeed longer term. Over-delivering occasionally may impress, but unless it is built into the rhythm of your delivery, it becomes a liability—raising expectations you cannot sustain.

Conclusion

Prof. Bert Paesbrugghe’s presentation at the B2B Growth Summit 2025 served as a potent reminder: the future of strategic account management is built not on loud promises or over-delivery, but on trust, consistency, and deep alignment with what buyers truly need.

For B2B organizations today, the path forward includes aligning procurement and sales, investing in feedback loops, managing expectations carefully, and committing to delivering customer value steadily.

At ARPEDIO, we are committed to helping organizations operationalize these insights. If you want to explore what it takes to move from seller ambition to buyer clarity — or how to embed real customer-centricity into your account management strategy — we’d be glad to continue the conversation.