One of the largest gaps between what today’s new breed of B2B buyer wants and the way most B2B companies communicate concerns sheer credibility. You see, it’s easy to compare the communications efforts of today’s B2B marketers to what I like to call “propaganda” – carefully crafted messages designed to persuade the masses using superlatives like “advanced”, “state-of-the-art”, “cutting edge” and the like.

At times, I am reminded of the efforts of the Catholic church when challenged by the Reformation, the proponents of which railed against the overly ornate decoration of huge cathedrals covered in gold and fine art, all designed to impress the ‘buyer’. Instead of trying to change the product to adapt to a new audience that had become increasingly unhappy with the funds they saw being spent by religious leaders, the church turned up the power, deploying even more decoration and riches in the hope that this would retain their followers.

At the risk of cheapening the lessons learned from history, I can’t help thinking that today’s B2B buying environment is comparable to those distant times. Luther and friends are out there searching the Internet, practicing direct and honest peer-to-peer communications, relying on the judgement of people like themselves rather than the propaganda disseminated by company websites and marketing collateral.

Eventually, the Reformation gave rise to a whole new way of reaching and persuading Christian audiences – even the Catholic church has had to follow suit. While I was born some years after the Reformation, I can clearly remember my own Catholic upbringing in a church that moved from heavily ritualized masses in Latin to a rock band-driven Sunday morning jam session in the space of just ten years.

Get ready to rock.

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