For a long time, B2B marketing was seen as purely technical. Processes, numbers, and specifications were the basis of communication. The idea was that, to persuade, simply talking about efficiency and functionality was enough. However, over time, we discovered that this is not sufficient. Even when the decision is made by a company, the decision-maker is still a person, with goals, doubts, priorities, and expectations. Understanding this person makes all the difference.
Understanding this reality changes how we position ourselves, how we build relationships, and how we see the buying journey. When the focus is solely on product and performance, marketing becomes an accessory. However, when we put people at the center, it becomes a tool for listening, dialogue, and value creation.
When marketing looks back at people
It all starts with knowledge. Knowing who is on the other side is essential. Who are the decision-makers? Who influences the process? In many cases, it’s no longer just about convincing a single person, your contact at the client, but about understanding how different areas are connected, how HR, logistics, finance, and legal, for example, are involved in the decision. Mapping out these interlocutors allows for a more effective approach and, importantly, one that is more respectful of each company’s time and needs.
Technology in service of relationships
CRM tools are not just databases. They are the new way to organize relationships. If before we exchanged business cards and built commercial memory from notes, today the consolidation of all this information is possible in systems that help personalize, predict, monitor, and improve end-to-end experience. When well fed and shared across departments, in other words, used intelligently, CRM transforms into a living platform of intelligence about the customer.
Technology plays an essential role in this process. But not as an end, but as a means. Automating interactions, using artificial intelligence to anticipate demands, cross-referencing data, and generating recommendations are valuable resources. But what really matters is what we do with the time and clarity that these tools offer us. When technology is applied intelligently, it frees people’s schedules to focus on what machines cannot do: building trusted relationships.
In many cases, customers themselves become brand ambassadors. It is they who tell, in their own words, their way, what really works. This true influence, based on real experiences, carries significant weight in the B2B environment. Especially when it arises spontaneously, from customer to customer, in conversations, recommendations, events, and initiatives that place users at the center of communication.
None of this is possible, of course, without integration. Collaboration between marketing, sales, and other areas of a company is what sustains a more efficient model. There are still barriers, often cultural, that hinder this fluidity. But it is necessary to break with the idea that each area ‘owns’ a customer. The customer belongs to the company. And when everyone works with that mindset, the delivery is much more consistent, agile, and relevant.
This way of seeing marketing, more integrated, more sensitive to people, and more connected to the reality of decision-makers, has also guided our actions at Edenred Mobilidade. We operate with a very clear focus on creating value at every point of the journey, and it starts with how we communicate, listen, and understand our customers.
The tools we offer and use reflect this intention. TED, our artificial intelligence focused on fleet management, is more than an operational solution. It allows us to translate data into tangible gains, which also becomes a strong brand message: we want to be partners in building efficiency, not just solution providers. GoHub, which organizes and centralizes previously scattered information, supports faster and more accurate decisions, strengthening trust throughout the relationship.
On the other side, EVA, our virtual assistant, handles millions of interactions quickly, and at the same time, with care. It represents a contact point that needs to be efficient, but also welcoming. Every conversation matters, and every experience consolidates the customer’s perception of our brand.
Real influence comes from those who experience it
More than talking about what Edenred does, we seek to support with what we know – the wealth of our database, and always listen to those who use our solutions every day. Managers, drivers, truckers, and partners who use our solutions every day in their operations share their stories in videos, events, and other communication initiatives. They not only validate what we offer; they show, in practice, how technology can make a real impact. It is an influence that comes directly from experience, and that is why it is so powerful. When someone who lives the operation every day recommends a solution, this message has a credibility that a ready-made speech can hardly achieve.
At the end of the day, B2B marketing is about listening carefully, delivering consistency, and building trust over time. And when this relationship is built with truth and respect, the customer ceases to be just someone who buys. They become part of what the brand builds every day.
