Is Your B2B Tech Stack Creating Burnout? How Digital Maturity Creates the Relief Your Business Needs

Your B2B buyers are moving faster. But your team feels like they’re moving slower.

In the rush to “go digital,” many manufacturers and distributors built systems that still rely heavily on people to keep things moving. You might have a CRM, an ERP, and a website. But if your sales team is still entering orders by hand, or customers are still calling to check inventory, your technology isn’t serving you. You’re serving your technology.

This is called the Cognitive Gap, the growing disconnect between what buyers expect and what your team can realistically deliver without burning out.

That gap continues to grow. More than 60% of B2B buyers now place orders online, expecting fast, seamless, self-service experiences. But when internal systems can’t keep up, your team is left bridging the gap, and buyers feel the friction.

When that friction shows up in the buying experience, customers notice, and many will choose a faster path somewhere else.

This is why digital maturity matters. Not as a label or a trend, but as a way to reduce complexity, lighten the load on your team, and create an experience your buyers want to come back to.

What digital maturity actually looks like

If your team feels stuck but can’t pinpoint why, you’re not alone.

That’s why we created the B2B Digital Maturity Assessment. It’s a fast, practical tool designed to identify exactly where your current tech stack is creating friction, wasting time, or holding you back.

In just a few minutes, you can get a clear snapshot of how your operations are working today, and what it will take to reduce effort, improve automation, and create relief for both your team and your buyers.

The six stages of operational relief:

1. High friction (the "Luddite" stage): Your team does everything manually. Every order requires a human touch. Burnout risk is high.

2. Disconnected (the "Laggard" stage): You have tools, but they don't talk. You are copy-pasting data from emails to ERPs.

3. Partial flow (the "Follower" stage): Some things are easy, but complex B2B needs (like quoting) still grind operations to a halt.

4. Integrated (the "Middle Ground"): Systems are connected. Data flows automatically. Your team breathes easier.

5. Automated (the "Leader" stage): Your buyers self-serve. Re-ordering is one click. Your team focuses on relationships, not data entry.

6. Frictionless (the "Visionary" stage): Your tech stack anticipates needs. You are API-first and future-proof. You have achieved maximum relief.

Moving up the maturity curve isn’t about adopting the latest trend. It’s about making your business easier to run, and easier to buy from.

Why digital maturity matters now

Digital transformation used to mean adding more. More tools. More complexity. More pressure on your team to keep it all running.

But the businesses that are winning today are the ones creating relief.

As more B2B buyers shift online, they expect fast, reliable, low-effort experiences. If your operations can’t support that, your team ends up filling the gaps and your buyers feel the friction.

Digital maturity helps you reduce that burden. It connects your systems, automates manual work, and removes the blockers that slow everyone down.

Relief isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s how modern B2B businesses grow.

The final word

If your team is tired of holding things together behind the scenes, you don’t need another system. You need less friction.

The B2B Digital Maturity Assessment is a fast, practical way to uncover what’s slowing you down and what to do about it.

You don’t have to guess where the gaps are. You just have to start.

Take the assessment and uncover your path to scalable, low-friction B2B commerce.

Looking for a deeper dive into what digital maturity really looks like? Explore the full framework in the B2B Digital Maturity Guide.