Future of B2B Sales
Future of B2B Sales: The future of B2B sales is being impacted by digital, social media and the change in buyers behavior.Traditional B2B selling is changing fast.
B2B sales and the impact of social media, data, connectivity, and
technology are bringing a step change in how companies sell. These
changes will help companies take a giant step that will take them way
beyond all the traditional selling tactics.
B2B sales are about to evolve like never before by embracing the
advantages digital technology provides. In fact, leading companies are
already pulling away from their peers in both sales growth and sales
productivity improvement.
There is no doubting that B2B buyers have moved the selling goalposts
as they seek out information and content on products using the internet
and social media.
This has led to a rise in challenges for sales leadership, challenges such as:
here and now, but also that they will become more magnified in the near
future.
If we add in the buyer’s preference for subscription-based models
then the challenges listed above become even more pronounced, leading
sales leadership to rethink how they go to market and engage with
customers.
commodity type products. Leading sales organizations are focused on
making their product offerings, sales touch points, access to
information and internal systems as easy as possible for customers and
prospects. Acknowledging the change not just in buyer’s preferences but
also buyer profiles (millennials are becoming the largest demographic in
B2B buying), the sales interactions need to be more rewarding,
informative and fulfilling.
Sales leaders are seeking out a sales strategy and methods to maximize sales touch points to improve the value buyers receive by make the sales process:
Transparency. Buyers are demanding a more open
approach to purchasing, so companies will utilize new sales tools, new
systems and processes to deliver a far greater transparent sales
experience for their customers. The added bonus for the sales
organization is this change can result in a more leaner and more
flexible sales force.
Multi-Channel Unified Experience. B2B sales
offerings will closer resemble the B2C sales experience. This entails
the provision of 24/7 access to specs, pricing, information, ordering
etc through all channels, but mostly digital or social media. It’s about
connecting all the company’s channels to ensure a transparent
experience across the different sales touch points.
Highly personalized interactions. Again, as with B2C
selling, the concept of “my B2B sales preferences” is on the rise.
Transparency and the multi-channel experience will lead to increased
buyer trust, leading to more data becoming available. This data and
information will give companies the ability to anticipate and adapt to
B2B customer needs. At a practical level it will allow customers to
receive customized and highly relevant interactions where they are
presented with personalized value propositions aligned to their specific
challenges.
Tools that let customers self-configure a customized product
solution, quotation and a virtual implementation will grow in
deployment.
will focus on really understanding the “what, why, and when” of the
customer needs. Buyers will be invited to participate in the ecosystem
that serves them so they can self-generate their own value. Selling will
become more collaborative and sales people will create more real sales
opportunities by allowing buyers to bundle and unbundle products or
solution themselves, based on their needs.
Adding Value. Companies will broaden out their
offerings to include a more complete customer solution (maybe via
partners) that lowers the overall cost of product acquisition, to make
it easier to implement or to improve business results. The divide
between products and solutions that a business offers to customers will
be fluid depending on customer preferences.
Selling becomes more intelligent. Sales people will
use the multi-channel approach to become a trusted advisor to a core
group of buyers. B2B sales organizations will invest in up-skilling the
sales teams to educate their customers on needs they did not know they
even had. Apart from nurturing and educating the customer, the
salesperson will engage the different stakeholders and decision makers
within the buyer’s organization to discover and highlight the need. They
will make buying easier.
how it defines customer value. These tools and insights will uncover
greater opportunities to expand the value delivered to customers.
insights will make it easier to offer the customer products and services
that matches their actual assessed needs. B2B sales organizations will
use deep customer and market intelligence to create value beyond what
customers are able to self-educate on themselves via channels such as
social media.
AI and the Virtual Experience. Engaging customers
will evolve to include the use of sales tools such as AI, a virtual
experience or simulated environment that will allow customers to truly
absorb the potential value of a companies offering.
Sales and the social business. Companies will
embrace the concept of a social business, using not just sales but other
functions to reach and connect with a larger number of buyers. Social
media, social selling
and digital connectivity makes it increasingly easier to engage with a
larger grouping of B2B buyers and influencers cost effectively.
The B2B Salesperson of the future.
The three B2B sales strategies provide some insight into the future
of B2B selling. Combine these with market knowledge, the right sales
training and sales motivation will provide the necessary ingredients to
take B2B sales to the next level.
The future of B2B sales will see salesmen and saleswomen contributing
to the overall business success with a set of modern sales practices
that is focused on customer success not the companies. Sales leaders
should be thinking about how they can take the next steps:
salespeople to perform and change how we do business. This will generate
a sense of excitement and fulfilment. So, start the future day, in
striving today to shape the future of sales in a more collaborative and
participative way, for the customers benefit.
B2B sales and the impact of social media, data, connectivity, and
technology are bringing a step change in how companies sell. These
changes will help companies take a giant step that will take them way
beyond all the traditional selling tactics.
B2B sales are about to evolve like never before by embracing the
advantages digital technology provides. In fact, leading companies are
already pulling away from their peers in both sales growth and sales
productivity improvement.
Future of B2B sales
There is no doubting that B2B buyers have moved the selling goalposts
as they seek out information and content on products using the internet
and social media.
This has led to a rise in challenges for sales leadership, challenges such as:
- Re-evaluating their products and services to meet buyers changing habits
- Combating new entrants, alternative business models, and pricing pressure
- The acceleration of commoditization and substitution due to buyer education
- Far greater transparency and increase in buyer purchasing knowledge
- The shift in seller-buyer control in favor of the buyer
here and now, but also that they will become more magnified in the near
future.
If we add in the buyer’s preference for subscription-based models
then the challenges listed above become even more pronounced, leading
sales leadership to rethink how they go to market and engage with
customers.
The Future Focus in B2B sales
Research into B2B sales practices being deployed by leading companies have found that they focus on 3 core strategies.Strategy 1: Making the buying process easier.
This applies as much to the more complex sales as it does to sellingcommodity type products. Leading sales organizations are focused on
making their product offerings, sales touch points, access to
information and internal systems as easy as possible for customers and
prospects. Acknowledging the change not just in buyer’s preferences but
also buyer profiles (millennials are becoming the largest demographic in
B2B buying), the sales interactions need to be more rewarding,
informative and fulfilling.
Sales leaders are seeking out a sales strategy and methods to maximize sales touch points to improve the value buyers receive by make the sales process:
Transparency. Buyers are demanding a more open
approach to purchasing, so companies will utilize new sales tools, new
systems and processes to deliver a far greater transparent sales
experience for their customers. The added bonus for the sales
organization is this change can result in a more leaner and more
flexible sales force.
Multi-Channel Unified Experience. B2B sales
offerings will closer resemble the B2C sales experience. This entails
the provision of 24/7 access to specs, pricing, information, ordering
etc through all channels, but mostly digital or social media. It’s about
connecting all the company’s channels to ensure a transparent
experience across the different sales touch points.
Highly personalized interactions. Again, as with B2C
selling, the concept of “my B2B sales preferences” is on the rise.
Transparency and the multi-channel experience will lead to increased
buyer trust, leading to more data becoming available. This data and
information will give companies the ability to anticipate and adapt to
B2B customer needs. At a practical level it will allow customers to
receive customized and highly relevant interactions where they are
presented with personalized value propositions aligned to their specific
challenges.
Tools that let customers self-configure a customized product
solution, quotation and a virtual implementation will grow in
deployment.
Strategy 2: Focus on longer term customer value.
It’s no longer the seller V the buyer. Companieswill focus on really understanding the “what, why, and when” of the
customer needs. Buyers will be invited to participate in the ecosystem
that serves them so they can self-generate their own value. Selling will
become more collaborative and sales people will create more real sales
opportunities by allowing buyers to bundle and unbundle products or
solution themselves, based on their needs.
Adding Value. Companies will broaden out their
offerings to include a more complete customer solution (maybe via
partners) that lowers the overall cost of product acquisition, to make
it easier to implement or to improve business results. The divide
between products and solutions that a business offers to customers will
be fluid depending on customer preferences.
Selling becomes more intelligent. Sales people will
use the multi-channel approach to become a trusted advisor to a core
group of buyers. B2B sales organizations will invest in up-skilling the
sales teams to educate their customers on needs they did not know they
even had. Apart from nurturing and educating the customer, the
salesperson will engage the different stakeholders and decision makers
within the buyer’s organization to discover and highlight the need. They
will make buying easier.
Strategy 3: Using Data and Analytics to create customer value.
The use of data and analytics will help many organizations to reframehow it defines customer value. These tools and insights will uncover
greater opportunities to expand the value delivered to customers.
B2B sales trends
Science in Sales. Data, analytics and the resulting
insights will make it easier to offer the customer products and services
that matches their actual assessed needs. B2B sales organizations will
use deep customer and market intelligence to create value beyond what
customers are able to self-educate on themselves via channels such as
social media.
AI and the Virtual Experience. Engaging customers
will evolve to include the use of sales tools such as AI, a virtual
experience or simulated environment that will allow customers to truly
absorb the potential value of a companies offering.
Sales and the social business. Companies will
embrace the concept of a social business, using not just sales but other
functions to reach and connect with a larger number of buyers. Social
media, social selling
and digital connectivity makes it increasingly easier to engage with a
larger grouping of B2B buyers and influencers cost effectively.
The B2B Salesperson of the future.
The three B2B sales strategies provide some insight into the future
of B2B selling. Combine these with market knowledge, the right sales
training and sales motivation will provide the necessary ingredients to
take B2B sales to the next level.
The future of B2B sales will see salesmen and saleswomen contributing
to the overall business success with a set of modern sales practices
that is focused on customer success not the companies. Sales leaders
should be thinking about how they can take the next steps:
- Implement sales tactics to simplify, enrich, and elevate B2B sales.
- Utilize the digital influenced B2B sales practices as competitive
business opportunities, to reach and engage a far great pool of
potential customers. - Ignite sales transformation by adopting the social business mantra.
salespeople to perform and change how we do business. This will generate
a sense of excitement and fulfilment. So, start the future day, in
striving today to shape the future of sales in a more collaborative and
participative way, for the customers benefit.
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