The environment of B2B sales is rapidly shifting. The purchasing process has become more difficult as expectations have shifted. Because of this, businesses can no longer sell in the same manner they did previously.
To begin with, B2B selling has gotten far more complicated. A typical B2B sale, according to Gartner, involves roughly ten individuals and takes over 17 weeks to finish. Why? Other departments are increasingly becoming engaged in purchasing decisions, goods and services have become more sophisticated, and prospects must sift through a deluge of information.
Modern buyers now have unprecedented access to data from sources such as research reports, and seller content. Buyers educate themselves long before they engage with sellers. Also, they want the same customized service they’ve grown to expect from the commercial sector.
According to the B2B Sales in 2020 Strategies for Success report, 74% of sales teams are reacting to these shifts by investing in new technologies. This is supposed to provide the company a competitive advantage or leverage through new skills that will help their sellers complete more sales faster.
This has sparked a technological arms race among sales teams in various respects. The objective is to integrate some technologies to create a contemporary sales process that meets the needs of today’s B2B client – and does it better than its rivals.
Some pointers on how to make the most of automation and data
When possible, automate manual tasks.
Sales are clearly benefited by technology that removes physical labor. This is because sellers spend the majority of their hours on administrative duties. Because these don’t provide value and instead raise the potential for error or danger, such non-selling duties are suitable for automation. This is an excellent time to concentrate on technological solutions that help automate and speed up sales, improve income, reduce administrative labor, and eliminate mistakes.
Make the buying experience a priority.
Beyond automation, when it comes to digital investments, each new solution should lead to an improved buyer experience in some way. Keep in mind that, in today’s world, the buyer may confront additional obstacles as a result of working remotely. You should reconsider investing in the technology that would address this gap.
Some technologies will be aimed towards clients and will deliver immediate benefits throughout the purchasing process, such as speedier and easier sales, or more personalization. Others may assist indirectly, allowing sellers to obtain answers more quickly or engage more readily with other teams.
The aim is to figure out how clients want to interact and then develop methods to meet them on their terms to address their problems. Every business will have its selling method and target market, but the overarching goal of technology investments remains the same: to give clients the greatest possible experience.
Have a technological strategy.
The goal of investing in technology is to establish a system of selling solutions that work together as a whole. To do so, you’ll need a broad view of the company as a whole, as well as an understanding of how technology and procedures interact—how data flows, which departments will require access to what, how things will evolve in the future, and so on.
Once you’ve established your vision, it’s time to start building, rather than reacting by introducing a set of one-off point solutions. The idea is to concentrate on long-term company success rather than bandaging short-term aches and pains.
Make the most of Big Data.
In recent years, few technologies have sparked as much attention as Big Data solutions. Many innovative platforms have been built using a variety of Big Data technologies in the field of B2C sales. B2B sellers, on the other hand, may tremendously profit from Big Data’s potential in their companies.
Unlocking chances to cross-sell clients is one of the aims of building a successful big data marketing and sales ecosystem. When it comes to sales, knowledge is power, and the more sellers know about their current and potential clients, the more equipped they are to provide products and services that fulfill their needs.
Manually searching through historical customer information to uncover linkages would take much too long for sellers. With big data technologies, however, this vast volume of data can be handled fast and essential information retrieved with ease.
Personal interactions are still an important part of B2B sales, and big data may help support and develop these connections. Any changes in prospective customer behavior may be rapidly identified and sales and marketing plans can be revised if necessary. This can be done through Big Data technologies that swiftly analyze massive volumes of data.
In practice, Big Data technologies can dissect successful sales attempts at a granular level to determine which ads, landing pages, or channels are most effective. The most advanced AI algorithms can sift through data to unearth useful information about leads. Rather than having sellers manually search websites like LinkedIn for leads, which can be a time-consuming and wasteful procedure, Big Data analytics can collect pertinent prospect data automatically.
Providing sellers with information that allows them to concentrate on the strongest prospects aids the whole sales funnel in prioritizing the highest-potential leads.
Conclusion
Sales teams now have new powers thanks to innovative technological solutions that help them navigate an increasingly complicated sales process. Teams who fail to remain ahead of the technological curve may find themselves unable to fulfill the changing needs of clients.
To compete, your sales team must design a clear technology plan that highlights automation potential and has a positive influence on customer experience. In the short and long run, this will provide your sales team with a significant technology advantage.