Today’s modern B2B selling environment is based on timely and actionable data and must be provided to sellers efficiently to boost productivity while also being used to drive sales effectiveness across all stages of the buyer journey. In a recent knowledge brief (or KB) Aberdeen’s Omer Minkara highlights how B2B selling has been influenced by new trends such as remote selling and digital communication in light of the global economic climate. To succeed in this environment, B2B sales organizations must find ways to rise above the digital noise to get buyers’ attention.
Today’s Buyers are More Empowered Than Ever
Minkara notes that all B2B buyers are also consumers, and as such, consumer-driven experiences like one-button buying and predictable and fast delivery timelines are now the expectations on the B2B side as well. This means that B2B sales organizations must continuously innovate and evolve in ways that make it easier for their buyers to do business with them.
Aberdeen surveyed 859 businesses regarding how they engage their buyers, the activities they use, and the results they observe. Findings reveal that participating B2B sales leaders reported aligning their activities more closely with the expectations of their customers to improve satisfaction is their number one objective. According to the KB, buyer satisfaction for the modern B2B sales organization is crucial as buyers today are more empowered than ever before. They have almost instant visibility into the value firms can provide but also can easily observe peer feedback to make educated buying decisions.
3 Ways to Modernize Selling
Aberdeen found that Best-in-Class firms lead the way for all organizations on how companies can successfully modernize B2B selling to succeed in today’s climate. Findings reveal that there are three categories of activities that are instrumental in helping firms modernize B2B sales:
- Build & Maintain a Contextual Understanding of Buyers: Although B2B selling is evolving rapidly, fundamentals are still important. One of them is truly knowing the priorities of buyers, which requires building and maintaining a contextual understanding of them.
- Empower Sales Reps with Timely & Actionable Data: Best-in-class firms prioritize giving their sales reps the tools and information they need to be more productive, thereby increasing the efficiency of the sales team.
- Continuously Optimize Sales Processes: Best-in-class firms are always looking to optimize their sales processes to improve the effectiveness of the sales team. This includes implementing processes designed to boost customer profitability, which is cited among the top five goals for B2B sales organizations (see data below).
Top Goals for B2B Sales Leaders
- Improve customer satisfaction: 47%
- Increase brand awareness and loyalty: 31%
- Increase number of net-new customers: 27%
- Enable and incentivize employees to meet customer needs: 24%
- Increase customer profitability: 24%
n=859; Source: Aberdeen, December 202
The insights that Minkara shares in this KB also highlight the importance of B2B sales organizations elevating brand awareness and loyalty as it’s important for firms to enjoy a price premium associated with brand trust as well as helps speed sales cycles with buyers aware of the brand. Firms also report growing the number of net-new buyers as a top objective, which is important to note in a recessionary environment. This means that sales leaders are not only focused on protecting their existing client base but also focused on capturing market share from competitors through net-new client acquisition.
Maximize Your B2B Sales Potential
The pillars of success in B2B selling have evolved and B2B sales organizations must find ways to rise above the digital noise to get buyers’ attention. Aberdeen’s research suggests that Best-in-Class firms lead the way for all organizations on how to modernize B2B selling to succeed in today’s climate, by building and maintaining a contextual understanding of buyers, empowering sales reps with timely and actionable data, and continuously optimizing sales processes.
This article is fueled by insights from the attached research from VP & Principal Analyst Omer Minkara (Email, LinkedIn).
