Traditional B2B sales processes that yield steady revenue, including many B2B industrial companies, rely heavily on face-to-face interactions.
However, with limited access to in-person meetings during 2020 (and companies rumored to keep appointments virtual until 2022), many B2B organizations have been forced to invest in digitizing their “traditional” sales cycle.
What’s changing in the B2B sector
According to McKinsey B2B Pulse Survey, “while nearly all companies will be able to connect with customers in physical locations by the start of 2022, only 15 percent of B2Bs expect in-person sales meetings to be the norm going forward.”
For a competitive edge, over 50% of B2B marketing budgets are focused on digital efforts, including ebooks, search marketing, chatbots, and augmented reality (AR). Personalized portals, easy-to-use ROI calculators, resource libraries, and video chat options are being adopted.
Exploring digitization
Our research and our own experience helping B2B companies recommend you prioritize improving the customer sales experience. Your second priority should be internal systems and processes.
Map out your customer journey, their pain points, drop-off points in the sales cycle, and any issues during the post-purchase phase. Asking your sales team what they need is also mandatory. Getting buy-in from all stakeholders is required.
How experts approach digitization
Digitizing or automating your entire system can be a simple, streamlined experience. We take a strategic approach to get it done in a way that yields a return on investment.
Gather your stakeholders, review your sales figures, marketing plan, and most importantly – sales cycle. These resources will help you move quickly through the discovery process to develop a valuable action plan.
“New or repeat orders made through digital B2B channels rose from 40% to 50% over the same period, representing trillions of dollars in value”
Bottom-line benefits
According to McKinsey & Company, “the companies that invested significantly in digital solutions had higher revenue growth and better total returns to shareholders, or TRS.”
“Top-quartile companies saw growth of 47 percent if they invested significantly in digital, compared with 27 percent for those that did not.”
Case study
Undergoing a simple website redesign was never the discussion with InduMar, an industrial B2B company. From the beginning, the executive team allowed our agency to hold meetings with the sales team to review their entire sales process, identify ways to digitally support their communication efforts, and create a virtual resource hub for closing deals to support their complex sales cycle.
