Achieve Growth with B2B Digital Selling
As with many aspects of business, the B2B sales cycle is evolving but can your CRM solution keep pace with the rise of digital selling?
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From rapid technological advances to the rise of remote working and shifting age profiles of the typical B2B buyer, sales teams need to rethink their sales strategies.
The in-person direct sales approach that once dominated the B2B landscape must now work alongside digital channels as buyers complete the majority of the buying cycle online. In fact, Gartner's The Future of Sales in 2025 report predicts that 80% of B2B sales interactions will occur in digital channels while 44% of Millenials, now the largest purchase group within the B2B landscape, prefer no sales rep interaction in a B2B purchase setting.
This is not to say that the traditional salesperson has been replaced by digital channels, in fact, their role has simply evolved with customer confidence remaining paramount in B2B decision-making. Today's salespeople must become sales supporters within the buyer's journey. Therefore to help establish a digital-first sales model that guides customers through the complexities of end-to-end decision-making in the B2B context, sales teams must embrace digital transformation to strengthen relationships with key customers and prospects, optimise processes to reduce costs and provide prospects with the insights required to inform next steps.
Guide Customers Through the Buying Journey
With customer confidence, the missing piece in the digital B2B buyer's journey, sales teams that connect with and instil confidence in all members of the buying committee will reap the greatest reward.
A 2018 study by Heinz Marketing revealed that 79.5% of CSOs that reported success in achieving their organisation's goals cited the use of data and customer insight as the most effective in driving deals forward. The reason, when armed with meaningful customer data, sales teams can tailor the conversation to address the individual concerns of each stakeholder, providing the right data at the right time to guide the customer journey forward.
However, with the rise of digital sales tools such as CRM and data visualisation software, access to rich customer data is really just table stakes in today's business landscape. True business value is derived from consolidating this customer data across multiple sources and leveraging the power of AI prioritising activities/sequences that enable your sales team to focus activities in the areas that will derive the greatest business impact.
In addition, sellers must look to deliver a seamless customer experience regardless of the physical location. Face-to-face meetings are no longer the norm, with leading sales teams tapping into the power of virtual 3D product demos, using tools such as D365 Product Visualise or leveraging video-conferencing software such as Microsoft Teams to support collaborative conversations with clients around the globe.
Strengthening Relationships Optimise Sales Processes to Reduce Costs and Engage at Scale
With many B2B sales cycles spanning months or even years, managing customer and prospect relationships requires organisations to effectively manage data from across all customer interactions. Yet for many organisations data silos across departments can lead to fragmented customer information.
Results from the 2018 Heinz Marketing CSO study revealed that 33% of organisations that achieved their goals reported providing their sales teams with access to the right tools and management platforms was key to business success, with 24% attributing their success to a defined sales process which advances leads through the funnel. With vast quantities of consumer data across both organisational tools and digital channels, providing your teams with the right tools and processes will facilitate engagement at scale, allowing sellers to identify opportunities and prioritise based on purchase indicators.
Designed to link people, data and processes across your organisation, Dynamics 365 can help your business break down these data silos. Bringing together the power of CRM, Marketing Automation, Customer Service, ERP and Supply Chain Management to provide 360° client and business insights.
To find out more about how the D365 suite of products can help your business achieve growth with B2B digital selling, get in touch with a member of our D365 team today.
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