The New B2B Sales Playbook

The COVID-19 pandemic compelled B2B sellers and buyers to move digitally in large numbers. This was initially a crisis response, but it has become the norm for buyers and sellers in the future.

Many sellers and buyers say they prefer digital self-serve or remote human interaction over face-to–face interactions. This sentiment has remained constant even after lockdowns ended.

One reason is of course safety. But customers have also enjoyed the convenience and speed of remote and self-serve interactions. And the he shift to digital engagement and remote collaboration is not a local phenomenon. It has been adopted by all countries that were surveyed. B2B sales executives have moved beyond being “forced” into digital due to widespread shutdowns during the early stages COVID-19, to becoming more convinced that digital is the best way forward.

B2B sales have changed forever. But how can companies adapt to this new era of Digital B2B Sales?

Organizations must have cross-functional teams that can create global repeatable processes. This will allow them to develop go-to market content with a holistic approach. These processes should be simplified with the aim of creating standard marketing assets that are industry-focused. It is crucial to involve regional stakeholders in content creation and to include feedback from global field sales and marketing teams.

Your team must ensure that your content is outcome-based. This means that it is focused on clients’ problems and not the products or services being sold. This team should create the infrastructure to house the content on their internal landing pages.

However, a portion of it can be made available to clients via social media channels and digital channels by marketing teams.

Push your content to the market. Leaders need to communicate the company’s go-to market program and its content throughout the organization. Leaders must ensure that the content is accessible to all salespeople. Salespeople should be able push the content to the market using platforms for distribution, and possibly sales productivity tools to track and measure performance.

Sales teams can share leads from demand generation. Some of the actions taken by sales will result in leads. This includes sending content to prospects and posting it on selected digital media platforms.

In other cases, like when prospects are led to a corporate website that collects customer information, sales leads will need to ensure that information is shared with the field, otherwise the field will not be properly incentivized.

Multiple levels of measurement are possible. Reps must be able monitor their content’s performance, including the impact on deals and views. The organization can continue to build on the sales content that is gaining traction and eliminate collateral that does not. For quality content to maximize leads and quality, internal performance metrics must be available. This ensures that sales motions are only included in the content library that provide value to both clients and the field.