Disruptive buyer dynamics are rewriting the B2B sales rulebook, requiring digital-first customer engagement.
Over the next five years, sales leaders must prepare their sales organizations to respond to widespread B2B customer buying behaviour shifts.
Leading B2B sales organizations will quickly implement digital selling models, displacing sales reps as the primary commercial channel.
According to the Gartner Future of Sales in 2025 report, 50% of chief sales officers will shift their focus from leading sellers to leading sales.
Five strategies are required to establish a digital-first sales model that helps customers manage the complexities of an end-to-end purchase decision.
Deliver value through digital and omnichannel sales models, according to Gartner research. Customer preferences are shifting away from in-person sales interactions and toward digital channels.
Because the average deal involves multiple suppliers, B2B buyers only spend 17% of their purchase journey with sales reps.
In a B2B setting, 44% of millennials prefer no sales rep interaction at all.
Sales leaders must provide significant value to customers via digital and omnichannel sales models, aided by sales professionals who can guide self-learning customers to more confident decisions.
B2B sales channels must match the seamless, easy, and informative standard of B2C digital platforms to provide rich virtual buying experiences.
Sales leaders who fail to create rich, immersive digital experiences risk alienating customers and losing business in the next five years.
Increased digital buying behaviour opens up a plethora of opportunities for analytics- and data-driven sales organizations.
Progressive sales organizations have only recently begun to use customer data to analyze funnel trends, generate forecasts, qualify opportunities, and engage customers proactively.
High-end analytics will become commonplace in the next five years, and leading sales organizations will use dynamic customer engagement models fueled by data from all buyer interactions.
The best sales organizations will equip their sales professionals to engage customers with supplier information in a new way over the next five years.