This is the question we are all asking ourselves after the changes that have occurred due to Covid.
I recently echoed a study carried out by McKinsey in which the data showed that B2B sales have been digitalized due to COVID and that it seems that these changes will continue.
In this article I would like to focus philippines girls telegram on some of the most important data and offer you a guide to adapting to the new context of B2B sales.
The preference for digital B2B sales has doubled. In Spain and the United Kingdom, it has tripled .
Customers want self-service tools:
Online chat is the preferred channel for contacting suppliers.
Preference for placing orders via mobile apps increases by 30%.
+250% on orders via mobile app.
For this reason, companies that offer a good digital experience are twice as likely to be hired.
The reason for the shift to digital B2B sales was that teams were working remotely (96%) and purchasing decision-makers realized that they prefer the digital channel (65%) because they get the same or better results than before the pandemic (the countries where this shift is most common are: China, India, Spain and the UK).
Key changes in B2B sales after COVID
Looking at the data I just gave you (you can go deeper into the study here ), there are two fairly clear conclusions:
B2B sales have gone digital
This was a change that was coming. Professional salespeople had long been looking for ways to shorten sales times and the associated costs caused by successive meetings and trips. Since there was no other way to do it during lockdown, this change was the only option. Everything had to be done remotely.
It was something that caused some rejection, but when they were forced to do it and realized that it works just as well or better, both sides of the negotiation were delighted with the change.
I am not in favour of, nor do I think it is optimal for 100% of the process to be digital in all sectors. I do not believe that extremes are good for anything. Neither everything in person, nor everything digital.
As always, the key is to apply common sense and use each channel for what it does best. The higher up the funnel, the more digital, and the closer to closing the sale, the more in-person. And once the sale has been made, we can go back to digital again.
Companies that offer a good digital experience have a greater chance of being hired
Not just any more, but DOUBLE the chances of being hired. What does this mean? Companies need to accelerate their digital transformation processes (and even more so in Spain where this trend is particularly strong).
It is no longer enough to have a good business card (a website that shows the products well and has a contact form), now digital channels have to support the entire sales cycle (inform, delve deeper into the product or service, resolve queries, arrange a meeting with an expert, etc. etc.).
So companies need to make websites much more complete and strengthen them (when necessary with a mobile application) to allow all this to take place. This implies new functionalities for many companies (chat and video chat), more explanatory content (multimedia), online demos, etc. etc.
Pillars of B2B digital sales post-covid
1. B2B omnichannel
In the B2C world, we have been talking about multichannel (the ability to serve customers through several channels) and omnichannel (the ability to serve our customers unequivocally regardless of the channel in question) for many years.
But because of the lag in the evolution of digital in B2B, it is something we are starting to talk about now and we treat it as a standard that we have inherited from B2C.
If our clients have tried digital sales during lockdown and want it to continue like this, what do you think they expect to happen from now on in their new commercial interactions? What will they demand from us? Well, that we are able to transfer our traditional activity to the digital channel. So easy to say, but not so easy to do.
This additional channel also means that the processes are fast, transparent and, as I said before, capable of showing the company's expertise .
2. Turn our website into a commercial platform
The first consequence is that our website has to become the support for most of the phases of the purchasing process, both in terms of functionality and content.