This has been embraced by buyers, with a McKinsey survey of 3,600 B2B decision-makers finding that the majority preferred remote human interactions or digital self-service.
Last year saw profound changes to B2B organizations. As professionals could no longer meet face-to-face, marketing and sales teams need to move near exclusively to a digital approaches.
So, with digital-first models in place, how re B2B organizations adapting to these changes?
CHANGE IS CRITICAL
CHANGE IS CRITICAL
The rise of digital has categorically transformed the marketing world and has been rapidly accelerated by the onset of Covid-19. In your opinion, how well is your sales and marketing organization currently performing? Here's what a recent poll showed:
Don’t freeze, future- proof
Don’t freeze, future- proof
The past few months have condensed the typical shift to digital into a few short weeks, marketers still need to be forward-looking and future-proof efforts. Even as companies move out of crisis mode, the marketing world has experienced an inflection point from which there is no going back. Marketers need to redouble efforts in digital transformation. There is a real chance that if you stay frozen, your competitors are going to out-digital you.
At a time when rapid revenue recovery is more important than ever, it’s just going to leave you even further behind Research shows that if companies stay flat, freeze, or dramatically reduce their spend in marketing and sales now, that they are less likely to recover fast enough against their market competition when the time arises.
A recent report by Marketing Sherpa found that 44% of B2B buyers are looking for better ways to extract value from existing members, while just 16% want information about additional capabilities that could bolster flow through. Changes in customer priorities should lead to changes in strategy. We urge forward-thinking marketers in more archaic or conservative industries that are resistant to change, to push through. Now is not the time to hold back the reins and stay true to what you were in the past. It’s a great opportunity to try to innovate and reach beyond your comfort zone based upon what your clients are telling you.
Focus on core KPIs
Focus on core KPIs
Now that every interaction is necessarily digital, you should consider a key step to be starting to qualify those interactions. This involves documenting and measuring customers interactions with your digital touchpoints. When everything is digital, the scale of your interactions will exponentially multiply. You need to have processes in place to be able to understand who is there to consume content, who is in a discovery phase, who is ready to talk to a salesperson and who is ready to buy
Many companies are at risk of becoming overwhelmed. But as long as new data is being distilled down into the core KPIs that are right for a team, executive leadership, and an organization as a whole, this will be more manageable Focus on having a unified attribution model that is holistically applied across all touchpoints and systems. If you’ve got a common proof point where all data is being vetted out using the same standard terminology, it lessens the burden.
Reconsider how you score
Reconsider how you score
Engagement can and should be scored differently during times of crisis or change. Engagement now is different than engagement before, and many sales teams might struggle as the qualification of leads catches up this new reality. Assets like an augmented workforce or an intelligent virtual assistant can help to determine lead quality for overwhelmed sales teams, who may also be feeling the effects of frozen hiring or reduced workforce.
Strengthen foundations at a human level
Strengthen foundations at a human level
Nurture the most strategic accounts and partners at a personal level, despite this not being particularly scalable. The deeper an inroad you have in a relationship with a vendor in a difficult time will be remembered, and it most certainly will be reciprocated. It’s to give them confidence that you’re the right thing for them as much as possible.”
Pause for thought before taking drastic action
Pause for thought before taking drastic action
Look ahead and invest in the long-term
Look ahead and invest in the long-term
Think creatively, think outside of the box and consider new ways that people, processes and solutions can help you — because it doesn’t have to go back to business as usual. There are ways that you can adapt to this new normal.”