B2B engagements in the Digital 👩🏼‍💻 era

Insights and Best Practices for Sales Acceleration

Jul 27, 2020

📝 Purpose of this report:

1. Share the latest trends/research around digital selling/marketing
2. Help drive sales acceleration through digital best practices

This document is a compilation of publicly available reports from  McKinsey, BCG & Bain published over the last few months of the pandemic.

Executive Summary

Preference for digital now ~2X more than traditional sales interactions; self-serve, digital ordering methods now prioritized.
Remote selling is now the norm and perceived to be effective: 96% of B2B companies have shifted their GTM model during COVID-19; 64% believe the new model is just as effective or more than before.
Sales model changes are expected to stay: 80% are “very likely” and “somewhat likely” to sustain these shifts 12+ months after COVID-19.
Suppliers should over-invest in partners that will likely make strong contributions to future growth, such as those building cutting-edge capabilities.
Inside sales will become more prevalent for many B2B companies, as they realize complex products can be sold through virtual interactions.
Commercial leaders who equip their channel partners to thrive during the pandemic stand a better chance of maintaining growth during the downturn and well into the recovery.

The importance of digital sales has doubled over that of traditional sales interactions since the onset of COVID-19

E-commerce revenue is up more than 20% since the onset of COVID-19

💬 Live chat rates as the top channel for researching suppliers
📈 250% increase in mobile-app ordering
📱30% increase in customer preference for placing orders on mobile apps

Digital channel are now seen as the most beneficial for researching suppliers

Actions to improve buyers’ digital experience

Improve the self-service options you already have: For example, on websites, ensure buyers can readily find information, compare options, make purchases, and receive service without live support from sales reps for less complex needs.
Rapidly fix what's broken on websites and mobile apps: Watch for technical issues in real time and resolve them as they appear. Such no-regrets moves could deliver incremental revenue and improve the digital experience in ways that promote increased loyalty.
Keep the human touch for complex interactions: Have your sales reps on call to support buyers by phone, videoconference, or webchat, whenever they need it; a 24/7 or 24/5 live presence can be especially meaningful when remote interactions are the only options.
Think like a consumer: Ensure any e-commerce channel provides a B2C-like experience for every product or service, whether a new purchase or a repeat order. Link e-commerce sales goals to your overall sales targets and incentives systems. Be willing and able to double-count credit when customers interact both digitally and with sales reps.
Measure your progress: Are you a primary or secondary supplier? What is your churn rate, loyalty score, rate of customer satisfaction? Does your performance vary between digital and in-person interactions?

The four Rs of the B2B sales response

Reinforce discipline in sales cadence

Too many sales forces have grown lax or inconsistent in maintaining a disciplined sales cadence, such as weekly one-on-one sessions and team meetings between frontline managers and sales representatives (refer to the screenshots below).
With reps working remotely and strong customer relationships being key to stable revenues, this discipline needs attention—though in new formats.