The future of B2B sales - 6 trends you should be aware of
Over the past several years, B2B sales have been evolving to fit the needs of buyers. Most enterprises have migrated their sales processes online. Today, every business requires a strong system that will support teams in finding new clients, negotiations, and closing deals. The most fascinating thing about predicting the future of sales is comparison with the past and prediction analysis. That’s exactly what we’re going to do in this article.
B2B sales are the backbone of any economy. It is estimated that until 2028, the revenue growth in that sector will reach almost 19% annually. The usage of eCommerce channels increased in most countries because of the pandemic. These tendencies are interesting to observe, and we know they will influence the industry Meetsales operates in. That’s why we want to take a closer look at the upcoming trends to give our clients an insight into data that might be crucial for their future operations and our collaboration.
6 trends in B2B sales you should be aware of
We often hear in B2B sales that “the future is now”. What does it mean? Simply that traditional ways of doing business are being quickly replaced with new technologies and innovative practices. The future of B2B sales will be built on a foundation of automation, artificial intelligence, visual communication, and quick response. Sellers have to adapt if they want to keep up. Let’s find out what they should take into consideration in 2022 and beyond.
Video conferencing
With the advancements in technology and two years of the global pandemic, businesses could and had to transform their communication means to make their sales process more efficient and adjusted to current reality. Video conferencing has become a valuable method of engaging with prospects and customers for many B2B companies. Meetsales is a solution that is a perfect example of this trend, as it allows salespeople to execute their whole process during a video call.
With a video-focused approach, enterprises can expand their operations to worldwide locations, optimize their sales budgets and offer their customers assistance when they purchase certain goods - all of that that while preserving face-to-face interactions. In a digitized world, there’s no doubt we will keep meeting online, and businesses that embrace all the advantages of video conferencing (for example, by implementing Meetsales), will have a chance to reach more clients and increase profits.
Omnichannel
Providing a seamless experience across all channels used by potential customers should be the ultimate goal of every B2B seller. We live in an era, where people have several devices that they use on a daily basis, sometimes even simultaneously. They use them to research the products before purchase, and frequently they finalize the transactions this way as well. In 2021, omnichannel was highly appreciated by B2B decision-makers. They claimed that it is a much better method of doing business than the traditional face-to-face approach.
Research suggests that 2 out of 3 clients prefer “remote human interactions or digital self-service”. The former is possible thanks to Meetsales. We’ve created our platform with this purpose in mind. It promotes your company’s efforts in building a straightforward, consistent process throughout all the channels you connect your audience with.
Data-driven approach
Companies are switching to analytical tools in order to ensure their success in all aspects of a business for a few years now. B2B sales is not an exception. There are many reasons for this. For example, lead nurturing relies less on top-of-funnel performance and more on post-qualification performance. Reaching the leads that are qualified as prospects requires a certain amount of information about them. It is then utilized in sales and marketing activities.
According to Ampliz: “(...) 95% of companies who opted for a data-driven approach, albeit only for lead generation, saw a remarkable rise in deal closures. A data-driven sales approach has integrated marketing and sales to attain a common and well-defined business outcome.” Meetsales comes in handy once more, as it allows sales teams to collect data about their clients, analyze the stages of their process and optimize their activities to improve them.
Remote work
There’s no need for business people to be tied to the office desk anymore. Remote sales are all about managing the clients effectively, regardless of the location of all involved parties. As the definition of sales moves toward the customer, it is necessary to find an intermediary to manage the relationship between people and teams. Remote work is a growing trend for B2B sales because it expands and enables a sales team’s capabilities. Meetsales can be your ally here, too.
It’s not only about your sales team’s comfort to let them work from home. Even if they prefer to go to the office, many customers are not up for in-person meetings. If you want your business to thrive, you have to be open to digital solutions. The research by McKinsey states that approximately 77% of clients prefer video calls with their vendors over phone conversations. It’s a statistic that can’t be ignored - you should embrace it by introducing Meetsales to your sales department instead.
Automation
There’s no escape from automation and artificial intelligence in modern business. Every company that went through a digital transformation has to be aware of the possibilities that innovative tools provide. Why? The sales team’s productivity and conversions grow when marketing and sales automation is implemented. Taking the benefits of these technologies into consideration, it’s no surprise that almost 60% of B2B sellers want to adopt them in the months to come.
Among many options, one can choose email automation, chatbots, data analysis with the use of machine learning and much more. Each of these automations give different results. The outcome is improved sales, more satisfied customers, and higher revenue. With Meetsales, you can reach out to new prospects with a website-embedded widget, inform your clients about all the details via automated messages and analyze your team’s work with a built-in module that displays the most important data and helps you make better decisions.
Personalized CX
The idea of personalization isn’t about starting an email with the first name of your client or sending product recommendations based on previous purchases. It means tailoring every interaction with a customer - from marketing messaging to purchasing process - so that it aligns with the customer’s preferences and needs. The shift from selling products to offering solutions is a growing trend in B2B sales. In today’s eCommerce, clients are looking for more than just products or services. They want their vendors to provide something that will make their lives easier and more convenient.
As a result, it is becoming increasingly critical to be aware of your customers’ problems and be able to solve them. Thanks to CX individually adjusted to your target group, you can become their number one choice when they want to buy certain goods. Meetsales is a great tool to achieve this - your salespeople can schedule video calls with each client and assist them during the shopping process, answering their questions and helping them find exactly what they require. If that’s not what personalized CX is, then we don’t know what it can be.
Conclusion
The future of B2B sales is getting more complex. The fight for customers’ attention has never been more fierce, as there are more options than ever to catch it. Moreover, the buyers are growing increasingly knowledgeable and sophisticated, meaning sales reps need to do more to stand out. That’s why these 5 trends in B2B sales will be important to consider - they’ll help you to optimize your sales activities, so your team would be able to focus on finding new clients, winning them, and finalizing transactions.
As you can see, Meetsales is a great solution to begin or complement your digital transformation and elevate your sales department to the next level. It is a modern tool that meets all the current trends and is the best way to save budget, organize workflow, and create perfect conditions for your sales deals. Do we catch your interest? Schedule a demo and find out how Meetsales can support your business. We promise you won’t regret it. Sell more and better with Meetsales!
