A survey of business-to-business executives by McKinsey has found that virtually all firms in the B2B space have adapted to Covid-19 pandemic “stay at home” rules by shifting to online support and e-commerce, while dramatically shrinking in-person sales.
Over a few months, 60 percent to 70 percent of those executives say they believe remote sales are just as effective as the former in-person sales methods.
That might shock you. “Remote selling” is 60 percent to 70 percent “just as effective” as in-person selling?
Maybe not.
If they really believed that remote sales truly were “just as effective” as in-person sales, the percentage of respondents who believe they are “very likely” to be doing so a year after the end of the pandemic restrictions would not be half, or less than half, of those same respondents.
Keep in mind that intentions in such surveys often do not match actual behavior, no matter how sincerely opinions might be held.
At least in part, even respondents reporting they are “very likely” to continue with “remote” go to market strategies after the pandemic is over might be thinking of e-commerce and online support activities, not direct sales.
I might very well be wrong, but a “new normal” where B2B sales activities are not conducted face to face seems highly unlikely.
In other realms, such as after sales customer support, online delivery does make sense, and likely will continue at a higher level than before.
In other areas, internal meetings, training and routine support operations are likely to continue using newer forms of remote communication, if not always significantly higher levels of remote communication.
That scenario likely hinges on a permanent shift to remote work at significant scale, and that is likely not to be as robust a trend as many expect.
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