The B2B Sales Journey Has Changed

The business-to-business buyer journey has changed. As in the past, B2B transactions remain complex, with multiple influencers and decision-makers, with many rounds of research, evaluation and stakeholder engagement work required. 

 

Since the Covid pandemic, when person-to-person meetings were largely impossible, means the B2B purchase journey has been streamlined. There is less distinction between marketing and sales. Timelines often are compressed. Buying authority is more decentralized as “computing as a service” can be bought with a credit card. 

 

Buyers still must identify the business need, research solutions, evaluate options and reach a decision. But buyers are doing more of that online and on their own.

Enterprise sales have in the past largely relied on field sales. But change is happening. Perhaps a third of business-to-business buyers might be willing to conduct fully-virtual transactions for new products up to a value of approximately USD 500,000, according to a McKinsey report. 

And marketplaces, ecosystems and platforms can make a huge difference. PCCW Global, using an automated system for sales to settlements, “gained over 800 customers in the last 18 months, with growing traction, without any actual sales contact,” Halbfinger said. 

“We don’t even have to know who the customer is,” he added. Sales come from third parties or online, direct from the trading platform PCCW Global uses. 

B2B sales have evolved as virtual marketing, sales, fulfillment and settlement evolve using artificial intelligence and other digital tools. Those themes, and many more, are featured in a PTC Webinar Series: Frictionless Business™  on How B2B Sales Will Change, Post Covid. 

Featured panelists included:

• Matt Bramson, Founder & Managing Partner, Cloud Strategy Solutions, USA

• Marc Halbfinger, Chief Executive Officer, PCCW Global, Hong Kong SAR China

• Nancy Ridge,  Founder & President, Ridge Innovative, USA

• Elmar Rode, Director Communications Industry Strategy Group, Oracle, Germany

• Gary Kim, IP Carrier principal, acted as moderator

Available on 12 July 2021 to PTC members, the series will be available on YouTube in about 30 days. Other episodes in the series already are available for immediate viewing.