Thanks to Corona, digital communication measures and hybrid selling are on the rise. What trends can be derived for B2B marketing and sales? And will digital B2B communication continue after the pandemic?
It’s no secret that B2B companies are not exactly at the forefront of digitization. Many classic medium-sized companies have the most innovative products but lag in digital marketing and sales. Until recently, trade fairs and personal onsite visits were the most critical levers for many B2B companies. But then came the pandemic and various lockdowns. Trade fairs could not occur, and personal meetings were taboo for salespeople from one day to the next.
Corona Has Forced B2B Companies To Rethink
The pandemic, which will still be with us in 2022, has ensured a radical change in B2B marketing and sales. To stay in touch with customers and achieve corporate goals, B2B companies suddenly had to organize themselves digitally. Communication channels such as Zoom, MS-Teams, Google Hangout were used where face-to-face meetings and trade fairs were no longer possible. Due to the pandemic, a hybrid sales model has established itself in the B2B sector.
Hybrid selling poses the challenge of changing sales so that onsite visits and digital events complement each other in a meaningful way. Classic external sales are optimized by digital strategies that save time, increase team and employee productivity, and open up new B2B marketing and sales opportunities.
One thing is sure: Corona has created a hybrid model of face-to-face and online visits that enables significant productivity gains. Employees also benefit by leading a more flexible working life through remote work and less travel time.
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What Are The Advantages And Challenges Of A Hybrid Sales Model?
Hybrid models will continue to shape marketing and sales structures in the B2B sector in 2022 and beyond. But what are the advantages and challenges for employees and managers from the new sales organization?
Benefits
- Productivity: By eliminating business trips, employees gain around one working day. Online meetings are also shorter and, therefore, more efficient.
- Flexibility for employees: With fewer trips, employees gain a better work-life balance and better organize themselves when working remotely.
- Cost and carbon savings: The company reduces its expenses and carbon footprint by eliminating travel and travel costs.
- International marketing: Marketing is easier to implement digitally on a global level.
- Automation: Digitally, more automated processes in marketing and sales are possible, which increases productivity. Cross- and upselling can run entirely digitally.
- Data: Digitally, it is easy to collect data and get to know customers’ needs better with suitable CRM systems.
- Synergies in marketing and sales: Marketing and sales move closer together, which means that the individual buyers’ journey can be better designed. Online lead generation, marketing automation, and lead nurturing become sales suppliers.
Challenges
- New demands on executives: Changed sales tasks also lead to further demands on sales executives.
- Flexibility depending on the customer: In the past, all visits and events took place onsite; flexibility, adaptability, and careful consideration depending on the customer profile and situation are now necessary. An individual buyer’s journey is conceivable for each customer.
- The right mix: When are online formats appropriate, and when do onsite visits and events make more sense? A suitable blend is necessary.
- Twice the effort: The question will be how digital and analog events can be synchronized with each other. Onsite events combined with digital trade fairs are one possibility but can also mean double the effort with the same profit.
- Existing customers versus new customers: There is a clear difference between new customers and existing customers in the hybrid selling model. New customers almost always require onsite visits, while existing customers can often be looked after digitally.
- Different digital acceptance: Not every customer is equally open to digital customer discussions and reacts differently to the changes.
Marketing Automation As The Link Between Marketing And Sales
Given the increasing digitization of the B2B industry, new possibilities can be derived. Two are of particular importance:
Marketing Automation
In hybrid selling approaches, marketing automation is a crucial benefit. It can act as the perfect link between marketing and sales. Because relevant content – automatically played out to the right target group – creates high-quality contact points. If the lead shows more interest, it can be handed over to sales at the right time.
Linking Of Marketing And Sales
Well-developed CRM systems can help to understand customer needs better. You can see Customer Y visited Page Z and get more knowledge and insights. These, in turn, can be used by the marketing team to prepare customers for sales. Marketing can excellently frame the phases (see, think, do, care).
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This Is How Hybrid B2B Sales Succeed
How can you best implement a hybrid model in your B2B company? A standard model for all customers is not advisable as it depends on the customer and the activity in the sales funnel. Designs an optimized buyer’s journey tailored to the customer. This allows you to increase productivity with minimal effort.
Is it a new customer? Then getting to know each other makes sense for maintaining relationships and presenting the product in Persona. It is always advisable to appear in person at the hearing. On the other hand, existing customers can be supported via digital communication without any problems.
A possible buyers journey in hybrid sales could look like this:
- Digital: initial contact and initiation
- Digital: sales preparation
- On-site: before and upon conclusion of the contract
- Digital: further support and project management
- Digital and on-site: customer retention and relationship management
Conclusion: Digitization Of B2B Marketing And Sales
Marketing and sales have changed fundamentally in the B2B sector quickly. While the B2B sector proved to be resistant to digitization until recently, Corona has given it the decisive boost. Whether for 2022 or beyond: the new sales reality will be hybrid.
It is undisputed that B2B sales – especially with new customers – continue to live from personal contact. But a mix of analog and digital contact points and an optimized buyer’s journey significantly increase employee productivity. A mixture of online events and onsite meetings has thus formed the new basis for every successful salesperson since the Corona pandemic.
The digital changes allow new trends in the B2B space to thrive, which will become more critical in 2022. Increasing interaction between B2B marketing and sales and the exploration of new digital marketing spaces are leading the B2B industry into a new future.
