This article comes from Jahnavee Ramalingam’s talk, ‘Crafting the B2B buying experience for the modern seller’, at our 2023 Future of SaaS Festival, check out her full presentation here.
The future of sales is bright … if you're ready to embrace it.
Today's buyers have evolved: Personalization and seamless experiences are now the norm. This new landscape led to the birth of Kale, built to help sales teams adapt.
As the founder of Kale, a buyer engagement copilot designed to help companies drive predictable revenue growth, I'm on a mission to revolutionize B2B buying and selling for the modern era.
So today, I want to share my perspectives on how the B2B buying landscape has radically shifted in recent years, the challenges facing both modern buyers and sellers, and how we can craft personalized buying experiences that lead to faster sales cycles and expanded lifetime value.
I've spent my career working in go-to-market and sales for some amazing companies, and I've learnt over the past decade just how dramatically B2B sales strategies have had to evolve to keep up with changes in buyer behavior and market conditions.
So join me to look at how sales is being reimagined in the age of the empowered purchaser and how you can tailor your strategies. Exciting changes lie ahead!
- Why B2B sales strategies are no longer effective
- Understanding the modern B2B buyer
- The struggles of the modern B2B sales rep
- Crafting frictionless buying experiences
- The future is buyer-centric
Why B2B sales strategies are no longer effective
In the early 2000s, B2B selling was fairly straightforward. Prospects would reach out to vendors, have a discussion with a sales rep, and make a purchase.
At that time, buyers had limited information and relied on salespeople to educate them, so the path to purchase was relatively linear.
Today's journey looks completely different due to the always-on nature of digital access. Each buyer's path is now unique and complex.
Here are some of the key trends that have emerged:
- Digital selling is here to stay. The use of digital sales touch points has grown by 41%, and hybrid selling models are expected to dominate by 2024.
- Data-driven strategies are replacing intuition-based selling. With more data from multiple channels, sales organizations are shifting from following gut instincts to relying on analytics.
- COVID-19 has increased predictable buying patterns. Buyers conduct more research independently and prefer self-guided exploration.
- Buyer-centric selling is now revenue critical. It's a major competitive differentiator for winning business and growing lifetime value.
Looking at how the typical B2B buying chain has evolved shows how urgently sales strategies need to adapt:
It's clear that old sales tactics just aren't cutting it anymore and reducing friction is key to survival today.
Understanding the modern B2B buyer
Crafting desired buying experiences means understanding today's purchaser. They're younger, more tech-savvy, and bring informed perspectives based on their prior buying. Here’s proof:
- 60% of B2B tech buyers are Millennials, 32% are Gen Xers. They expect personalized digital touchpoints.
- 44% want a "salesperson-less" experience with substantial independent research before engaging.
- 80% of B2B collateral is gated, frustrating buyers who want easy access.
- 8 in 10 millennial buyers read online reviews before deciding.
- 82% will pay more for an outstanding purchasing experience, which emphasizes the revenue potential in perfecting buyer journeys.
Today's buyers want relevant, personalized content tailored to their needs, not generic pitches, there's a gap between what buyers want and sellers provide. At Kale, we close this gap with targeted buying experiences.
The struggles of the modern B2B sales rep
While modernizing the buyer's journey is clearly essential, it's equally important not to overlook the challenges faced by today's sales reps.
Even as purchasing power shifts to buyers, sellers remain under intense pressure to deliver results. Here are the three struggles I often see reps facing:
🧮  Deal complexity
The average number of stakeholders has ballooned to 11+ people, compared to 5 buyers a decade ago. Trying to coordinate multiple decision makers leads to confusion.
💤 Tool fatigue
Salespeople spend just 12% of their time actually selling, overwhelmed by manually updating their tech stack and tracking data in silos.
👀 Visibility gaps
Once an email is sent, reps have no visibility into stakeholder engagement. They're also unable to determine what assets resonate with buyers.
These problems, along with buyers' frustration over complicated purchasing journeys, lead to lost deals and revenue left on the table. It's clear that buyer-seller alignment is widening at the worst possible time.
Crafting frictionless buying experiences
But all is not lost! Buying experiences can be win-win for customers AND sales teams, it just requires buyer-centric processes.
Here’s how to craft these low-friction purchases:
- Champion alignment equips internal advocates with tools and relevant materials to get stakeholder buy-in and address concerns.
- Personalized content replaces one-size-fits-all materials with contextual resources tailored to each buyer's unique situation.
- Digital workspace collaboration provides a single source of truth for materials, action plans, and communication.
- Mutual action plans with clear goals and accountability measures keep buyers engaged and deals progressing.
Embracing new buyer-first approaches removes friction, accelerates sales cycles, and increases lifetime value.
The future is buyer-centric
I believe B2B sales' future is fundamentally buyer-centric. To thrive in our data-rich world, teams need to embrace AI-powered tools, scalable personalization, and insight-driven strategies.
Selling has changed radically since the pre-internet days. We can't rely on old instincts - there's just too much data now! The key is using it to align with how modern buyers decide.
This future gives buyers the power, not sellers. As a founder, I'm so excited to see sales leaders embracing this change in the coming years, and I hope I’ve been able to inspire you to do the same.
The future is bright when you put buyers, not products, first! Sales is being reimagined - the best is yet to come!
