Predicting the future of B2B buying

Looking at where we're headed and where we've been, it's clear to me that B2B buying is changing.?

Historically, and often because a B2B sale is complex and drawn out, there was a strong need for B2B sales interaction very early in the cycle. The B2B sales rep needed to 1) understand the product or service 2) understand the market 3) understand the customer and their needs 4) know how to sell it.?

These are still true but what we're seeing today is that the buyer is doing a lot more research before interacting with sales.?

There's a Gartner report that said the buyer was spending 83% of the buying journey before connecting with sales.?

"B2B buyers report spending exceedingly little time with sales reps. Only 17% of the total purchase journey is spent in such interactions" - Gartner

I believe as we go further down the road, sales will be a last-mile event. The customer will interact with sales at the very end to tackle any logistics and closing questions or details, perhaps negotiation points but otherwise will have been sold up to that point.?

If this is true, then the journey bread crumbs all the way up to that point need to be amazing, well thought out, and as linear as possible to help stay in front of the buyer and move them to the closing stages.?

In other words -- we are moving toward what I'm calling Marketing Led Revenue Growth (MLRG)?

It will require B2B companies to really map every possible touchpoint of the pre-sales journey to ensure that what the buyer comes across and digests take them further toward the closing stage and last mile with sales.

If you don't control that journey the buyer will do the homework anyway and come across whatever is out there or what your competition is putting out etc. So you'll want to control the narrative as much as possible to ensure it answers questions and sells properly and consistently to lead to the last mile.?

When you think about what this will take, there's a good chance it's dramatically more than you're thinking now. When you consider the budget involved -- first, it's an investment in future revenue and second -- again, it's bigger than you're thinking with.?

As a tidbit, I read yesterday that the production budget for Barbie was $145 million. That's to produce the film, pay the actors, and so forth. The marketing budget was $150 million. More than the cost of the film. It paid off and they crossed $1B in sales. While this isn't B2B, it's an interesting piece of data to me and perhaps reveals what it actually takes to pull off the mission.??(we wrote a piece on 10two about this massive campaign here )

The moral of the story here is that if you execute the marketing correctly to pave the way and lead the buyer through the journey, you can handle a huge amount of heavy lifting and reduce effort for sales ultimately leading to a closed B2B cycle and revenue realized.??

I can't tell you how many calls I've been on where people say their sales cycle is complex and takes a long time. So much of that could be handled with a well-done journey that sells the buyer at every point.?

Taking a B2C look and using Apple as an example the flow of things goes something like this; build product > pre-launch > keynote event > marketing around the product for pre-order > site, videos, ads, billboards, etc > launch to the site with "order now" - all of these component parts executed flawlessly with gorgeous designs and very well done copy and message that hits the audience. I recently reviewed the Apple Watch Ultra site page and just from that alone I was sold 2 seconds into scrolling.??

How can this model be applied to the B2B journey? It can and there's no reason why the buyer can't essentially arrive at "order now" or nearly there to arrive right at the closing steps.?

This to me, is the future of the B2B buyer journey. And if so, companies will need to curate every part of that journey with the right message, copy, content, videos, ads, graphics, reviews, FAQ, third-party endorsements, stats, and ROI, etc to walk the customer/buyer right to sales for the last mile.?

?— Robert

?

About Robert Cornish:?Robert Cornish founded?Richter ?in early 2008 to build an agency focused on communication strategies that support sales growth for business-to-business technology-related companies. Bootstrapped with zero capital in the middle of the financial meltdown, Richter went on to make the Inc 5000 list comprised of the fastest-growing companies in America five times.?Richter made the Silicon Valley Fast 50 four times and the Entrepreneur360 award two times.?Robert has been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek, Selling Power Magazine, Inc Magazine and IDEA magazine. He's been a guest speaker for ACG Los Angeles, IASA Summit, West Point and been interviewed for 33Voices,?EnTRUEpreneurship Podcast ?and?IDEA Magazine by Northwood University .?In 2012 Wiley & Sons published his book,?What Works , about the lessons he's learned while growing his agency from start-up navigating his way to a multi-million dollar agency. Robert currently owns five companies.

?

Get What Works on Audible here >>>?https://adbl.co/2BvqS4I

?

?

If you enjoyed this blog, share it on social.

Follow me on?Medium ?and?Linkedin ?and?Quora ?and be sure to check out my latest?podcast on iTunes called Revenue Leaders