What the Next Generation of Sales Means for B2B Sales Teams

With the pandemic waning, many B2B sales teams are eager to get back to “normal” – meeting customers in-person. That’s understandable, as they can resume their traditional ways of generating leads and closing deals, often informally over coffee. But in-person visits likely won’t be a major part of B2B sales in the future.? The pandemic has accelerated the trend toward remote sales powered with digital tools and AI. ?

Pre-COVID, companies managed that trend with quick-fixes and bridge solutions. Now they have the opportunity – if not the necessity – to apply a permanent approach. That means investing in capabilities in digital marketing and data analysis that will help them understand customers’ needs and behaviors of customers as well as discover leads.? Those capabilities will make their sales teams both more effective and more efficient. ?

Accelerating the shift to data-driven marketing and sales?

A decade or so ago, most B2B sales reps got to know their customers over time, remembered the names of their family members and pets, and closed deals over lunch. Marketers handled basic tasks such as printing brochures and running brand awareness event but interacted little with Sales. In-person relationships drove most business.?

Even before 2020 that approach was showing its age, and now it’s unsupportable.? Across all industries, many employees no longer want to come to an office, and they no longer need to do so with widely available collaboration software and broadband.? One study estimated that 70% of white-collar jobs can be readily performed remotely. ?

Without in-person relationships, how will teams sell?? By collaborating with Marketing, which can now generate leads through interactive websites and analytics. As potential customers do their own research, marketers are analyzing SEO data, buying paid search placement, and generating compelling content such as LinkedIn campaigns. From those digital interactions, they can develop detailed insights about individual customers - and pass these along as leads. ?

That means sales reps must trust those leads from Marketing and come to their initial customer conversation ready with detailed information about that customer’s wants and needs. ?

Those insights are critical, because B2B products become complex, and customers are learning about possibilities on their own at the same time.? With so much information now available online, most customers prefer to do their own research on products before talking to a sales rep. Among buyers, 83% now start the purchasing process at a company’s website; of that group, 37% say that the website is the most helpful channel. B2B customers now know far more before interacting with a sales rep for the first time, as that first interaction happens further down the sales funnel than in the past. ?

Sales reps can still visit customers in person, but this will be limited to their most valuable customers. For the long tail of prospects, the default model is now remote connections.? Sales teams will have to tailor their approach to the preferences of individual customers, combining human and digital interactions. ?

What this means for the sales team?

Most sales reps will need extensive training to pull off these remote sales.? Sales leaders must collaborate with relevant functions on development areas such as AI & analytics, customer management, remote negotiation, and omnichannel communication and collaboration. Sales structures also need to change, to move resources to marketing analytics and to foster collaboration between Marketing and Sales.??

Succeeding in this new environment requires a redesign of the Sales and Marketing functions, which in turn requires thinking through some key questions about the structure of these functions. Specifically:?

• Sales channel set-up: How will digital leads be generated? How will the inside sales and field sales teams work together? How must field reps be enabled to rely more on data than relationships??
• Type of offering: What kind of products and solutions is the company selling, and how does this inform the go-to-market approach? For example, commodities call for a high volume of standardized offers and a relentless focus on pricing, whereas customized solutions require a deeper understanding of customer requirements and technical support to a select few.?
• Strategic environment: Is the company an incumbent player defending its market share of existing customers? Or is it a new entrant trying to gain share or expand the market??

With answers to these questions, companies can start by defining the key competences for remote sales and assessing what skills their reps already have.? They can work with the three traditional areas of skills, but with an eye to adapting to the new model of remote sales later in the customer journey.?

1. Commercial skills: Customer relationships, business generation, and knowledge about the portfolio of products and services and overall market?
2. Soft skills: Communication, team contribution, and overall effectiveness in one’s role?
3. Management skills (for existing managers and sales reps eager to move up): Sales leadership as shown by project delivery, oversight of one’s team, budgeting, forecasting, and sustainability and safety?

Hunters versus farmers?

For both an efficient go-to-market approach as well as an effective training curriculum, it will help to divide sales reps into three groups:?

• “Hunters” excel in landing new business by acquiring customers and offering better service to high-potential customers.? They should be skilled in using data and insights to assess and qualify leads via remote selling, and identifying customer needs to be matched with current offerings. Hunters need an entrepreneurial mindset and confidence in approaching potential customers with only limited information.?
• “Farmers” primarily manage existing accounts.? They should upskill on relationship management, account planning, and identifying cross-selling and upselling opportunities. When working remotely, farmers need to build trusting relationships without in-person visits, ideally converting these into partnerships.?
• “Hybrid” reps perform strongly in either role, and can be upskilled for where the company needs them.?

Comparing the target future state of the Sales talent pool to the current baseline helps companies understand the magnitude of the gap that they will need to close, with three key levers available to close it:?

1. Shifting individual reps to roles better suited to their personal strengths—for example, hunters versus farmers.?
2. Upskilling and reskilling through individual learning journeys that are tailored to the respective starting point and target level of each rep. ?
3. Hiring new talent, especially for skills that can’t be obtained through training but require more comprehensive education and/or experience, such as digital marketing and lead generation.?

In the past, many sales organizations relied on in-person mentoring, particularly riding along on sales calls, to train junior people in the fine art of in-person discussions. That’s no longer possible, especially as sales teams rely heavily on data analysis and digital workflows. ?

No single training program will work for all sales organizations, so the most effective training programs are uniquely tailored to the circumstances and context of individual sales teams. Also, companies will want to measure any program’s impact through preestablished KPIs. Once programs have been in place for several months, you’ll start to develop a clear sense of what’s working and what’s not, and you can make adjustments accordingly. ?

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By going through this process, sales organizations will improve not just their effectiveness, but also their efficiency.? They will have the proper headcount to serve current and future customers, with resources reallocated to support higher-growth areas or segments. Reps will have a better fit with the new demands of their role. Companies will better respond to changes in the B2B sales environment and will be positioned to thrive in the future.?

Some legacy organizations may find this daunting, but with the right approach, it can - and should - be an exciting challenge. The key? Understanding the roles needed in the new environment, along the underlying skills for people in those roles, and then start building the sales team of the future.?

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Wolfgang Walther is an associate director for B2B marketing & sales, based in BCG's Düsseldorf office. Basir Mustaghni is a managing director and partner based in Frankfurt. Matt Ward is a partner and associate director for next generation sales, based in Los Angeles.