How a Year of Being Apart, Actually Brought B2B Teams Closer Together
Whenever we ask one of our prospects how the last year treated them and their respective businesses; the answer often begins with a pause. At times a very long, silent pause. And we can tell you that what’s happening in this pause is a recollection of that fight or flight response.
They’re thinking about the ways they had to pivot and change their methods to win a deal, or in the eyes of the marketer they might have the extra dose of epinephrine kick because suddenly more eyes were on them, than in the past. A lot of executives said hey, our field marketers and sellers are no longer client facing and out in the field, so what can you do to increase our brand awareness?
So while a lot of scary scenarios and change is thought of in these silent pauses, the voice we hear after has truly been incredible.
In our most recent session on The New B2B Sales Imperative, we were joined by Greg Downum, Senior Director Sales Operations at NTT DATA, along with Usman Sheikh, Founder/CEO at xiQ where they answered the following questions in detail:
What’s meant by this, is these 2020 fight or flight responses have quickly birthed ground-breaking new systems and behaviors when it comes to selling and marketing. We are now seeing more publishings about the hybrid seller, 2020 was the inauguration of the CRO, and RevOps strategy is now too becoming a sought-after initiative.
With the loss of in-person sales from the pandemic, sellers were forced to search for new means of selling their products without meeting face-to-face with the buyer. The hybrid seller is one who can adapt to, and use, new advances in technology such as AI to better understand and connect with their prospect through a screen. They are aware the buyer’s journey is now peppered with more digital interactions than in the past, and need to equip themselves with the best tools for this transition.
Not only that, but b2b sales teams are no longer split up into those online and those in-person. Now more than ever it is imperative that teams coordinate their approaches and work together to ensure that all channels are covered.
This merger has caused the RevOps strategy to grow increasingly popular as firms look to maximize revenues in this shaky market. What these business owners are finding is that by increasing communication between divisions, marketing plans are more effective and the customer experience is enhanced. When marketing, sales, and service departments are put together there is no loss of communication for the consumer. Through each step of their decision making process, the people working with the buyer are all on the same page and can provide the same information, regardless of where the client is in their process.
Interdepartment cooperation assures that each department is operating at maximum efficiency and producing the highest levels of revenue possible, so it begs the question - is your business currently using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Account Based Marketing (ABM) program which allows seamless communication and transition between sales, marketing, and services?
