Unlocking Hybrid Sales Potential

Modern B2B brands are seeing significant shifts in the expectations buyers have when dealing with suppliers in their professional lives.

The contemporary B2B buyer is far more inclined to do business with brands which are able to offer experiences which seamlessly blend traditional methods of selling with the kinds of digitally powered ecommerce services normally provided by B2C companies.

A combination of in-person interactions, remote contact via phone or video, personalised marketing and sales, and digital self-service across the purchasing journey are all coming together to create a world of hybrid B2B buying and selling which leverages the power of every method deployed.

The State of Play

While the shift to a hybrid model for B2B interactions was largely popularised by the necessity of the global COVID-19 crisis, research by McKinsey which encompasses 2,500 sales organizations, ten-plus years of interviews with sales executives, and its proprietary B2B Pulse data has discovered that 90% of enterprises intend to maintain this method of doing business even now the worst days of the pandemic are [hopefully] behind us.

In the same study it was found more than 90% of B2B sales organizations also viewed the current B2B omnichannel landscape as equally or more effective in reaching and serving customers than it was before anyone even heard of COVID-19. Prior to the pandemic, this figure was just 54%.

The result of all this is that B2B decision makers are leveraging more channels than ever to interact with suppliers, up from just five in 2016, to eight in 2019, and ten plus as of December 2021.

The New B2B Journey

Another effect of the hybrid shift is that buyers now have more access to information than ever before and much of it doesn’t come from suppliers. In fact, according to Gartner, when B2B buyers are considering a purchase, they only spend 17% of the process communicating directly with the supplier – the rest of the time is spent conducting independent research online.

When buyers are comparing offerings from multiple suppliers, the problem becomes even further compounded with only 5-6% spent with each one.

What this means is that your B2B sales team is no longer the channel when it comes to this process, but rather one among many. This should encourage B2B sales professionals to meet customers where they are and be proactive in reaching out to provide key information when it’s most needed. This will help reduce the amount of time customers spend with other information sources and increase the chances of closing the deal with your organisation instead of seeking additional quotes from your competitors.

However, the challenges on the other side of the fence are also incredibly complex. In the same research, Gartner found that a typical buying group for a complex B2B solution can contain between six and ten decision makers. Each of these decision makers has their own opinions and preferences and, before a purchasing decision can be made, these conflicts must be reconciled.

What this means is, B2B sellers which can leverage hybrid models of business to best remove the friction from this modern buying process are the ones which will be most ideally placed to succeed in this new journey landscape. To this end Gartner discovered that customers who perceived the information they received from suppliers to be helpful in advancing across their buying jobs were over two and a half times more likely to experience a high degree of purchase ease, and three times more likely to place a bigger order, with fewer feelings of regret.

Final Thoughts

B2B buying and selling has transformed, and it doesn’t look to be changing back anytime soon. Decision makers in the space are going to need to adapt if they want to remain competitive in this new landscape. Meeting the customer where they are, leveraging every available channel, and taking the stress out of the contemporary buying journey are all going to be key to success.

The advance of the hybrid B2B sales model is sure to be part of the conversation at B2B Online 2022, being held in December at the Hotel Palace Berlin.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.