This is the subject covered by an investigation carried out by Forrester in 2015, with an update this year 2017 (Death Of A (B2B) Salesman & Death of a (B2B) Salesman: Two Years Later).
Forrester argues that by 2020, in the US alone, one million B2B sellers will cease to exist. And he bases this prediction on the fact that B2B buyers want to educate themselves instead of talking to representatives to learn about products and services offered. Those buyers are saying that buying online is more convenient than buying from a seller, and in this year's study the percentage rose to 68%, from 53% in the original study two years ago. Although it clarifies that there are cases where sellers are needed: in price negotiations, in complex or expensive purchases, or if installation or after-sales service is required.
Costly commission-based sales resources
On the other hand, many B2B companies still force most buyers to interact with sales representatives to learn about the prices of their products or complete the purchase process, not attending to the change in trend of B2B buyers. So they continue to invest heavily in costly commission-based sales resources, which is not the most efficient. Sellers cannot monitor buyers, their research and behavior or make suggestions and cross-selling, as an e-commerce site or 3 ply mask buyer does. Self-service. On the other hand, in online environments you have the wisdom of the crowd via evaluations and comments, and the volume of sales to SMEs may not justify having salespeople assigned to those accounts. As an example of a B2B company with zero vendors, Atlas Sian Software (107,000 client companies today) is cited.
Of the 4.5 million US B2B sellers in 2012, Forrester estimates that one million, mostly Order Takers, will lose their jobs to self - service e-commerce by 2020.
The report outlines four vendor archetypes:
1) The Order Taker, who focuses on delivering fast and frictionless transactions?
2) The Navigator, who specializes in navigating the internal barriers of the organization to buy and helps them obtain budgets and ensure institutional acceptance.
3) The Clarifier (“Explainer”), gives a lot of information about complex products and services (like an ERP) before the purchase.
4 ) The Consultant is the high-performance salesperson, the best fit to understand the client's needs, explain the products and services offered, and help clients to get the support of internal stakeholders, as well as the budget to make the purchases.
Without being the Consultants, who will increase, the other archetypes will also decrease in number along with the Order Takers (the most impacted, by self-service e-commerce and contact centers), although to a lesser extent: Clarifiers will to be partly replaced by self-service e-commerce sites, and Navigators will decrease because B2B buyers will simplify the internal purchasing process.
Digitally empowered B2B sales models
The study also proposes a way forward for B2B companies through digitally empowered B2B sales models, to deliver a superior customer experience and achieve agility and operational efficiency. Among the measures he suggests are:
• Sell both via e-commerce and through commission sellers, where e-commerce sites are more prevalent in the pre-sale process, they are the default destination for all sales, except for the most complex or the largest accounts, and they lead in most of the after-sales process.
• Develop self - service e-commerce sites that are robust and provide shopping experiences comparable to what sellers have traditionally provided.
• Empower well-trained account professionals across all channels, with a much deeper understanding of clients' lines of business and their finances, maximizing client benefits, relying less on commissions and paying more based on overall company performance.
• Having less costly internal vendors that focus on generating leads and demand.
• Vary the model, depending on whether it is sold to SMEs or large companies.
• Have a vision of automating the different stages of the shopping journey.
• Get out of “commodity” by adding associated services: product guarantees, transportation insurance, financial facilities, etc.
I am not encouraged to comment on Forrester's forecasts, but I am convinced that the trend described is implanted in B2B buyers. And movements are already being seen in the region at the B2B sales level that coincide with these changes described, such as an IT World-class company, which replaced the local sellers Order Takers with agents from a call center that centralizes this type of sales throughout the company. Region.
This is the time to question the model of B2B sales existing in my company and innovate, both to start accompany clients who want to buy online and to enhance my V ended ores Consult ores, so communicate and help deliver that unique value and relevant to customers, and thus continue to compete in the best way in the digital age.
