MARKET VIEW 14
Leo Whyte
HEAD OF SALES & MARKETING
B2B Customer Acquisition: The role of human engagement in a world of digital-first enterprise marketing
In your opinion, has the pandemic changed the sales and marketing process in a B2B purchase setting and if so, what should organisations do to adapt to the changes?
The pandemic has changed us substantially. We’ve become a lot more virtual to a point where Zoom meetings are almost considered face-to-face interactions, and even this is sometimes more than people want. There's less expectation to come to a customer site and meet them in person than there used to be. Additionally, people are much happier doing business with someone that they've only met over a zoom call. In terms of what we should be doing, I think we should look for new ways to have face-to-face interactions without necessarily having to be live. This means utilising video and prerecorded messages, as well as different software tools that allow us to incorporate video elements into presentations. This way, we can effectively create personalised presentations without having face-to-face meetings, and still be able to build that rapport while personalising our pitch as salespeople.
We’ve become a lot more virtual to a point where Zoom meetings are almost considered face-to-face interactions, and even this is sometimes more than people want.
Given that humans are social animals whose need to gather and share stories dates back to the dawn of man, should salespeople spend more time participating in the delivery of experiences for buyers,? If so, can this be achieved remotely?
People buy from people, no matter what format that is. I think the most successful salespeople I've seen are the ones who have personal relatable stories about what they're selling. People want to hear why you believe in this product and then they'll believe what you're telling them because you've got a personal stake in it. That's much more convincing than just reading whatever it is that your company's told you to say. Even in today’s digital environment, this can be achieved remotely and we’ve seen that through the pandemic. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing that can replace shaking someone's hand and being in the same room, you build a much better relationship and rapport with someone that way, but what has changed is that most of the buyers don't want to be in the office themselves anymore. So, whilst face-to-face is still a brilliant methodology, today it's more used at conferences and networking events than for individual sales.
People want to hear why you believe in this product and then they'll believe what you're telling them because you've got a personal stake in it.
What are some ways in which marketing can assist salespeople to procure more market and industry knowledge?
I believe there is a role for marketing in terms of providing access to other thought leaders. I’ve also seen a lot of success where marketing helps existing customers themselves to draw knowledge and invites sales teams to those types of engagements. With that being said, spending time with your sales team to truly understand what they know and what they don't know is key. I also believe there is a lot of responsibility on the sales team to educate themselves. If they want to be able to build trust and demonstrate knowledge with customers, they need to speak up about what they need and what they don't need from the marketing team.
Spending time with your sales team to truly understand what they know and what they don't know is key.
With the generational shift towards millennials who are considered entertainment-seeking buyers, how important is it to incorporate entertainment when creating a buyer's journey?
Some companies believe that adding entertainment takes away from the gravitas of the work they do. I personally believe that if you can make a buyer's journey entertaining and fun, it’s more likely the buyer will want to work with you. Often, when buyers are looking at many similar products or services, that's how they choose who they want to work with. With that said, there is a delicate balance here. Your company voice should be fun and engaging but still informed and educational. You should use the appropriate language and terminology, but maybe surround it with a more conversational language as well. To use the opportunity to have a conversation with your audience rather than preach to them. I think the key is to make a buyer’s journey less corporate and more personable by not taking yourself too seriously. The key is to begin relating with your customer through more engaging means and channels.
LEO WHYTE
Head of Sales & Marketing
GENESTACK
If you can make a buyer's journey entertaining and fun, it’s more likely the buyer will want to work with you.
Genestack is a global player in life-science R&D informatics, providing customers with cutting-edge multi-omics data management and integration software. They develop innovative off-the-shelf and custom solutions for clients in pharma, biotech, agriscience, consumer goods, and research centres. Omics Data Manager (ODM), their flagship product, helps organisations create a FAIR catalogue of multi-omics investigations with powerful tools for curating rich and standardised metadata in bulk, as well as optimised RESTful APIs for scalable cross-study, cross-omics integrative search.
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