B2B Customer Acquisition: The role of human engagement in a world of digital-first enterprise marketing
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To cultivate lasting relationships with multiple stakeholders, salespeople must be attuned to their needs, interests, and preferred communication style to build trust.
What has changed in enterprise sales in recent years?
Many parts of traditional sales processes are changing as businesses try to become more efficient and deliver better experiences for their customers. The change comes in the form of digitalization and automation, sometimes eliminating human interaction in sales processes entirely. This is especially true in lower value, more transactional purchases where the buyer is confident enough in their own research to make a decision without human assistance. But for more complex, enterprise purchases, human involvement remains a crucial part of the sales process. As sales cycles become longer and there are more decision makers involved with complex purchases, trust and confidence in the business relationship becomes a key factor for the buyer. They are no longer looking to buy a product or service, but rather invest in a long-term partner who can help them overcome specific challenges. To cultivate lasting relationships with multiple stakeholders, salespeople must be attuned to their needs, interests, and preferred communication style to build trust and relationship. If sales people can deliver a personalized and meaningful sales experience to each individual, then the collective decision making body is far more likely to engage further and it helps progress through the selection process.
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Trust is the foundation of any successful business. Without it, customers won't make purchases that would otherwise benefit both parties. Make trust your priority and watch your business thrive.
How important is trust in enterprise sales and how can businesses build trust outside of sales teams?
Trust is the true currency of business. To put it very simply, if people don’t trust you then they will not buy from you. Whilst trust in a potential vendor starts from the top down, Trust is the foundation of any successful business. Without it, customers won't make purchases that would otherwise benefit both parties. Make trust your priority and watch your business thrive. For this to happen, the employees of the selling company need to understand the challenges faced by their clients and what is happening in the industry as a whole on a deep level. This way they can offer unique, considered perspectives that build authenticity and credibility. Even if team members don’t directly interact with customers or prospects, there is still incredible value in them being seen as thought leaders on social media. This shows prospects that expertise is a consistent strength across your whole business, helping them to build trust in you. Remember though, whether directly in conversation with a client or indirectly through social media, thought leadership is not about volume. It is about being genuine and open enough to demonstrate subject matter expertise at the same time as offering a new opinion.
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By monitoring the buyer's digital activity and discerning their progression through the customer journey, marketing can equip sales with the necessary insight to effectively reach out and provide the right message at the most opportune moment.
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ROHIT WADHWA
Former CMO, Growth Advisor to growth stage SaaS / professional services companies
What impact has the global pandemic had on enterprise sales?
The global pandemic and resulting increase in remote working has accelerated the need for businesses to be able to sell anywhere and anytime, but in a way that clients expect to be engaged. The focus has changed from seller-centric approaches to that of buyer-centric approaches. Many businesses that have adopted buyer-centric approaches have had to rewire their previously analogue sales processes so that they are digital-led and hyper automated. Whilst this can be a painful process to go through, the benefits it brings are significant. The most significant is that buyer-centric approaches create additional touchpoints with buyers because your sales and marketing is ‘always on’. Buyers expect to be able to research potential vendors without being influenced by sales people, so businesses have to make sure that their content is easily accessible to buyers at the appropriate time in their journey. Although many sales people can be frustrated that they are not able to steer the journey early on, if they are patient then the journey is more likely to be fruitful. By monitoring the buyer's digital activity and discerning their progression through the customer journey, marketing can equip sales with the necessary insight to effectively reach out and provide the right message at the most opportune moment. And as we all know, these meaningful conversations ultimately increase the chances of a prospect turning into a customer.
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Rohit Wadhwa is an experienced senior marketing executive with 20 years of expertise in marketing strategy, brand building, revenue acceleration, and client-centric strategies. He specializes in IT/BPO services, SaaS, and Private Equity-backed companies. Currently, Rohit is a consultant to early- and growth-stage technology services companies. Before that, he was the CMO and marketing leader at Transportation Insight, EXL, Wipro, and Cognizant, where he successfully repositioned their brands and established global demand centers, allowing them to outpace the competition and accelerate growth.
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