The B2B buying cycle has never been more complex. Not only is the demographic of the buyer changing, so is the decision-making process. With technology at everyone’s fingertips, buyers are likely now 60% of the way through the sales cycle before they engage with your organization. Knowing who your prospects are, what they want and personalizing your approach accordingly, is more important than ever before.
This was the topic of our latest Meeting of the Minds event last week, an interactive forum about The New Paradigms for Sales & Marketing.
What we consistently heard was there is a disconnect with sales and marketing, so our time together was dedicated to identifying why the gap exists and ways to help bridge that gap.
In this joint presentation, Marketing Works CEO and Partner, Sandra Fekete, and Gretchen Gordon, President and Founder of Braveheart Sales Performance, discussed the three new paradigms for sales and marketing: Generational, Relational and Multi-Channel for both buyer and seller.
“With prospects being halfway through buying decision before speaking with a sales rep, sales must rely more on marketing to attract and nurture the prospect until they’re ready to connect with a sales person,” said Sandy. “Understanding the characteristics and preferred communication channels of the three primary generations of buyers (Boomers, GenX and Millennials), is key to knowing how to reach them.”
Gretchen shared that like buyers, sales people represent all three generational categories and therefore, we need to hire to their strengths and abilities, but retention is based on what motivates them.”
Key takeaways by paradigm included:
Generational
- Rise of influencers/researchers impacts buying decisions
- 50% of B2B buyers are Millennials
- 60% of buying decision is done prior to engaging sales
- Sales people are motivated when personal goals are tied to company goals
Relational
- Business-to-Individual (B2i) = personalize your approach to each person
- Account-based marketing = Individualized strategy for top 5 prospects
- 81% of non-C-suiters influence buying decisions, so focusing on C-suite is not enough
Multi-Channel
- Buyers interact with an average of 6 different channels before making a decision
- Self-education means content is key
- Speak with one voice (clear, concise, consistent message)
Does your company experience the sales and marketing gap? Contact us to discuss the tools you need to bridge that gap.