WHO IS GOING TO WIN THE WAR FOR B2B CUSTOMER LOYALTY?
Some say software-driven eCommerce experiences are rendering the traditional sales and marketing team irrelevant. Others say personal relationships will always win in B2B selling.
Team Human:
Justin King, VP B2B at Salsify
Sonesh Shah, Global President at Dremel Power Tools
Team Machine:
Jason Hein, Principal Strategist for the B2B Business at Bloomreach
Laura Brooks, Senior Director, Global Marketing Services Waters Corporation
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
The real disagreement is about how to provide a great experience. All the contenders agreed that B2B companies can best compete by offering great experiences. The question is whether companies achieve that by making it as easy as possible for buyers to self-serve, or whether they need to invest in making salespeople as knowledgable as possible. Sonesh Shah was adamant: “You can’t make B2B purchases online without a human …it’s not even a question…For B2B to mimic B2C, it depends on great experiences. But in B2B that depends on humans.” Though Andy Hoar disagreed, saying, “I don’t think people care at all about whether they’re buying from people or machines. They’ll buy from – and be loyal to – where they get great experiences. And increasingly that’s coming from digital.”
The answer may be different based on your buyer demographics. Laura Brooks noted that even the most traditional buyers are more comfortable than ever doing business online. Sales people are, too. And with the younger generation dominating the workforce, they’ll avoid talking to a human at all costs. They’ll pass on suppliers that don’t offer self-service. Even so, businesses with longer-tenured buyers may simply prefer to buy from salespeople they’ve learned to trust over the years.
Trust is a major hurdle, whether you’re trying to drive buyers online or to salespeople. Andy referred to a Gartner study that found that 44% of buyers don’t trust salespeople at all. Justin King said that trust is a much bigger issue in B2B than we typically hear about. He said that many buyers WANT to talk to a salesperson because if they buy the wrong product, there can be dangerous repercussions (a pipe could explode, for example). They want the assurance from an expert that they’re making the right purchase. There’s a liability issue to consider.
Even large companies have gone all-in on machine: At McMaster Carr – one of the largest, most successful distributors – they have zero outside salespeople. Even before there was a website, they had built a tremendous record of success by merchandising well and explaining features & benefits well in their catalog, so customers didn’t need to speak to a salesperson. The catalog did the work. 100% of their transactions didn’t have any engagement between two people.
The definition of “complex transaction” is changing: Jason Hein said that while complex transactions are typically better handled by salespeople, fewer transactions are considered “complex.” “A lot of what was complex years ago is not complex now – it can be built into the discovery technology, and it can be more consistent and more accurate than a human.”
Salespeople have to decide how their role will evolve: Despite being on “Team Machine,” Laura Brooks wasn’t ready to give up on salespeople entirely. “Good reps have to decide what role they want to play in the purchase cycle. And good reps are re-thinking this over time. Nowadays at our company, people are more comfortable than ever engaging digitally. There’s a place for digital and our salespeople are figuring out how to complement digital.” As Justin said, “Sales is relationship building. It’s selling. It’s figuring out the problem and offering a solution. Order taking is a complement to selling. Of course digital will take some of the order taking. It’s not going to replace the relationships. Humans crave relationships. Even as B2B sales shrank during COVID, chat increased by 30% – people want to interact.”