| | July 20188CIOReviewDIGITAL SELLING: NEW B2B CAPABILITIES TO BUILD COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN THE AGE OF ELUSIVE BUYERBy Chris Hergesell, Executive Director, Ernst & Young LLPBusiness-to-business sales are still largely an analog world. Salespeople continue to call prospective customers, go to meetings in offices and attend conferences. Their use of digital technologies is typically relegated to email or calendar systems and the unloved, often underutilized, CRM system. However, this is changing very quickly, and organizations that fail to build digitally enabled sales organizations may find it difficult to compete.Consumerization of B2B BuyingCustomers are becoming increasingly elusive--harder to find and harder to keep--because of two key factors. First, the level of competition and disruption has increased dramatically. Customers are finding more product and service options than ever before as product life cycles become shorter and shorter. Second, B2B buyers have become more empowered. They are educating themselves about their options through more transparent marketplaces, online content and digital communities, and social media. According to IDC, more than 50 percent of a buyer's decision-making is complete before ever contacting a sales rep. In short, B2B buying behavior is starting to look more and more like B2C.In this environment, traditional sales tactics often fail. More than 90 percent of buyers don't respond to cold calls--and yet 74 percent of buyers choose the company that is the first to add value. Sales organizations must change how they sell to respond to changing buying behavior.IN MYPINION
< Page 7 | Page 9 >