B2B EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

ASSIGNMENT
‘The Ultimate B2B Sales Funnel – How to Build the Machine’
Q1. Today’s Buyer is in Control – Comment

• Sellers have lesser opportunity to influence customer decisions. The ready availability of
quality information through digital channels has made it very easy for buyers to gather
information independently, meaning sellers have less access and fewer opportunities to
influence customer decisions. The ready availability of quality information through digital
channels has made it far easier for buyers to gather information independently.

• When B2B buyers are considering a purchase‚ they spend only 15% -30% of that time meeting
with potential suppliers. When buyers are comparing multiple suppliers‚ the amount of time
spent with any one sales rep may be only 5% or 6%.
• Gartner research finds that when B2B buyers are considering a purchase‚ they spend only 17%
of that time meeting with potential suppliers. When buyers are comparing multiple suppliers‚
the amount of time spent with any one sales rep may be only 5% or 6%.
• Increasingly, B2B buyers are choosing to self-navigate their decision-making journey. As a
result, instead of speeding up the sales cycle, the research shows that 43% of respondents said
the length of their B2B purchase cycles has increased.
• Customers prefer to conduct own research on own terms. They can research solutions to their
problem, find others who have had a similar problem, compare solution options reported by
peers, and importantly, find vendors who have successfully solved the problem without having
to talk to them.
• Often reach solution conclusion before engaging sales. They reach out to friends for
recommendations and check what others say about a particular solution on social media,
forums, and other online sources, They Google this particular solution and read online reviews.
They rely more on trusted advisors than sales.
Q2. How has internet changed the Buyer Behavior in B2B?

• Decreased cost, ubiquity of internet, and reliable devices make it costs less for business
decision-makers to conduct research over the Internet and make effective decisions. A
manager may be less likely to spend an hour going through a brochure than they used to be, but
they may spend more time on the website, company Facebook page and blog to find the same
information.
• An increasing number of B2B purchases are made through online aggregator websites, rather
than traditional ‘middlemen’. Examples such as, Indiamart, Alibaba etc.
• The company previously could rely on ad to bring those customers to them in a relatively short
timeframe. Because of the digital revolution, today the ad will not drive customers directly to
your company. It will now prompt potential customers to research the company, read online
reviews, and send messages to trusted people to know if anyone has experience with the seller.
Digital has changed the previous linear buying process. Now, when customers are ready to
make a purchasing decision, they are bombarded with content from other sources, bringing
them back to the beginning of the process.

• Buyers can choose from a wide range of products and services. B2B buyers can find many
vendors online, making it critical for brands to capture prospects attention early in the buying
cycle.
 • B2B buyers have higher expectations for Solution providers. The Internet puts the new B2B
buyer firmly in control of the buying process by allowing the prospect to regulate the flow of
information. More choices allow buyers to be choosier. They can dictate the terms of how they
do business and who they do it with.
• B2B buyers are looking for beneficial partnerships with solutions providers. B2B buyers can
navigate most of the purchasing process on their own, there’s no need to engage in traditionally
sales conversations. Rather, today’s buyers are selectively choosing consultative partners who
provide the most value during the buying journey.
• There has been an increased delegation of buying responsibilities to less senior managers,
away from the Board of Directors. Buying decision-makers are getting younger. In 2012, 27% of
purchase decision makers were aged under 34. In 2014 this had increased to 46% – a 70%
increase in two years. This means that B2B providers are targeting different people; people who
are more tech savvy, and more used to Internet research. This also implies that these decision
makers will also need the ultimate signoff from more senior managers.

Q3. Discuss old sales funnel v/s new sales funnel

Before:
• The role of Marketing was to generate leads, and for sales the role was to close the leads.
• The old sales funnel illustrates that the sales process requires many leads or
opportunities to come through the top because most of them will drop off and not
make it until the end of the process where they become paying customers.
• Traditionally, sales owned the information, controlled the funnel and ran the flow of the
conversation with the client.
 • The buyer was entirely dependent on the sales for information. There was no information
available, or reviews available on your seller’s client service team for example.

Today:

• 70% of the buyer’s journey is complete before a salesperson is even contacted. For instance,
the role of sales brochure is now much less than it was before.
• It takes an average of between 13 – 27 touches (dependent on product complexity) before a
prospect is converted. This includes email, voicemail, phonecalls, website visits.
• Length of sales cycle is increasing for about 43% of B2B sales. This is because selling is more
difficult, competitors are more agile, buyers more aware, and because the selling process has
changed.
• The typical buying group today or the DMU involves six to 10 decision makers‚ each armed
with four or five pieces of information they’ve gathered independently and must integrate with
the group. At the same time, the set of options and solutions buying groups can consider is
expanding as new technologies, products, suppliers and services emerge. This makes it
challenging for sales person to sell, as they have to now pitch in a multi dimensional way.
• These dynamics make it increasingly difficult for customers to make purchases. In fact, more
than three-quarters of the customers Gartner surveyed described their purchase as very
complex or difficult.
The Ultimate Sales Funnel is the new sales funnel.
• There is essentially an infinity loop for marketing efforts wherein a customer is always treated
like a prospect. This ensures that marketers, together with Sales, are providing value and
engaging at each stage of the relationship: before, during and after the sale.
• Opening the doors to new customers is important, in addition, widening of the door for existing
customers is also important. Marketing needs to prepare or trigger the next sale. Marketing
needs to think about the customer lifetime value holistically—from initial sales, to loyalty, to
expansion via upsell, and ultimately to renewal and through this cycle again.
• Sales reps are now a channel to customers, not ‘the’ channel. Customers are largely channel-
agnostic when seeking the information they need to get a job done. As a result, sales reps are
not the only channel to customers, but simply a channel, and alignment across in-person and
digital channels is crucial for supporting customers in the way they actually buy.
• Sales and marketing must operate in parallel, not serial, fashion: Previously sales and
marketing teams were organized in serial fashion. Marketing generates demand, before handing
off the most qualified of opportunities to sales for in-person pursuit. Customers, however, don’t
buy in a linear fashion. Rather, they use both digital and in-person channels with near-equal
frequency to complete each of the buying jobs more or less simultaneously. As a result, in
today’s world of B2B buying, there is no handoff from marketing to sales, or digital to in-person.
It’s a parallel process, not a serial one.