B2B sales is a dynamic industry, and at the same time, the audience for B2B is constantly changing. For salespeople to stay in the marketplace, they need to keep an eye on changing trends. This article summarizes 7 trends to watch in B2B sales in 2024, let's take a look.
According to the latest data from iResearch in 2023, the scale of China's B2B industry will reach 15.5 trillion yuan in 2022.
Further research shows that the scale of online marketing has reached 25.5 billion yuan, and will continue to maintain an annual growth rate of 8.6%.
This research data shows that B2B sales is a dynamic industry with a lot of untapped growth potential. As millennials have a greater say in their purchases, B2B audiences are changing.
It can be seen that if salespeople want to stay ahead of the competition, their sales strategies need to change accordingly. Before the change, let's take a look at what the sales landscape trends look like in 2024 and add some new perspectives and arguments to your sales strategy.
1. 7 trends to watch in B2B sales in 2024
From leveraging artificial intelligence to creating customer-centric experiences, here are seven trends that will help you maximize your sales effectiveness and thus increase sales performance.
1. The digitalization of sales meetings will continue to deepen, and social selling will become a new trend
According to Gartner, 83% of B2B buyers prefer to communicate and pay online in the wake of the pandemic.
As more and more Chinese companies go global, their customers and enterprises begin to work remotely around the world, the cost of face-to-face communication becomes higher, and the sales scene naturally becomes online. One-on-one sales meetings are gradually being replaced by remote meetings such as social media and online chat.
At the same time, some sales are no longer just a point of sale, but have begun to innovate social selling, including sharing product-related, enterprise-related, industry-related, and even life-related content and topics on social media, or using user data to launch targeted customized campaigns, so as to continuously build their influence on various platforms where customers are active, drive personal connections with potential customers, and promote the conversion of business opportunities.
2. Real-time, omni-channel automated touchpoints are a new way to meet different customer needs
According to an Accenture report, more and more B2B customers prefer digital touchpoints, which means they prefer self-service, and B2B sales are tasked with simply answering questions at every stage of the user journey and providing the ability to meet customer needs.
It's easy to say, but being fully "self-help" requires real-time, omnichannel support and mobilizing all the content and touchpoints that can lead to links to truly answer customer questions.
It makes sense that today's customers are different and want to reach brands through different channels. Some people may want to learn about it on the official website, some people may want to be introduced through acquaintances or peers, and some people may prefer face-to-face communication. So we can't limit ourselves to a single channel when we lay out sales touchpoints. It's also about creating a more comprehensive brand self-service channel that allows potential customers to easily and directly engage with the brand. For example, real-time chat software and chatbots.
That's probably why Slack created its own chatbot, Slackbot, which provides real-time support to customers and attentive customer service at the click of a button.
In addition, using automated tools such as chatbots or live chat capabilities, sales can also quickly and efficiently obtain user data, reducing the difficulty and cost of customer acquisition, so that more time and energy can be focused on actual sales and increasing personalization to enhance the customer experience.
3. Customer security and privacy issues remain a key focus for sales
As we become more digital, the need for security and privacy is felt in each of our personal and professional lives, and as our customers, they are also concerned about the security and privacy of their personal and professional lives.
According to Gartner, global security and risk management spending will grow by 11.3% in 2023.
That's why B2B organizations and businesses are always emphasizing their strength in information security to gain the trust and loyalty of their customers.
Let's take Zoom as an example to see how important it is to protect customer security and privacy in the context of COVID
In the first few months of the pandemic, Zoom surged millions of users almost overnight. However, Zoom has faced a lot of criticism and even a class action lawsuit because of the well-known "Zoom bomb" and privacy scandals, and in this case, many users are afraid to use it anymore.
To address this, Zoom launched a 90-day program that added more than 100 new features. Subsequently, Zoom's CEO published a blog outlining the various efforts the company has taken to fend off security and privacy challenges:
Source: blog.zoom.us
The lesson is that B2B companies need to think about how to integrate honesty and openness into their sales practices in an innovative way.
A reliable way to do this is to work with like-minded businesses that are passionate about creating a safe and secure environment for their customers – one that works hard to protect them at all costs
Privacy and security environment.
4. .AI combined with personalized customer experience, it will become the new mainstream of sales
Like the B2C industry, personalized experiences are leading the way for B2B customers. Whether it's a small or large company, a B2B business or a B2C business, they want to be able to understand and seize the needs of their customers by providing thoroughly personalized experiences and services.
According to a Salesforce survey, 73% of enterprise customers say they want their unique needs and expectations to be understood.
And that's where AI can really shine.
From B2B lead nurturing software and data analytics to machine Xi and marketing automation, a wide variety of technologies pave the way for high-quality sales.
To give an interesting example, Monday.com
To cater to its growing remote user base, a dedicated page on "Remote Work" was set up with all the necessary resources, videos, and tips:
And that's not all, Monday also posts these resources so that customers can reach out to them if they have any questions, and this proactive contact page is designed to fully embody the art of personalized customer support: