Something very strange started to happen at the beginning of 2016 – some of the biggest buzzwords of Silicon Valley started to make their way into discussions about B2B Sales. Yes, trends like Big Data, the technology stack and video are all changing the way we think about B2B sales in 2016.
#1: Big Data
Welcome to the new era of data-driven sales. Within organizations, there’s so much concern about prospects lost in the sales funnel that it’s no wonder companies are embracing data to help them convert their leads into more paid customers. As a result, people within B2B sales teams are relying more and more on the data to help them focus on the right leads, the right prospects and the right sales tactics.
Once you know the data, you can start to optimize how you sell, where you sell, and when you sell. That’s the big takeaway here – once you combine all that data with analytics, you start to have a very powerful tool. All of a sudden, you’re moving from just analyzing old data to making predictions about future behavior, all based on the data.
#2: The “technology stack”
In the world of Silicon Valley, the “technology stack” refers to the operating system and all the programs, applications and software necessary to make it run effectively. Companies with better technology stacks run faster, smoother and better. And now that same concept is coming to sales and marketing.
There’s also a “stack” within B2B Sales – it consists of all the tools, apps and software used to find, attract and sell to customers. Think of CRM, or marketing automation, or prospecting and sales intelligence, or predictive sales analytics. They are all part of the same “technology stack.” And, just like in Silicon Valley, the B2B sales team with the best technology stack wins.
#3: Video
If there’s a hotter concept than video right now for boosting sales, it’s hard to think of it. Every major tech company seems to be embracing video as a cure-all solution for whatever ails them. Facebook, for example, is using video to make its social network “stickier” (i.e. people watch videos within Facebook rather than at YouTube). And it’s not just Facebook – Twitter and Google are also getting into video in a big way. The key takeaway here is that video converts more effectively than any other medium.
In short, video can help to close the sale when it’s part of a full, robust customer experience. It’s even more powerful when video is used in ways that are completely unexpected, since nobody is expecting users to go to YouTube to learn about your products. Instead, think of integrating video into every touch point with the customer. If your B2B sales process is highly visual, it will also be more successful.
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The members of your B2B sales team do not have to become a bunch of technology experts to make sense of these three trends: Big Data, the technology stack and video. But they do have to realize that there are a lot of tools at their disposal that are just now hitting the B2B mainstream in 2016. Are you going to be able to take advantage of them when the right time comes?
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Dane
Dane Cobain is a published author, freelance writer, book blogger, poet and (occasional) musician from High Wycombe, UK. Before going freelance, he worked as a social media marker, now specialising in writing about publishing, technology and marketing.