Faced with this sudden shift in market conditions and consumer behaviors, including this massive move to virtual channels, businesses have retooled for speed and agility , implementing digital changes that might have taken them months or years before the pandemic.
Many have already implemented some changes, with large numbers of employees working remotely, using new technologies and tools to collaborate in real time. This has shown companies the possibility of accelerating agile transformations , even though their operations are now largely virtual. It was about achieving business continuity, about continuing to operate. About surviving.
However, in wholesale , business-to-business (B2B) and industrial sales channels , the profound change is still taking place, because the wave has not yet fully formed . Many companies with long sales cycles maintain their production to deliver orders and projects that were finalised months ago. However, normal commercial activity (trade fairs, meetings, visits, calls, etc.) has collapsed, which has affected the forecast for generating quotes and offers to customers.
The challenge now is to get past this short-term survival phase and look ahead, because 2021 is going to look more like 2020 than 2019. The good old days are not coming back. Are we going to try to go back to that normal? It's not possible. Are we going to continue in this new normal or are we going to think differently about how we move forward in B2B sales?
If the most valuable consumers for retail companies are grouped in Generation N, isn't it also the case that this group is attractive for companies that sell B2B? Without a doubt, a colombia email list person who buys online at Amazon, Zara or Carrefour will not change their environment to start (or even close) a professional purchase process .
A professional buyer of software, technology, industrial products, raw materials or business services expects a satisfactory, simple and safe purchasing cycle for their health . This is the same for a B2B company as for a large retailer.
So businesses that sell to other businesses need to move fast to seize the opportunity. In an environment where habits and practices have changed so rapidly and are likely to continue to do so, business owners and sales professionals need a clear view of what their customers want and must take the steps necessary to address their needs .
Making a transition to close B2B sales remotely is essential and involves refocusing sales teams and giving them new tools to do their job in a virtual and digital world .
