Business to Business Key Findings: February 2013
It’s a Brave New World for B2B Sales and Marketing
As the economy improves, lessons learned during the recession promise to impact business-to-business sales, product development, finance and marketing groups for the next five years, according to a study by McKinsey. Interviews with senior sales executives and buyers at leading global companies revealed three emerging trends “rapidly dominating the B2B landscape.” First, more than ever before, customers want it all. Their needs are becoming more diverse and shift from day-to-day. Customers are also more demanding, “insisting on both off-the-shelf products and more complex, customized solutions — all with different levels of sales support.” Second, customers are becoming more comfortable getting information over the telephone, and via web and video conferencing, as well as interfacing with “virtual support specialists.” This shift has not only increased the time sales reps spend with customers (by 40%), improved reps productivity and home-life balance, but also reduced travel costs by 50%. Thirdly, frontline sellers and managers are quickly becoming adept at mining granular customer data and using predictive analytics to drive sales and deepen relationships, reducing dependence on gut-instinct. www.mckinseyquarterly.com
Bullets
- In response to economic challenges, 45 percent of women owned businesses (WOBs) are focused on controlling costs, while 31% are concentrating on increasing sales. Additionally, 56 percent of WOBs owners said social media is “very important” or “important” to their business, and 39 percent increased their involvement in civic, social or school activities to boost their exposure and create value for their communities. (ncrw.org)
- Half of mobile users (50 percent) who opt in to receive text messages from marketers have iPhones. (businesswire.com)
- Nearly six in 10 (59 percent) online adults who read user travel reviews ignore extreme comments (positive or negative) when reading reviews of hotels. (TripAdvisor; 617-670-6300)
- Emails with subject lines of either less than 30 characters, or longer than 90 characters work best in B2B emails. Using 90 characters and upwards produced the highest response rates because more benefits can be communicated by using more characters. Snappier subject lines that used 30 characters or less performed well in the case for transactional or direct-action emails. Shorter subject lines (14 or fewer words) produced considerably higher engagement than longer subject lines. (Adestra)
- More than half of women (54 percent) have sent an email to the wrong person. (Women’s Health; 800-324-1731)