In the past , a large part of the digitization activities of B2B companies focused on optimizing internal processes and the existing IT infrastructure. The focus was primarily (and still is) on increasing internal process efficiency and the resulting cost reduction. So far, less attention has been paid to digital innovation in sales and the associated products, services, customer and employee journey. Although the pandemic years have led to a digitalization push here, it is still lagging significantly behind compared to the consumer goods sector. This is where I see great opportunities for growth and success in B2B companies.
This statement is also supported by the annual B2B Puls study by McKinsey, which examines the influence of 5 digitization strategies on the business success of companies:
- Use of digital sales tools
- personalized marketing
- Hybrid sales teams
- 3rd Party Marketplaces
- own marketplaces
What does this mean for B2B SMEs?
To anticipate it: At least the strategies 1 – 4 mentioned above are relevant for all B2B companies – regardless of the size of the company. It is important that the available resources are used in a more targeted manner and that one does not get lost in an uncoordinated project landscape.
For this blog post, I have picked out two topics relevant to B2B SMEs (“hybrid”, omnichannel) from these strategies.
The hybrid sales organization is the B2B model of the future – also for SMEs
This involves an intelligent combination of three sales approaches:
- the traditional, personal and analogue
- Digital support of analogue activities and remote interactions
- digital self-service to AI support
How these 3 approaches are sensibly combined is very individual – and therefore company-specific. Every B2B company is at a certain point in the digital transformation and the starting points and levers require appropriate analysis so that investments are made in the right area.
Anchoring and further expansion of the omnichannel approach in the B2B environment
The example of a Swiss consumer goods manufacturer shown above illustrates quite clearly that the number of sales and service channels used in the B2B environment has increased considerably in recent years and is approaching B2C needs. The diversification of channels helps to expand existing business and reach new target customers and markets. In addition to the usual suspects such as e-commerce or self-service platforms, the attractiveness of marketplaces should not be underestimated, depending on the industry.
However, the number of sales channels also increases the resulting complexity, the demands on the capabilities of the organization, the consistency of the processes and their orchestration. Thus, these transformations go beyond pure implementation projects and require appropriate support and lead time.
This leads us directly to the last post of our blog series – the organization and why people are ultimately always behind a successful transformation – regardless of whether it is digitally driven or not.