Prime
Business-to-business sales in the technology industry
Ms Allen Najjuko
What you need to know:
- Today, data centres offer improved collaboration between clients, partners, vendors, and unlimited scaling opportunities when needs grow for easy upgrade of services.
Business-to-business sales in the technology industry can be complicated, especially in the fast-paced world of technological innovation where the digital landscape serves up increased access to data, and improved insights have evolved despite the Covid-19 bite down on businesses.
Business-to-business refers to a sales model where a business sells their products or services to another company. These transactions typically involve a more extensive scope, scale, complexity, and cost than in business-to-consumer.
Sales intelligence tools help salespeople monitor and understand data that provides insights into prospects and existing clients’ daily business.
To understand business-to-business sales in the tech industry, we need to understand the transformation from the last decade and advancements that are changing the game like the cloud and social media.
Cloud computing ascended to the stratosphere in the 2000s, and this has profoundly affected how people position the products they’re selling.
By 2018, at least 77 percent of enterprises had at least one application in the cloud, and making sure that a platform, product, or service fits in with a company’s existing technology stack is often one of the first concerns.
On the other hand, the rise of social media increased customer expectations for personalisation when it comes to marketing and communication. Data has always been important in sales, but social media has made it easier than ever to access customer data.
At the end of March, social media giants continued posting record new accounts during the period. Facebook alone reported an active account base of 2.74 billion users closely followed by 2.3 billion YouTube accounts.
It can, therefore, be implied that almost four out of every 10 persons globally have a social media account. This is a very important avenue that sales professionals ought to tap into.
New automation tools over the years have made it easier to analyse, focusing on analytics and data-driven sales.
Gartner’s “Future of Sales 2025” report predicts that by 2025, at least 80 percent of business-to-business sales interactions will occur in digital channels.
Forward-thinking selling strategies including chat-bots, machine learning and multichannel marketing are now becoming well integrated into the industry.
Chatbots are enhancing the sales process, helping to automate and accelerate interactions on the front end, as well as helping to drive and optimise customer service on the back.
In the Business-to-Business tech world, mergers and acquisitions tend to happen quite often. This brings a hassle to convert and transfer all necessary systems and hardware from one site to another.
However, using a cloud solution or data centre means the data is readily available, and the same tools and systems are always on with everything consolidated in one place.
Data centres also provide cross-platform software access through cloud services allowing employees and clients to access tools anywhere.
Companies that are yet to adopt cloud solutions realise a substantial financial benefit through upfront cost saving on millions that can then be spent elsewhere on critical tasks and operations.
Today, data centres offer improved collaboration between clients, partners, vendors, and unlimited scaling opportunities when needs grow for easy upgrade of services.
According to Grand View Research, global B2B e-commerce is forecast to reach $20.9 trillion by 2027, representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 17.5 percent in seven years.
The author, Ms Allen Najjuko is the sales manager at Raxio
