B2B Andy Hoar, Principal Analyst @andyhoar1 WEBINAR V B2B Andy Hoar, Principal Analyst @andyhoar1 May 19, 2015. Call in at 12:55 p.m. Eastern time
Andy Hoar Principal Analyst serving eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals Author of the “B2B eCommerce Playbook” Four years at Forrester 11 yrs in Silicon Valley (e.g., started software company in the B2C eCommerce space) Five years as a research analyst in economic consulting Holds master’s degrees from Harvard University and Northwestern University ahoar@forrester.com @andyhoar1
2.08 1995 1.79 2002 0.98 2012 Number of salespeople per $1 million of real GDP Source: Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, Race Against the Machine, Digital Frontier Press, 2012 Source: Forrester estimates
Changing B2B buyer preferences
Qualitative and quantitative research Primary industries Wholesale and distribution Manufacturing Electronics N = 236 N = 64 B2B buyers (nonprofessionals) B2B buyers (professionals) 59% Buying online > six years
“I find gathering information online on my own superior to interacting with a sales representative.” Base: 236 B2B buyers and sellers; Source: Forrester/Internet Retailer Q1 2015 US B2B Buyer Channel Preferences Online Survey
“I do my research online and prefer not to interact with a sales representative as my primary source of research.” Base: 236 B2B buyers and sellers; Source: Forrester/Internet Retailer Q1 2015 US B2B Buyer Channel Preferences Online Survey
74% Buying from a website is more convenient than buying from a sales representative. Source: Forrester/Internet Retailer Q1 2015 US B2B Buyer Channel Preferences Online Survey (N = 229)
prefer to buy online when they’ve decided what to buy. 93% prefer to buy online when they’ve decided what to buy. Source: Forrester/Internet Retailer Q1 2015 US B2B Buyer Channel Preferences Online Survey (N = 229)
Rise of the self-serve portal
91% 82% 67% 67% Explain each one 64% Base: 224 B2B buyers and sellers; Source: Forrester/Internet Retailer Q1 2015 US B2B Buyer Channel Preferences Online Survey
Most B2B sellers are currently misaligned with B2B buyers
100% sales online 0 sales reps $200 million in sales
Improved margins by 20% Reduced call center staff by 50% in two years
Reduced cost to serve by more than 90% Raised “ease- of-transaction” score from 5 to 9
Services are not immune
B2B buyer and seller archetypes
Impact by industry
Digitally enabled B2B selling
What it means (WIM) Rethink your selling approach. Embrace new business models. Develop a new relationship with technology.
Andy Hoar ahoar@forrester.com Twitter: @andyhoar