2. Steven Casey, Principal Analyst @caseysteve
WEBINAR B2B Customers Don’t Want You To Call Them: How Self-Service Research Changes B2B Marketing
Steven Casey, Principal Analyst
@caseysteve
Peter O’Neill, Vice President, Research Director
@poneillforr
May 26, Call in at 10:55 a.m. Eastern time

4. Agenda
What is self-service research, and why is it needed?
Lessons from customer support
Starting your self-service journey
Case study
What it means
Q&A

5. Your prospects don’t want you to call them
By a factor of 3x1, B2B buyers want to self-educate rather than speak with a sales rep.
Source: “Death Of A (B2B) Salesman” Forrester report

6. Because you’ve done too good of a job
We’re all consumers now — even B2B buyers.
B2B marketers have taught prospects they can live without sales reps.
62% of B2B buyers say they can now develop a set of selection criteria or finalize a list of potential vendors — based solely on digital content.
Without speaking with the company
Source: Forrester/Internet Retailer Q US B2B Buyer Channel Preferences Online Survey

7. But there’s more work to do
The best content is too often missing or buried.
Buyers take unanticipated steps in their journeys.
The expanding B2B purchase networks include unfamiliar personas.
Source: “Brief: B2B Content Fails The Customer Engagement Test” Forrester report

8. Learn from the self-service experts
Adopt a customer support mindset and tools.
Help customers help themselves.
Self-service research enables investigative buyers to easily find the content they seek and moves them toward a purchase as quickly as possible.

9. Implications for B2B marketers

10. Implications for B2B marketers
Learn to let go — be less of a helicopter marketer.
Augment interactive content and predictive analytics solutions.

11. Implications for B2B marketers
Learn to let go — be less of a helicopter marketer.
Augment interactive content and predictive analytics solutions.
Call deflection is now part of your job.
Eliminate “appointment-setting” calls to prospects still researching.

12. Self-service improves engagement
Retain more prospects.
Buyers who find what they need stay — frustrated buyers bounce.
Create self-qualified leads.
More prospects will declare their qualification through the frequency and depth of their engagement with your content.
Feed “intelligent outreach.”
Prospects feel like they have been looking for reps by the time they actually connect.
Source: “B2B Inside Sales: ‘Inside’ Or ‘Out?’ — That Is The Question” Forrester report

13. How to get started Solve the search problem first.
Click-through (SEO) versus next-click (contextual help)
Evaluate intelligent virtual assistants (IVAs).
More sophisticated/capable than contextual help but typically more expensive
Best suited to content libraries built for complex/varied offerings

14. Case study: Moo.com
Deployed contextual help solution

15. Case study: Moo.com
Deployed contextual help solution

16. Case study: Moo.com Deployed contextual help solution
Reduced inbound presales contacts by 20%

17. Case study: Moo.com Deployed contextual help solution
Reduced inbound presales contacts by 20%
Increased both conversion rate and average deal size by approximately 1.5%
Enabled opt-in throughout the research journey

18. What it means
Self-service evolves from point solution to platform feature.
VAs fill the shoes of all those dead B2B salesmen.
Bot-to-bot purchases

19. Questions and answers

20. To learn more Current report Planned research inquiry@forrester.com
How Self-Service Research Changes B2B Marketing
Planned research
Does Content Gating Still Work?
To Call Or Not To Call: Finding That Goldilocks Moment For Engagement

21. Steven Casey
Peter O’Neill

22. B2B MARKETING 2016
Forum For B2B Marketing And Sales Enablement Leaders
October 18–19, 2016 • Trump National Doral Miami
New this year: Digital technologies and marketplaces have empowered your B2B customers to move more freely than ever among suppliers and vendors. At the same time, new channels and platforms have redrawn your traditional routes to market, allowing your customers to bypass existing distribution networks. B2B marketing and sales leaders will learn how to navigate this rapidly changing environment.