Written by: Vickie Sullivan | November 12, 2024
B2B Sales in 2025: 2 Trends Impacting Small Businesses
The end of the year is quickly approaching, which means you should be reviewing your sales processes and evaluating how you will approach B2B sales in 2025. A great place to start is McKinsey & Company’s 2024 B2B Pulse Survey.
In it, they asked a fascinating question: How can B2B decision-makers balance the convenience of self-service and the desire for human interactions in the B2B sales process? To find answers, the consulting firm gathered reactions from almost 4,000 deal makers in 34 sectors and eight major industries, making the study an essential resource as you prepare for B2B sales in 2025.
Key Trends Shaping B2B Sales in 2025
The survey results revealed several trends in B2B Sales in 2025. Here are two findings smaller B2B businesses should pay attention to:
• In-person sales are not dead. Yes, digital sales have spiked, even with big purchases. However, in-person B2B sales are still alive and well. Over 40% prefer the personal touch with new suppliers and first-time purchases. Even the digital “innovators” spend time here. So, don’t go all in with digital just yet. While buyers use an average of 10 channels (!) to interact with sellers, the top three are websites, in-person sales, and video.
• Everywhere all at once. Buyers no longer limit the places where they search for solutions to just a handful. More than 40% of respondents said they use over 11 different touchpoints. Decision makers are scattered, so you need multiple paths to interact with them and reach them where they are. Generative AI will be an essential tool for B2B sales in 2025 to help streamline and automate these diverse touchpoints.
These findings show that B2B sales in 2025 will still be a roller coaster ride. The name of the game for 2025 will be force multipliers. Start exploring how to scale your B2B sales efforts now.
Listen: How Smaller Businesses Can Add Generative AI to their B2B Selling
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