Building Scalable B2B Go To Market Muscles

"No Pain, No Gain"

I don't believe that phrase came out of pipeline review or forecasting meetings. But perhaps it should have.

Sales transformation in #GTM (go to market) organizations has accelerated in the past couple of years. Gone are the days of buyers being dependent on sellers to inform, educate and guide them on their #b2b purchase decisions. Today's #b2bBuyers are preferring frictionless, digital first buying paths. Modern buyers are also completing nearly 70% of the buying jobs before engaging with a seller, and sellers are certainly feeling the pain.

As a result of these new post-pandemic buying rhythms, #CEOs of emerging growth firms have an opportunity to close the #salesexecution gaps between their company, and larger, better funded competitors. Yes, there is a silver lining today's B2B sales problem.

Our team at Lucrum Partners inspects the clients current #salesplaybook at the beginning of each engagement. We are looking for born on dates (or edit dates) within the past 12-18 months. If the playbook is any older than that, it's likely providing obsolete guidance against the modern digital first buyer.

As an emerging growth CEO, you should prioritize getting a modern sales playbook in the hands of your revenue generators. The updated playbook needs to be aligned to each of the pillars of sales transformation.

Time for the pain/gain conversation.

#Gartner recently published four (4) actions to accelerate sales transformation. While these four may seem obvious, what's eye opening is the contrast statement under each initiative. In other words, most Chief Sales Officers (#CSO/sales leaders) have a clear point of view of each initiative, but the pull through to execution reveals gaps that must be addressed.

Priority #1 - Get the talent right. Jim Collins in "Good to Great. Why Some Companies Make the Leap.....and Others Don't", he emphasizes the need to get the right people, in the right seats on the bus. This must be accomplished BEFORE identifying where to drive the bus. In this digital first buying world, its frightening to learn that 82% of sellers believe they are proficient at virtual selling while their bosses believe that improving digital dexterity is a highly important priority. There is a big gap in perception vs reality, so immediately focus on getting your talent strategy locked in.

Priority #2 - Unify the commercial strategy. (This is WHERE you will drive your bus) With the shifts in buyer enablement, each of the firms revenue generating functions must be aligned. This unified plan will be visible in the playbook as internal motions that align to each stage of the buyer's journey.

Priority #3 - Redesign the sales motions to align to the rep-free frictionless buyer preferences. Build credibility by investing in educating buyers with your firms perspectives and insights, when buyers are beginning their journey. Thought leadership is about giving and helping, not selling. Priority #4 - Get the right Sales Tech Stack that enables the sales motions by supporting workflows. Sales tech is not about measuring usage time or utilization, its about measuring how effectively the buyers can navigate stage gates with an engaged seller. If sales tech is a hinderance, it's likely being measured incorrectly.

For emerging growth CEOs, you may not have the sales leadership or revenue operations horsepower to effectively take action on the above priorities. Don't freak out, it's ok.

This is where we help. info@lucrumpartners.co