Personalisation delivers B2B sales success by enhancing the customer experience. However, for it to be effective, it needs to be done right. Ever since the pandemic, there has been a surge in digital behaviours, with a lot of customers testing out new ways to interact with sales representatives – also in the B2B environment. Three-quarters of buyers switched to a new store, product, or buying method during the pandemic. With this increased awareness of and demand for personalisation, sales representatives need to be well-equipped to cater to these evolving customer needs – and they need systems that will support them in this.
But why is personalisation important in a sales context? According to Salesforce, while 66% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs, only 34% of companies actually do, which means there is a disconnect between customer expectations and sales representatives’ offers, resulting in outcomes remaining unmet. In this article, we will discuss the role of personalisation within sales enablement and how, if done correctly, it can deliver positive business outcomes, including go-to-market (GTM) efficiency, an improved customer experience, as well as operational optimisation.
Customer Experience
During a recent talk I attended, I heard someone say: “It doesn’t matter if everyone knows about you, if you’re not reaching the right people” and it stuck with me. It is not a complex statement, but holds a lot of truth – especially when thinking about it from a sales enablement perspective. With the rapid growth of hybrid-selling (meaning a mixed approach of digital and in-person sales), it has become increasingly more important to know your customers, and to know them well. Recent research by McKinsey shows that 71% of buyers expect companies to deliver personalised interactions. And 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen.
This suggests that content personalisation isn’t happening, or if it is, it isn’t reaching the right people at the right time. But by using the correct technology, analysing the data that is collected, as well as applying the appropriate training and coaching programmes, personalisation can and will deliver the desired outcome. With the right technology, Digital Sales Rooms (DSR) for example, sales reps are able to share targeted content, tailored to their customers needs and interests for every buyer interaction. Furthermore, once the DSR has been created, the sales rep is able to analyse whether the content was actually viewed, which documents resonated well and even who the content was viewed by or shared with.
Sharing content through technologies, such as DSRs is not only useful for the sales reps sending the content out, but also for the buyers receiving it on the other side. It is a single source of truth, holding all of the information necessary, enabling timely collaboration between team members – and if there is something missing, it can simply be added at a later stage. This results in a memorable experience for the buyer and ensures they are staying engaged throughout the hybrid selling process – while consuming content that is only relevant to them.
Training & Coaching
None of the above, however, would be possible without the effective training and coaching of the sales representatives. Having and building on the relevant skills is essential in delivering personalised content successfully – it’s where it all starts. Training & coaching can also be tailored to the individual needs and levels of expertise of the sales rep. By using tools that are enabled by insights and data, companies can ensure that employees receive appropriate training and interactive coaching, continuously improving their skills, enhacing their knowledge, and making them adaptable to change, which is key for the current competitive business environment.
Companies today are learning about and adopting technologies at a much faster pace – what previously took months or weeks to learn, now takes mere weeks. For example, according to OpenAI, ChatGPT acquired 1 million users within just 5 days after launching in November 2022, whereas it took Instagram over 2 months and Netflix even over 3 years. This proves how important it is for companies (and their employees) to be able to stay on top of these developments and trends. Being able to navigate through these ever changing environments, and upskilling employees to be able to do the same, will also result in a better buyer experience.
How Seismic can Help
In our recent report “The Personalisation Payoff”, we found that personalisation usage skyrocketed – and in tandem, buyer engagement increased as well. Not only did our customers leverage personalisation to an astonishing degree, but the correlated buyer engagement they saw was similarly dramatic.
With Seismic, a piece of content can be shared through what’s called a LiveSend link that captures engagement data, including how long the recipient spent consuming the content, even down to the individual page level. This data is important for our customers to understand what truly resonates with their buyers. From 2021 through 2022, LiveSend link generation increased by 58%, indicating our customers not only saw a greater need to communicate with buyers digitally but also saw a greater need to gain insights about them. During that same time, overall buyer engagement (measured in views) increased by 46%.
Another feature that Seismic offers, and that has been mentioned above, are the Digital Sales Rooms. By collating all relevant information in one central location, DSRs allow sales reps to enable B2B buyers. This has the ability to quickly add value to the buying journey by simplifying the content experience for prospects. It also creates a unique experience for the buyer and builds trust, which is essential to closing deals at the end of the buying journey.
If you’d like to learn more about Seismic Knowledge or other intelligent features of the Seismic Enablement CloudTM, get a demo today.