Customer preferences in B2B purchasing have evolved. Face-to-face interactions with salespeople are losing popularity, while the preference for using digital channels is growing.

A recent Gartner survey has shown that buyers are increasingly switching to these new purchasing channels.

The data:

The Gartner Digital Buying Survey 2021 has studied that 59% of annual B2B purchases will be made through websites and other online channels by the end of 2023.

According to this same survey, 43% of B2B customers prefer an experience without representatives, that is, through digital resources. This is a figure that increases the younger the customers are, with digital platforms being the preference of 54% in the case of millennials, 43% in Generation X and 29% in baby boomers.

In short, the statistics indicate that buyers will increasingly engage with digital channels to support their purchases and face-to-face sales will decline.

Sales Enablement in the digital future

In this landscape where sales processes are being transformed, Sales Enablement is essential. However, we must ask ourselves:

• Is our Sales Enablement team adopting the right roles?

Doug Bushée, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, states that Sales Enablement, despite, as its name suggests, focusing on sales training, very often focuses solely on training salespeople.

Bearing in mind that purchases without a physical salesperson will become increasingly popular, this perspective must change, and evolve towards a Sales Enablement that not only focuses on improving individual salespeople, but also supports and solidifies all those activities that can maximise revenue. What we call: Revenue Enablement.

To begin this change, Gartner recommends that sales leaders focus on Sales Enablement technology, talent development and content.

Sales Enablement technology

Thus, Gartner's survey highlights the importance of promoting a constantly evolving Sales Enablement. With the transformation of the market, commercial teams must broaden their vision and enhance not only the skills of their salespeople, but also digital channels and platforms that accompany the customer.

In this direction and to continue advancing in this digital environment, at Catalog Player we started the growth project of our Smart Content Sales Enablement Platform, which aims to improve the integration of Artificial Intelligence into the sales process.