The New B2B Buyer | 6 Rules of Engagement eBook!
B2B buyer behavior has evolved in adaptation to the Internet. A new B2B buyer species has arisen that is more connected, more impatient, more elusive, more impulsive, and more informed than its pre-millennium ancestors. Just as the new B2B buyer has evolved in adaptation to the Internet, B2B sales and marketing professionals must adapt their strategies and tactics to the expectations of the new B2B buyer for online independence and instant gratification. For each new behavioral trait that differentiates the new B2B buyer species from its pre-millennium ancestors, there is a new rule of engagement that complements that behavior to maximize B2B sales and marketing effectiveness.
This eBook consolidates and expands on my popular New Breed of B2B Buyer series. It defines 6 behavioral traits of the new B2B buyer and explores how they lead to 6 new rules of sales and marketing engagement. It also introduces the concept of the “fuzzy funnel” and includes tactical highlights such as the evolving roles self-service, search, marketing automation and B2B sales in new B2B buyer engagement. Share and enjoy!
The goal of this blog is to share knowledge and opinions that will help B2B Marketing Professionals critically analyze real-world, go-to-market strategies and tactics by applying sound business principles
[...] Cast in this light, these statements are obviously and completely ridiculous. The fundamental purpose of B2B social networking technology is to facilitate B2B networking through automation. In plain English, the purpose of B2B social networking is to increase the frequency, velocity, and quality of business referrals and references. When applied to sales and marketing, this translates into accelerating the B2B purchase process and driving viral revenue growth within an industry. At the core of a referral are two things: a positive, trusted relationship and useful information. Now that sounds just a little bit like sharing a blog post or a comment on LinkedIn. At a minimum, B2B sales and marketing professionals should be using B2B social networking to increase the frequency and velocity of referrals throughout the sales process. At a maximum, B2B social networking can be combined with search, Website marketing and marketing automation to completely automate the B2B purchase process of the new breed of B2B buyer. [...]
[...] The New B2B Buyer | 6 Rules of Engagement eBook! via B2B Marketing Strategy [...]
[...] Cast in this light, these statements are obviously and completely ridiculous. The fundamental purpose of B2B social networking technology is to facilitate B2B networking through automation. In plain English, the purpose of B2B social networking is to increase the frequency, velocity, and quality of business referrals and references. When applied to sales and marketing, this translates into accelerating the B2B purchase process and driving viral revenue growth within an industry. At the core of a referral are two things: a positive, trusted relationship and useful information. Now that sounds just a little bit like sharing a blog post or a comment on LinkedIn. At a minimum, B2B sales and marketing professionals should be using B2B social networking to increase the frequency and velocity of referrals throughout the sales process. At a maximum, B2B social networking can be combined with search, Website marketing and marketing automation to completely automate the B2B purchase process of the new breed of B2B buyer. [...]
[...] The New B2B Buyer | 6 Rules of Engagement eBook! via B2B Marketing [...]
Joel,
Loved the eBook, it was very insightful. I particularly liked the Fuzzy Funnel hypothesis. I have a question : what do you think drives this kind of impulsiveness? Is it due to the plethora of choices that the buyer has? All in all, great analysis, and lots of useful information nuggets one can use to formulate a rock-solid marketing strategy.
James
Hi James,
I believe the impulsiveness is a function of how quickly a decision can be made. B2B decision making has been significantly accelerated by the availability and timeliness of online information about products and solutions combined with the increased internal speed of communications. For a $1M purchase, a buyer is likely to go slow no matter what to manage risk. However, a 50K purchase just isn’t that much relative to many budgets. The only gating factor to purchase is how fast a decision can be made. Today, we make decisions much faster than we did just 10 years ago.
Cheers,
Joel
[...] Cast in this light, these statements are obviously and completely ridiculous. The fundamental purpose of B2B social networking technology is to facilitate B2B networking through automation. In plain English, the purpose of B2B social networking is to increase the frequency, velocity, and quality of business referrals and references. When applied to sales and marketing, this translates into accelerating the B2B purchase process and driving viral revenue growth within an industry. At the core of a referral are two things: a positive, trusted relationship and useful information. Now that sounds just a little bit like sharing a blog post or a comment on LinkedIn. At a minimum, B2B sales and marketing professionals should be using B2B social networking to increase the frequency and velocity of referrals throughout the sales process. At a maximum, B2B social networking can be combined with search, Website marketing and marketing automation to completely automate the B2B purchase process of the new breed of B2B buyer. [...]