2022 has kicked off with a slew of great research reports, giving sales professionals some reasons to be cheerful as well as providing plenty of food for thought. As we come to the end of the first quarter, we thought it would be a good idea to share some of the most thought-provoking research and insightful sales statistics we have seen so far.
We hope you enjoy our round-up.
In a business-to-business (B2B) sales environment, statistics and trends are vitally important. They provide insights that can help you improve your sales strategy and give you an edge over the competition. The modern sales environment requires a deep understanding of current trends and where the market is heading. In order to succeed in sales, you need to be constantly learning and keeping up to date with the latest industry news.
So, to make things easier for you and your business, we've done the hard work for you and gathered some of the most unmissable B2B sales statistics for 2022.
“Return to Work and the Modern Seller: B2B Sales Trends”, published in February 2022 highlighted the sustained shift to remote and hybrid selling. The report, published by sales engagement platform Groove, surveyed over 1,000 B2B revenue professionals in the US between December 2021 and January 2022.
The research found that just over half of enterprise field sales teams are back on the road visiting customers, which of course means that just under half are not! At Pace, we expect this to be a long-term trend, with more of the buying journey going digital. The research found that 33% of enterprise sales teams are now hybrid as compared to 22% pre-pandemic.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the research also highlighted some interesting sales statistics around increased investment, sales engagement platforms and data sources:
While you might expect a sales engagement technology platform to uncover such statistics, the prestige analyst firm Gartner has picked up a similar trend, as we will discover next.
Related Reading: The Defining Sales Statistics: Key Trends & How To Get Ahead in 2022
And like Groove, Gartner’s sales statistics confirm that tech platforms are one of the top priorities for sales leaders in 2022. The three top investment areas are sales enablement, digital marketing and sales operations programmes:
Digital first investments: The pandemic accelerated B2B buyers’ exposure to, and comfort with, using digital commerce platforms for large, complex purchases as well as smaller deals. In a more virtual environment, most CSOs recognize the importance of digital marketing.
Analytical thinking: CSOs plan to invest in sales operations, with sales analytics a key priority. Over half of the CSOs Gartner surveyed identified sales analytics, a key element of sales operations programs, as a priority for organisational success.
Technological advancements: After protecting technology budgets in 2021, CSOs continue to prioritise tech investments moving in 2022. CSOs plan to increase investment in sales technology, prioritising pipeline generation, CRM data, and training and coaching use cases.
We found it fascinating that Gartner identified some “foundational shifts” in the way sales teams and buyers fundamentally interact. Besty Gretory-Hosler, Senior Direct, Research in the Gartner Sales practice said that ”CSOs and sales teams are now partially or fully funding activities owned by marketing.” This trend, is leading to “an unprecedented time of spending within these functions”
The next survey in our round-up also highlights the changing relationship between sales and marketing and continues the remote working and digital themes.
As the work-from-anywhere era takes hold, some teams are struggling, according to the second annual Revenue Marketing Report from Copper and Outfunnel. This report included some very positive sales statistics, including that 60% of sales and marketing leaders at small and medium businesses exceeded revenue goals in 2021.
Was this because remote selling allowed their sales teams to be more productive than when spending long hours on the road travelling to customers? The Pace business development team thinks this could be the case. The research does not answer this question, but goes on to explore the alignment or perhaps we should say misalignment between sales and marketing teams:
These sales statistics once again highlight the need for businesses to review their sales and marketing processes if they are going to stay ahead of their competitors in 2022.
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Have you ever thought about the sales behaviours that drive results? At Pace, this is a topic that is very close to our hearts and an area where we focus a lot of attention. ValueSelling Associates and Training have done some valuable research in this area, surveying 464 sales leaders to uncover how to be more successful within a virtual B2B sales model.
We found this sales statistic to be particularly revealing:
In other words, if you focus on encouraging the sales behaviours that lead to the best results in a virtual B2B sales model, you are going to get better results.
So what are these behaviours? The research provides some extremely valuable insights, summarised in the sales statistics below:
These are all behaviours that we foster at Pace, and an area where we add huge value to our B2B customers.
Julie Thomas, President and CEO of ValueSelling Associates commented: “Many sales leaders only measure sales outcomes. Measuring both selling behaviours and sales results is critical to determine if a healthy revenue pipeline is on the horizon.”
This research, from Forrester’s 2021 B2B Buying Study may be a little older than the sales statistics above, but we feel it follows on nicely from the previous survey and is still extremely relevant.
The number of buying interactions reflects one individual’s buying journey to obtain information about competing offerings or providers. In the total number, Forrester included self-guided interactions (mostly done online research) and personal interactions, which refer to a conversation with a person, from either a provider company or third party. Almost all of these conversations took place virtually last year.
The message could not be more clear. If you don’t invest time and money in building strong relationships with B2B buyers, at every stage of the buying journey, then you are going to lose out to more digitally-savvy competitors.
To really discover what these statistics mean for your business, working with a B2B business development consultant like Pace can be immensely helpful. We have the experience and expertise to help you foster the behaviours that will drive better sales results in a virtual B2B sales model.
Pace is a business development consultancy that helps companies achieve their revenue targets by developing and executing winning go-to-market sales strategies. We work with clients who are looking to increase their market share and penetrate new markets successfully.
If you would like to learn more about how we can help you achieve your business goals, please contact us today.
