When customers take control of the early phases of their search for potential suppliers, the role of Sales will change. 

When a sales rep sees the customer the first time, a huge part of the customers’ decision process is history already. Instead of telling a customer what he knows already, sales people have to be on eye level in terms of their customer’s challenges and pain points. Customers expect to get challenged and require answers to their pain points, solutions to their problems. In other cases they simply require seamless transactions and a supplier which is easy to do business with.

With the increasing relevance of online touchpoints, Marketing is getting more involved in lead generation.

This is why orchestrating value communication across all touchpoints requires a new interplay of Marketing and Sales.

It doesn’t work in silos and roles have to be redefined, based on digital opportunities. 

Many sales reps may think they have reached their destination, when the deal is closed, the customer is buying and you are capturing sales and margins.

But for your customer this is just the starting point. And the journey doesn’t stop when the deal is closed. 

To turn customers into loyal customers and ambassadors for your company, you have to ensure continuous value creation and seamless customer interactions and consistent communication across all touchpoints.

Studies reveal that B2B buyers are expecting as simple and easy business transactions as they are experiencing in their private life. 

Amazon, Zalando & co have set the gold standard here. 

So ask yourself: Is your company a business partner that is easy to do business with for your customers? Are you really making life and business easy for your customers across all potential touchpoints?