Monday, September 29th, 2025
Buyers need human salespeople as guides in complex B2B environments to escape preconceptions
In today’s B2B landscape, buyers conduct significant research and vendor comparisons prior to ever contacting a salesperson. At the same time, vendors assume that buyers are likely to be confident in understanding the problems they are trying to solve, which can lead to sellers failing to conduct a robust discovery process once they do get involved. More paradoxically, however, buyers…
Monday, September 29th, 2025
Buyers prefer self-service, but choose sellers for key tasks
Buyers favour online self-service tools over sellers when searching for general information and learning new things. However, for buying tasks requiring contextual intelligence, such as determining whether a product or service fits their company’s needs, buyers prefer to seek seller input. That’s according to Alice Walmesley, Director Analyst in the Gartner Sales Practice. “Instead of offering generic information that buyers…
Monday, September 29th, 2025
Most B2B buyers will prefer human interaction to AI by 2030 – Gartner
While AI-driven solutions offer speed, efficiency, and convenience, especially in the early stages of the sales process, recent analysis suggests that the demand for genuine human engagement is far from diminishing. In fact, by 2030, Gartner predicts that 75% of B2B buyers will prefer sales experiences that prioritise human interaction over AI, prompting organisations to rethink how they structure their…
Monday, July 7th, 2025
30% of genAI initiatives to fail in 2025 – Gartner
Gartner suggested last year that at least 30% of generative AI businesses in the testing phase would be abandoned after proof of concept by the end of 2025, according to a report in AI Business. Organisations have been struggling to justify genAI investments due to the substantial costs involved. The analyst firm found that early genAI adopters were finding that…
Monday, July 7th, 2025
Consumers wary of social media
Consumers report that social media is their least trusted source when making buying decisions; at the same time, it’s where they interact with family and friends, who also serve as their most trusted sources. These are among the latest findings in a 9 June article from consultants McKinsey: “State of the Consumer 2025: When disruption becomes permanent”. When ranking sources…
Monday, July 7th, 2025
Success in an “AI-first” world
Top-performing go-to-market teams have aligned on three objectives that unlock success in a so-called “AI-first” world, according to the State of Sales Enablement Report 2025 from enablement platform Highspot. The survey found: The 11th edition of the State of Sales Enablement Report surveyed some 350 enablement (46%), marketing (21%), sales (12%), and revenue operations (10%) professionals. +
Wednesday, April 9th, 2025
Hitting the right notes in sales
How can leading indicators, when integrated into the Sales Management System and aligned with leadership practices and organizational culture, enhance predictability, foster customercentricity, and drive sustainable sales transformation within a complex, matrixed organization like SAP? Conducting the symphony in sales In the vibrant world of sales, the role of a leader may be associated to that of a conductor of…
Friday, January 10th, 2025
Five key insights into great KAMs
A major research study uncovers insights into what differentiates top-performing KAMs from the rest. It finds many organisations are focusing on the wrong things in their efforts to improve KAM performance. Key account managers (KAMs) may represent a small fraction of the sales force, but their impact on sales outcomes is disproportionately significant. Despite extensive research on general sales effectiveness,…
Friday, January 10th, 2025
The AI advantage in KAM
How AI can help to create ideas and boost efficiency for key account managers. Implementing a strategic KAM plan that generates profitable growth for both the supplier and the key customer is notoriously difficult. As consultants and advisers to hundreds of key account managers working in multiple organisations and varied industries, we see talented managers struggle to be consistently effective…
Thursday, January 9th, 2025
Omnichannel, AI and the future of B2B sales
How are B2B buyer expectations changing and where is B2B sales headed? In the previous edition of the Journal, we ran a story on McKinsey’s ninth global B2B Pulse report (released 12 September), which questioned 4,000 B2B decision-makers across eight major industries. This identified how B2B suppliers are responding to “consumer-like” purchasing demands from buyers. Here we talk to the…
Wednesday, October 11th, 2023
Gazing into the future
We look into our crystal ball to understand how technology is reshaping business and wider society via Industry 4.0. We recently sat down with Henrik von Scheel, a leading speaker on AI and an expert on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As the originator of the term, he is highly regarded by businesses and governments for his insight into digital trends….
Wednesday, October 11th, 2023
Electric superbike company appoints legendary CRO
Electric superbike manufacturer Verge Motorcycles has appointed business and retail visionary George Blankenship as its new Chief Revenue Officer. With a career spanning more than 40 years, Blankenship is known for developing acclaimed retail strategies for world renowned brands such as software and computer maker Apple and electric car manufacturer Tesla. “Motorcycles have been manufactured with the same underlying format…
Wednesday, October 11th, 2023
Trust unlocks online sales
A new report from “trust platform for digital commerce” Forter has found “alarming rates of false declines, cart abandonment, and trust issues” in online shopping. The 2023 Consumer Trust Premium Report explores the relationship between consumer shopping habits and brand trust. Over 73% of UK consumers have had a negative online shopping experience, with high rates of false declines (14%),…
Wednesday, September 6th, 2023
The AI balance sheet
What will be the impact of artificial intelligence on business? There is a fierce debate (not to mention a lot of hype) surrounding the future impact of artificial intelligence, related both to its potential benefits and also to the not inconsiderable dangers of introducing AI into business and society. On the one hand, AI investment has been growing rapidly over…
Tuesday, September 5th, 2023
Transform for the future
Anticipating the future puts you ahead of the game. Here is an innovative guide to driving change. Part I: We couldn’t possibly do that! How the “future readiness movement” began. It was the midst of the pandemic, and it was my first team meeting as I embarked in my new role as the Chief Operating Officer for SAP Asia Pacific…
Monday, September 4th, 2023
Sales, media and marketing need three years to prepare for AI
A survey of 600 UK human resources managers and directors working in sales, media and marketing conducted in May 2023 indicates they will need three years to be ready for the impact of AI on the workplace. However, all of them believe it will deliver benefits. Fewer than one in five (18%) said they would be fully prepared for the…
Monday, September 4th, 2023
Hybrid sales model can boost SaaS companies
Product-led growth seeks to place the product at the epicentre of customer acquisition, retention, and expansion to achieve “lower sales costs, greater product virality, and higher net retention”. As such, the product itself plays a critical role in acquiring, growing, and retaining customers. This approach has traditionally been seen as a more effective way to engage SME businesses, while a…
Monday, July 10th, 2023
Mobile malware
The rising number of mobile malware attacks is in many cases attributable to people not protecting their smartphones, according to IT support specialists CloudTech24[NdC1] . What can you do? Here are five tips: [NdC1]Please keep the link +
Monday, July 10th, 2023
How AI is disrupting sales and marketing
McKinsey research (published 11 May 2023) suggests…
Wednesday, July 5th, 2023
Sales leaders should position technology as “teammate”
Analysts suggests that sales organizations which actively position technology as a “teammate” for sellers – rather than just another tool – will unlock seller productivity and enable highquality deals. Speakers at the Gartner CSO & Sales Leader Conference 2023, in Las Vegas on 16-17 May, explored how technology – particularly artificial intelligence – is key in augmenting the unique value…
