THE HYBRID SALES APPROACH

THE HYBRID SALES APPROACH

This article has been updated on the 14th of November 2021

The past 24 months have definitely changed the way companies approach customers, both existing and potential, but also how customers want to be approached. The sales model has been reshaped to its core, and the traditional method has changed to a more remote/ virtual kind of engagement strategy.

What does this mean?

The days when sales reps could visit clients (potential and existing) are gone /limited for the current times, maybe even forever! The way to get hold of customers converted into a virtual method (e-mails, automation, LinkedIn, social selling, phone/video calls, apps, video selling, etc.). Many industries had to make the shift quite quickly and adapt to the new situation throughout the pandemic.

According to a survey done by #McKinsey, there is a new concept referring to sales reps, and this is the hybrid sales rep. “85% of B2B organizations expect hybrid reps to be the most common sales role over the next three years”.

McKinsey data

What is actually a hybrid rep?

This concept refers to the traditional sales rep that has made the leap to a more digital/remote way of approaching its customers. McKinsey defines it as “representatives who interact with customers via video, phone, apps, and occasional in-person visits.” Of course, there is a belief that in-person sales will be back when the pandemic is over, but according to this research, “only 15 percent of B2Bs expect in-person sales meetings to be the norm” in the future. These numbers evidence how much the sales model has changed in very little time and how it has shifted to omnichannel as the new strategy for sales.

How do you think the sales approach will change in the short- and long run?

The answer is definitely uncertain, but we know for sure that the combined sales model will be the approach used by organizations, at least in the near future. B2B leaders will integrate this model into their companies and across businesses, ensuring that “the learning curve of the last 12 months could turn into a new trajectory for growth”.

In this framework, the “hybrid rep” emerges as the figure that adapts to customers’ preferences and needs, being able to move skillfully between the face-to-face and the digital world, knowing how to foresee what customers need and anticipate their movements as if it were a dance. That is the sales model of the present and the future.

#hybridsales #digitalsales #b2bsales #socialselling #videoselling #linkedin #socialsellingexecution

The inspiration for this article comes from #Mckinsey report "Omnichannel in B2B sales: The new normal in a year that has been anything but"

Phil Gerbyshak

Chief Happiness Officer | Always learning more about and sharing insights about happiness, leadership and bouncing back from burnout | Burnout and Happiness Speaker | Pinball Wizard

2y

What to do? Learn new skills. Unlearn old habits. Get to work to make your offline and online match. Buyers are already here. Salespeople need to be too. Let’s go!! Good share Nicolai!!

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Pia Lindholm Tygesen

Forener daglige salgsprocesser med langsigtede marketingstrategier - KOMMUNIKATION & MARKETING

2y

This is positive reading. It would be a shame if everyone just went back to their old ways just out of habit, when there are so many lessons to be learned. Nicolai Haeggelin, do you know who the McKinsey study is based on? I'm guessing the American market?

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Nils Mandrup

Hjælper virksomheder ved at skabe værdi med dataanalyse - Integrator

2y

Det bliver interessant at se, hvad der i praksis kommer til at ske - men der er vel ingen tvivl om at salgsprocessen er forandret. Tak for et godt indlæg Nicolai Haeggelin

Mike Martinussen

CSO | Global Sales & Partnerships | ICF Certified Business Coach | Certified ValueSelling leader

2y

Thank you Nicolai for sharing, I agree with you that Sales reps approach to sales is changing although I think there is more to it than this. BtB buyers are today much more informed and has begun research long before starting the buying process. Which is why it is crucial to bring value to the table and act as a thought leader with insights, knowledge and counseling. The key is to add value to the process. Further more I have experienced that it is not enough to rely on your sales navigator account on LinkedIn and contact through InMails. That worked some years ago, but nowadays this channel is being over crowded with InMails and they do not read them (Most of them). Just some insights from my chair.

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Pawel Mazur

20+ years of pharmaceutical and medical devices industry experience in sales, marketing, and market access. An experienced executive in developing and establishing e-commerce, hospital (biosimilars) and retail in EMEA.

2y

Nicolai Haeggelin thank you for this interesting article. My question is where McKinsey made this survey? Is it from Europe or USA?

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