Rethinking B2B Sales: Adapting to the Digital Native Buyer

Revenue Rehab

This week, our host Brandi Starr is joined by Ray Hartjen, writer, musician, and seasoned marketer.

Meet Ray Hartjen, a marketing virtuoso with a rich history spanning five decades, who has seamlessly pivoted between industries from investment banking to SaaS software. Despite the varied roles, one constant shines through: his deep passion for storytelling. Ray is the author of three published books, including "Revenue Orchestration & Today's New Era of B2B Sales and Marketing".

In this episode of Revenue Rehab, Brandi and Ray delve into the evolving landscape of the B2B buyer journey, emphasizing how today's digital-first, self-service oriented buyers are changing the game. They explore key data points highlighting these shifts and discuss the crucial role of orchestration in aligning marketing, sales, and customer success teams to meet these new demands effectively. With actionable strategies and insights, Ray shares how revenue teams can adapt and thrive amidst the changing buyer expectations.

Tune in to discover how to reimagine your tactics, optimize your processes, and embrace a culture of experimentation to propel your revenue team forward.

Bullet Points of Key Topics + Chapter Markers:

Topic #1 The Changing B2B Buyer [00:02:56] “Based on Data that today's B2B buyer has changed… today's buyer can get turned off immediately by, by, you know, the timeless practice of cold calling." says Hartjen. He emphasizes that buyers are now mostly digital natives who prefer self-service and use technologies like search and keywords extensively. They work in buying groups and look for user reviews and referrals early in their buying journey, disrupting traditional bottom-of-funnel practices.

Topic #2 Importance of Revenue Orchestration [00:16:41] “How do you put them together in a way that you optimize…less is more, if you're going to have a higher return.” Hartjen explains, “It takes a lot of planning… something that we can just get and kind of quickly look on a dashboard perspective to see, are we directional?” He emphasizes that orchestrating efforts across the entire revenue team, including marketing, sales, and customer success, requires meticulous planning, coordination, and a focus on optimizing plays to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in go-to-market strategies.

Topic #3 Experimentation and Adaptation [00:36:46] “Don't be afraid to experiment, test and learn… How can we activate what ifs into our go to market efforts and see what impact they might have. Test and learn.” advises Hartjen. He stresses the importance of continuously experimenting with new strategies and learning from the results to keep up with the changing marketplace, urging teams to prioritize adaptability and continuous improvement.

What’s One Thing You Can Do Today

Ray’s ‘One Thing’ is to not be afraid to experiment, test, and learn. “I think the marketplace will forgive an error that is made with good intentions behind it. If you try different campaigns and plays, begin to get that information, test and learn, and continuously improve what's working, what's not working, what should we do more of, what should we do less of, what do we need to learn, relearn and unlearn, and then repeat. Especially in this digital marketplace, everything is quickly measurable and also changeable. So go out there and experiment.”

Buzzword Banishment

Buzzword Banishment: Ray’s Buzzword to Banish is ‘lean into’. Ray wants to banish this term because it was so overused by his colleagues about 15 years ago that it now provokes a physical reaction from him whenever he hears it. He also humorously acknowledges the possibility that he might end up using the banned phrase multiple times during the conversation.

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayhartjen/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rayhartjen/

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ray.hartjen

• X: https://x.com/RayHartjen

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RayHartjen

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rayhartjen5

• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Ray-Hartjen/author/B0BK56H9TV?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

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