Today’s Tech Buying Experience Demands Data, Peer Insights and a Personal Touch

Trying to sell technology at a time when we have more technology at our disposal than ever before is no easy task. To effectively reach, engage and sell to technology decision-makers is a more complex challenge than ever. C-suite executives and heads of tech are bombarded with more information, have higher expectations, and now leverage multiple channels and sources of influence and recommendation before arriving at their buying decisions.

For tech companies reaching out in uncertain economic and political times, they depend more than ever on a network of close partners to win over customers. Going into last year,  Edelman and LinkedIn’s B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report showed that 64% of C-suite executives say their companies have tightened up their procurement process in anticipation of looming challenges, and 44% of decision-makers say they will be personally less receptive to sales calls or marketing outreach.​ More than ever, decision-makers expect high-quality thought leadership to offer a strong, data-backed point of view on how to succeed in tough times.

Another key trend to recognize is that post-pandemic, there has been an expected resurgence in personal engagement that mixes face-to-face and direct online/virtual engagement. The critical factor is “personal”. According to the 2023 Global B2B Sales Survey by consultant Simon Kucher, the most successful businesses focused on nurturing these personal connections with customers. The report noted: “In-person and one-to-one interactions saw a significant rise in importance among B2B Allstars. Conversely, virtual sales channels like web chat have declined in prominence.”

In light of this, channel partner organizations that engage and sell to tech buyers must up their game on multiple levels to succeed in this new era of B2B sales. They now require more advanced tools to engage meaningfully—with simplicity and digitally powered solutions to create data-driven experiences and better inform buyers.

Another major shift is the accelerated desire for omnichannel and hybrid experiences that seamlessly move online and offline depending on context and preference. According to Straits Research, the Asia-Pacific B2B eCommerce market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 25% from now to 2030. McKinsey noted that in studies from 2022, two in three buyers prefer remote human interaction or digital self-service in their buying process. It also found that in 2016, B2B buyers, on average, leveraged five channels in their decision journey; by 2021, that had reached 10 channels. With the rapid evolution of social commerce, the channel mix today is likely even higher.

At HP, the goal is to maximize ways to enable channel partners to engage and sell effectively in this era of next-gen hybrid B2B experiences. Platforms like HP Curiocity provide channel sales reps with an accessible source of rich product and industry training. They also deliver insights tailored to each market, solution focus, and specialty, enabling more informed sales engagements. Ultimately, channel partners must find ways to upskill, take on new solution specialties and give themselves new ways to engage and access new addressable markets.

Channel partners can learn to create hybrid customer experiences while connecting and forging a channel community to share, learn and collaborate across a network of peers within the industry.

With several similar innovative tools at their disposal, this is an opportune time for channel partners to step up and deliver sustainable, personal and data-driven customer experiences.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CDOTrends. Image credit: iStockphoto/Ramon Ivan Moreno Prieto