Hi Everyone, David Blue here. Founder & CEO of Saltbox Mgmt. As a follow-up to my intro video, I wanted to share a bit more about what we’re up to here at Saltbox and what we’re seeing in the B2B selling world. But first, why was Saltbox started?

Why Are We Here?

Saltbox began in the summer of 2021 when we were, arguably, still in the Covid pandemic. As we all know, many, if not all, businesses accelerated their digital transformation roadmaps during this time to keep business moving forward while everyone was holed up and the world was changing.

Our aim was, and continues to be, guiding B2B businesses through this next wave of transformation. We chose to partner exclusively with Saledorce, because we know Salesforce is the best platform to achieve digital transformation at scale, and I’ve purpose-built a team of absolute experts to help make it happen. Because, while the pandemic is over, once the digital transformation lid was taken off, it’s never getting put back on again. So, we’re on a mission to make every B2B and D2C buying experience as seamless as possible. 

Why Are B2B Businesses Still Behind When It Comes to Digital?

Most B2B businesses are behind when it comes to digital initiatives for several reasons, but primarily because…well, digital transformation is hard. Battleships are difficult to turn, and there is a right and wrong approach to it. A couple common roadblocks we see are things like:

Complex Sales Motions: B2B sales are complex. Many B2B companies have intricate products that often require subject-matter experts and/or configuration, sold through multi-step distribution channels, direct-to-consumer (or both), to buyers who now prefer self-service experiences over anything else. What could go wrong?

Legacy Technology and Technical Debt: Often termed by McKinsey as the ‘silent killer of technology modernization,’ these two issues severely hinder an organization's ability to innovate. This is a significant challenge for many B2B companies. Archaic architectures and over-complicated integration frameworks, across applications built and maintained over decades require people resources and massive amounts of capital just to maintain, let alone innovate on top of. Status-quo wins far too many of these ‘technology modernization’ battles across enterprises. 

This list could go on longer than you’d care to read, but from my conversations with prospects, customers, and Salesforce execs, these are probably the main two holding many organizations back from delivering the buying experiences their customers expect. But Saltbox is on a mission to beat the status quo and modernize B2B buying experiences! 

Why Should Businesses Care About Their Buyer’s Experience?

It’s an unspoken rule of business—unspoken because it’s obvious—that any company must care about their buyer’s experience because if they don’t, their customers will find someone else to buy from. Today, this goes for B2B just as much as any consumer business. Close to 90% of B2B buyers have said they’d change suppliers if their current supplier’s sales channels couldn't meet their needs or expectations.

Modern B2B buyers expect their experience to be personalized, informed, and consistent no matter the channel or stage of the buying process.

However, what most businesses get wrong about this is thinking all they need to do is improve the UI of their existing portal or storefront; or—worse?—they stand up siloed digital experiences that are in no way connected and call it a day. Frankly, that bullshit just doesn’t work anymore. 

User experience is important, but UX doesn’t matter if the interaction—whether with a sales rep or a self-service portal—doesn’t know the details of the buyer, their past interactions, what products or services they might already own or have shown interest in, or isn’t using data to inform that interaction in real time. 

Modern B2B selling must traverse direct and self-service motions seamlessly, without making the buyer repeat a step.

Why Salesforce?

Like I said before, we know at our core that Salesforce is the best way to achieve the seamless digital future businesses dream of. This is why we’ve chosen to focus on the Salesforce platform and why we’re excited about the recent innovations across Revenue Lifecycle Management, Commerce, and Order Management Systems (OMS).

We can now help our customers deliver truly connected, personalized, and omni-channel buying experiences in ways we’ve never been able to do before. Helping our customers overcome these challenges, win with their buyers, and sell more using fewer resources.

Doesn’t that sound good? If you’re a potential customer wanting to learn more or you’re a Salesforce AE in need of reinforcements with your customers or prospects, please get in touch with me or someone on our team. We are eager to help you deliver on the promise of this digital age.

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