Yes, B2B buyers are increasingly moving through the buying cycle on their own time and collecting their own product information, but let’s be clear: news of the death of face-to-face sales meetings is definitely premature.
In fact, reports Gavin Finn at MediaPost.com, data from Forrester research and others proves that in-person meetings are the most important part of a customer’s buying experience.
Oxford Economics studied the effectiveness of virtual meetings (phone, video, chat, etc.) and determined that for new prospects, in-person meetings were 85 percent more effective than virtual meetings, and this benefit was incredibly significant even for existing customers (65 percent). What advantages do buyers in a complex B2B sales process receive from a personal touch?
• When it comes time to help the prospect make a good buying decision, cognitive studies have shown that there needs to be an emotional connection that goes beyond analytics. Body language, facial expressions and voice tone are all examples of emotional cues that are not captured in email discussions, chat rooms and even videoconferencing to help buyers evaluate vendors.
• Buyers want to establish a relationship with the company, and even the people in the company. That relationship will transcend the initial transaction, and will allow for a mutual exchange of value that lasts a long time.
• A study of organizational behavior showed that overall outcomes of group purchase decisions were far superior when there were face-to-face meetings with vendors, highlighting effectiveness both in terms of better decisions (long-term satisfaction) as well as efficiency in the process.
Perhaps the best reason salespeople should embrace real client contact is because studies have shown that sales cycles are much shorter when face-to-face meetings are part of the process.
