How to overcome “data frustration” in B2B sales
Most B2B companies have lots of data. But most struggle to put it to use when engaging customers. Why? And how could they overcome their challenges?
At Accenture, we know sales success comes from how well you know and understand your customers. And we’ve all heard (probably thousands of times by now) how digital data and modern sales platforms can help us improve our knowledge and understanding. Simple, right?
Except for most B2B companies, it isn’t.
Struggling with some (or all) of these?
The reality is, yes: these companies have lots of data — but most of them can’t use it for various reasons.
Here are the most common challenges we come across in our B2B-sales projects:
- There’s too much of it. Or rather: too much for the company to make sense of with its current capabilities. Most clients we work with do have big data and analytics capabilities — but they still struggle to find signals in the noise.
- The quality isn’t high enough: Many companies find this to be the main reason they can’t find signals or derive helpful insights from the signals they find.
- It sits in too many places: Very often, a company’s data will sit in a variety of “siloes” — simply because that’s how databases were built in the past: They were set up in line with a “functional logic,” not with a “data-consumer” logic: Customer contact info is in the sales database, marketing databases sometimes don’t align with sales data, customer financial info in finance db, service incidents in service, etc.
- It doesn’t drive insights: Related to all the above, this is a challenge we see even data-savvy clients run into: Accenture research surveys found only 27 percent of C-suite executives say their data and analytics investments yield highly actionable insights. And only 6 percent report that their analytics capabilities help deliver “superior financial performance.”
Seems like a straightforward enough list, doesn’t it? The issue is, it isn’t: these “reasons” for these B2B data frustrations aren’t reasons at all — they’re symptoms.
The root causes behind them lay elsewhere.
Chances are, these are the reasons
When data doesn’t work, it’s often because at least one of these five success factors is missing: Your company might not yet have …
… a robust “data vision” and mindset. If this reads like a business school cliché, then that’s because it is one. But, as Aldous Huxley once said: “Proverbs are always platitudes until you have personally experienced the truth of them.” And the simple fact of the matter is that you won’t get far if you can’t paint a picture of where you’d like to take data use within your company or if you can’t instill a “data-first” mindset in your colleagues.
… a clear business case and objectives: Data excellence can be costly, so you better have a plan for getting from “I” (Investment) to “R” (returns). Chances are you’ll need new software, new processes, and new ways of thinking and working, all implemented at scale. So, set yourself up for success by defining clear objectives, requirements, costs and return expectations for each part, and bring in some experienced experts to validate your estimates.
… a data strategy: a robust data strategy “translates” your business strategy and objectives into a set of goals and imperatives for data capture and sourcing, management, and analytics, and defines your company’s data governance (essentially, a series of rules defining who gets to use which data, how, and for which purpose).
… a revised operating model: critical, and, in my experience, very often missing: Ways of working which 1) allow for the free “flow” of data and insights through a company, and 2) ensure data isn’t merely captured, stored, and analyzed — but also acted upon(!). We often don’t have to look further than to the “silo wall” between marketing and sales to find issues within existing operating models — challenges around marketing-sales alignment are still pervasive.
… digital capabilities: Last but not least, you’ll likely need to update at least some of your capabilities. CRM software can be decades old, and many of the analytics solutions companies are running today (if any) were never designed for a fully-integrated, cross-function multi-platform environment in the cloud or AI-powered automation… but for something much more specific. The good news here is that, in most cases, you’ll be able to get to where you need to be by upgrading what you have (rather than ripping something out and starting from scratch).
If any of these issues seem familiar: don’t worry. They’re pretty common; even data-savvy companies grapple with at least a few of them from time to time. And they can be overcome — if you start at the top of the list and use best practices to work your way “down:”
Here’s how you start unlocking your data
Start by clearly defining — and sharing! — your data vision as a way to instill a more data-centric mindset. Then, explore the value potential of specific data uses in B2B sales and try to describe a path towards data-powered sales at a “c-suite level.” Then, secure some senior-executive buy-in and sponsorship for your ideas.
Once you have sufficient support for your vision, start shaping your strategy and operating model drafts using existing best practices. Don’t reinvent the wheel here; stick to what’s worked for companies like yours instead (there are plenty of methods and frameworks, and I can’t cover all of them here — but I’ll recommend you check out Accenture’s “Data-led transformation” methods).
Then, take one step at a time, and scale diligently. It’ll not be “easy” — but it might very well be easier than you think!
Remember: “This is too hard!” is very 2018
Yes, the overall effort of “data-led transformation” can seem overwhelmingly tricky at first and from afar. But remember: Cloud, data, and analytics solutions have come a long way since 2018, and so have best practices, libraries, and templates — which means using the mentioned steps and framework is now easier than ever.
One example, if I may: We help clients make the switch to data-powered B2B sales through a comparatively straightforward “upgrade” to their processes and CRM with the Accenture B2B Sales Solution — a pre-packaged, plug-and-play suite of best practices, tools, and templates for the Salesforce CRM solution. It allows clients to quickly empower their sales reps with better insights and gets them ready for AI by updating their sales processes with simple but powerful automation.
Solutions like these take almost all the headaches from sales modernization and allow businesses to finally deliver on the promises of data-powered sales: true customer insight and understanding, full personalization, and the insights-driven building of trust and meaningful relationships in, around, and for your business.
Conclusion: You should shift to data-driven sales now!
Overcoming “data frustration” is critical, and it’s now easier than ever. That’s not to say it will be “easy,” but it will be worth it.
Success comes down to driving a comprehensive, full-fledged strategy and operating model reinvention, with everything these two things entail. And while this might read (and: be!) complex, it certainly doesn’t have to be complicated anymore with today’s new data solutions and upgrades.
So: stop being frustrated by data — and start harnessing it?
I’m happy to give you some pointers that may help you begin, just e-mail me or visit our B2B Sales Reinvention page.
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