Back in December, Mashable wrote about their predictions for the impact of digital on B2B sales. Now that we’re almost halfway through the year, we thought it would be a great time to look at which predictions have come true so far.
Prediction #2: Companies will Use Facebook as a Sales Channel
GE is always a forerunner in B2B social media, and if their Facebook page is any indication, this prediction has already come true. Just last week, GE posted news of a new product that has yet to be released, and users began commenting about their interest in making a purchase.
We expect to see more B2B companies follow suit soon, especially for new product releases.
Prediction #4: Customer engagement becomes a top priority
Propelled by the growth of social networks and changing customer demands, B2B companies have been moving toward increased customer engagement for the last few years. However, customer engagement is becoming a true priority in 2012. IBM’s 2012 Global CEO study, which we wrote about here, uncovered that “outperforming organizations are embracing a new spirit of openness to forge closer connections with customers, partners and employees,” and that some companies are even creating a “Chief Engagement Officer” role in their C-Suites
Prediction #5: Outside Sales Reps will use iPads
It seems like everywhere we go, we hear another story of a company that is supplying its sales reps with tablets. Take, for example, this InformationWeek article about Level 3 Communications’ decision to give its salespeople iPads loaded with selling tools like SalesForce, Chatter and Google Maps. This trend is likely to continue through 2012 as tablets come down in price and new apps are released.
While it still remains to be seen whether the rest of Mashable’s predications will come true, we think that 2012 has been a good year for B2B sales advancements in the digital space so far.
Image via SEM and SEO News.
