We are living in an age of “information overload,” with the constant barrage of apps, messages and updates exceeding the brain’s capacity to process. This trend is clearly playing out in the current advertising and marketing landscape. With a relentless focus on performance, today’s brands are pumping out ever-increasing volumes of ads and marketing campaigns – a “high volume” strategy for finding the winners fast.
According to Hero Rankings, the average U.S. citizen encounters anywhere from 4,000–10,000 ads per day (especially online), up from around 500 per day in the 1970s. With individuals consciously registering less than 100 ads on an average day, this advertising and marketing onslaught makes it exponentially harder for brands to stand out.
In a B2B sales context, this translates to customers and prospects being more distracted — and having lower attention spans, according to researchers at Northeastern University — than ever before. This raises the bar for garnering a prospect’s attention higher than it’s ever been. It’s not that you’re a bad salesperson, unlikeable or a failure – you just haven’t adapted to the new B2B sales climate. Today’s B2B salespeople need to make some fundamental changes to their approach, including:
Conquering “Title Fear”
The average tenure for a B2B salesperson is exceedingly short, especially in tech, where HubSpot recently found a typical job stint to last 1.8 years. This churn creates huge problems, interrupting critical relationship-building at a time when sales are generally taking longer to close, according to the most recent sales cycle length statistics. Combine this with prospects’ reduced focus duration, and it’s not surprising that many B2B salespeople believe their jobs are getting harder.
B2B enterprise sellers can’t afford to have their salespeople squandering time as they network and work their way up the ladder to finally reach key decision-makers. Salespeople need to be more comfortable aiming “higher up” within prospects’ organizations, and they need to be given clear opportunities to do so – for instance, attending close, personal, invite-only gatherings where these focused buyers are present.
Not Being Afraid of “No,” But Insisting on Knowing the Reason Why
Unfortunately, rejection is often a normal part of a salesperson’s job. But salespeople can spin this into gold longer-term if they insist on walking away with an understanding of the reason for the “no,” and then use this as a basis for more strategic follow-ups.
In sales, persistence is extolled as a virtue. But in the “Age of Bombardment,” generic “checking in” messages may be too easy for prospects to ignore or de-prioritize. Salespeople need to make it a point for follow-ups to be personalized, timely and value-driven in the context of the prior “no,” building trust and moving relationships forward. Yes, persistence still matters in its own right, but if salespeople can add a meaningful insight (say, a case study, a news item, or a thoughtful reference to a prospect’s social post), they can increase the likelihood of an initial response, which exponentially boosts the chances for subsequent replies.
For example – an effective follow-up email may be, “I wanted to follow up on my note from last week about helping you towards (company goal). I took a closer look at (something specific about their company—recent news, product, or challenge), and one idea that stood out was (1–2 sentence insight or suggestion tailored to them). We’ve helped teams in similar situations achieve (a specific result — e.g., reduce onboarding drop-off by 25% or speed up verification times), so I thought the attached case study might be relevant.”
Leaning into Digital Channels and AI-Powered Selling — But Never Overlooking the Importance of In-Person Connection
Done the right way, digital channels (like social media) and AI sales tools (for instance, tools for generating personalized, automated emails) can be a huge asset for B2B salespeople, providing channels for more intentional follow-ups as well as increased efficiency.
However, it can be all too easy to “cross a line” when using these methods. Salespeople may be perceived as adding unnecessarily to the “firehose of noise” and wasting prospects’ time, if their attempts to shoehorn into a prospect’s Facebook or X feed feel unnatural, forced or out of context. Moreover, while generative AI tools enabling mass creation and dissemination of emails and marketing content can certainly create efficiencies, they can also have the adverse effect of flooding inboxes, increasing buyer suspicion and damaging seller credibility. Research shows that more than half of B2B buyers will disengage if they sense AI is at play and they’re being treated as a disposable lead.
In the “Age of Bombardment,” digital channels and AI alone are not enough, and sole reliance on them may even be risky. What sometimes gets diluted is the authentic, genuine human interaction and an opportunity to match a face to a selling company’s name, which has been shown to significantly increase the likelihood of deal closure. In-person connections are still vital, and not only do prospects want them, but being part of a community is also known to help salespeople be more effective.
However, the format of these events is changing, as the “mega tradeshows” that characterized Y2K and the early aughts are a thing of the past as organizations should consider the value of more meaningful, intimate networking and personalized content for their sales teams, versus over-crowded, chaotic exhibition halls. One recent survey showed 34 percent year-over-year growth in small (under 150 attendees) in-person gatherings. In contrast, the number of organizations planning more hosted large events fell 12 percent year over year.
Succeeding in this new B2B sales climate is not hopeless – but it does demand a new playbook. In this context, the most effective sellers will be those that get their sales people closer to key decision-makers faster; follow-up with intention and conviction and effectively combine digital channels, AI-powered networking tools, and more with a return to in-person business basics.