As a sales executive in the software industry, you know that closing complex B2B deals can be…complex. It takes months, sometimes over a year. It involves a complicated ongoing discovery process, trying to understand if and how your prospect can become a potential business, managing complex POCs, procurement processes, RFPs, navigating competition, and more. In addition, the process on the buyer’s side involves a lot of stakeholders and steps.
While B2B deals used to involve an average of 5.4 people in 2015, they now involve an average of 6 to 10 stakeholders. That’s more than a 30% increase. If that’s not enough, most of these steps and stakeholders you are blind to. According to Gartner, 90% of the sales process is not spent with you, but rather in researching, internal processes, or other vendors. You are blind to all of that. It’s no wonder sales cycles are getting longer — and more convoluted.
In addition, while the selling process is complex to navigate and control, have you thought about how it is for your prospects? (Hint, much worse…)
Experience is everything. According to Gartner, 77% of buyers felt that their later purchase was complex or difficult. Furthermore, they found that prospects who experience a high degree of purchase are 3x more likely to buy bigger deals. Focusing on the customer experience, enabling buyers, and making it easier for them to buy will help you build trust, differentiate yourself from the competition, shorten sales cycles, and improve close rates.
And so you need to be able to navigate the intricacies of the deal, understand your prospects better, and deliver a winning buying experience.
Enter Digital Sales Rooms.
Conducting an orchestra
Digital Sales Rooms are an ideal solution for complex B2B deals because they allow you to simplify and better control both the selling and buyer journeys. Think of it like this: you’re the conductor of an orchestra, and each member of the orchestra is a different step or stakeholder in the sales process. You need to be able to keep everyone in tune and step, and Digital Sales Rooms make that easier than ever.
With Digital Sales Rooms, you can easily create a custom workspace that is tailored to each of your deals. You can add content, customize the look and feel, communicate, manage the next steps, analyze all async buyer journey interactions and provide an engaging experience for the buyer. This helps you build trust and confidence with the buyer, which is essential for closing complex B2B deals.
Enable your buyers, make it easy to choose you
Empower buying committees to make faster decisions by removing friction, promoting transparency, and aligning at every step of the sales process.
Purchasing software can be a full-time job. And buyers are constantly communicating back and forth between sellers and internal stakeholders to navigate unclear and complex processes. At the same time, they have to dig through emails, outdated spreadsheets, and Slack threads to find relevant information and resources. I know, I know, we’re all tired of that…
Sellers are no different. Think about how much time you spend every day searching through the archives for past conversations, creating tailored decks and documents — or responding to emails asking for the pricing sheet, again.
Sales interactions can become a tangled web pretty quickly 👇
Digital Sales Rooms introduce a new way of working with buyers. They consolidate all your shared content and communication into a single place, in an engaging way so information doesn’t get lost — no matter how long your sales cycle is. Instead of adding to the never-ending email chain, add a comment in the Virtual Sales Room so everyone’s in the loop.
Digital Sales Rooms act as a single source of truth for past conversations, action items, and resources. They act as the ultimate champion empowerment tool for promoting your solution internally, or as a place for the entire buying committee to find what they need with ease and speed.
In addition, prospects are so impressed with the unique experience of working with sellers this way, that they just feel they’re in the right hands working with you as their partner so you build incredible trust.
Now that’s how you give every deal the VIP experience.
Receive buyer signals and deal analytics
Digital Sales Rooms also provide you with powerful analytics that can help you stay on top of your deals. You get insights into your buyer’s behavior, intent and preferences, so you can better understand them and act accordingly.
Think about all those moments between your calls, when you’re hoping and wondering:
- How serious are they?
- Are they doing what we agreed?
- Who else is involved in the deal?
- Why aren’t they responding?
For the first time – Digital Sales Rooms uncover all these blind spots. Since a significant part of the buying journey interactions moved to this digital space, Digital Sales Rooms give you visibility into everything that’s happening when you’re not in a meeting with your prospect.
Never let another deal slip through the cracks. With Digital Sales Rooms, it’s never been easier to know where your account stands so you can strategically prioritize where to spend your efforts. People who genuinely want to buy from you will engage and communicate with you. A Digital Sales Room sends you real-time notifications to let you see who, what, and how buyers interact in the room throughout their entire journey. So when it’s time for your next deal review, you’ll come to the table with a clear picture of where your deal stands.
Control next steps and timelines
In addition, Digital Sales Rooms make it easier to create a Mutual Action Plan and close the deal faster. It’s no secret that mutual action plans (MAP) are the key to top-performing sales reps. These plans help track agreed-upon milestones and protect buyers and sellers from guesswork and wasted time.
Don’t make the mistake of assuming your buyers understand exactly how to buy from you. One of the biggest challenges for sellers is working with inexperienced and uncertain buyers. Instead of booking internal meetings for handoffs, instead of continuously chasing the next steps over email, and trying to create mutual action plans in non-collaborative spreadsheets, Digital Sales Rooms are the ideal solution to keep things on track.
With Digital Sales Rooms, you’ll be able to create a clear path to success, track progress, and close deals more effectively — all in close partnership with your buyer committee.
Digital Sales Rooms help you keep everyone in the customer journey Aligned, both on the buying and selling teams. Remember, when I mention that most deals involve 6 to 10 decision-makers? Well, each of these decision-makers brings different perspectives, preferences, and challenges to the stable. So it’s essential to have access to the right stakeholders.
But you’re not just collaborating with buyer committees. Team selling is essential. You’re also navigating internal peers and managers to win business.
Digital Sales Rooms help you keep both sides Aligned to a clear process, action items, and timeline. You are no longer forced to stay behind an email chain that has been forwarded around. Rather, all buying teams have only one place to go, your Virtual Sales Room which is where they should be to access information about you. Everyone involved can now manage action items, join conversations around each step in the process, share files, schedule meetings, and more. You gain never-before-possible access to stakeholders and can develop relationships much easier with every one of them
In conclusion
It’s clear to see why Digital Sales Rooms are becoming the go-to solution for complex B2B deals, and we invite you to try out Aligned’s Virtual Sales Room. According to Gartner, by 2026, 30% of B2B sales cycles will be managed through Digital Sales Rooms, and 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur in digital channels by 2025.
So, if you’re looking for a way to improve your complex B2B sales process, Digital Sales Rooms are an ideal solution. Give them a try and see how they can help you propel your B2B selling strategy to be more lucrative than you can imagine. It’s as simple as that.
[Gartner] “DSRs will be driving ⅓ of sales processes by 2026
- [Gartner] “Create a virtual selling experience that enables buyers to drive their journey through the deployment of DSRs”
- [Gartner] “Ensure that DSRs are comprehensive by evaluating vendors with capabilities that will allow for a completely digital sales process and, at a minimum, capabilities for bidirectional content sharing and collaboration through integration with collaboration and messaging tools.”
- [Gartner] “Develop a better customer experience for your buyers/customers by understanding the relationship you have with them through the use of analytics such as engagement analysis, conversation intelligence, or emotion AI.”
- [Gartner] “By 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur in digital channels.”
- [Gartner] “By 2025, 60% of B2B sales organizations will transition from experience- and intuition-based selling to data-driven selling, merging their sales process, sales applications, sales data, and sales analytics into a single operational practice.”
* [Gartner] “DSRs are not digital commerce platforms, but they do link to digital commerce to allow customers to complete the buying process digitally if desired.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Digital Sales Room?
A Digital Sales Room is a digital platform that offers B2B businesses various tools and features, including document sharing, video conferencing, and collaboration tools.
What are the benefits of using Digital Sales Rooms for B2B deals?
Digital Sales Rooms provide a range of benefits for B2B deals, including:
- Enhanced collaboration and communication,
- Improved efficiency
- Increased security
- Deal insights
- Speeds up sales cycles
- Streamline complex deals
What kind of businesses can benefit from using Digital Sales Rooms?
Any B2B business that conducts sales meetings, negotiations, or deal-making can benefit from using Digital Sales Rooms. This includes businesses in industries such as technology, manufacturing, and more
Are Digital Sales Rooms secure?
Yes, Digital Sales Rooms are designed with security in mind. They use encryption and other security measures to protect sensitive data and documents shared during the sales process.
Do I need special software to use a Digital Sales Room?
Most Digital Sales Rooms are web-based, which means you don’t need any special software to use them. You will need an internet connection, a device (such as a laptop or tablet), and a web browser.
How much does it cost to use a Digital Sales Room?
The cost of using a Virtual Sales Room can vary depending on the provider and the features included. Aligned offers a free forever plan as well as some other pricing options, while others require a subscription or a one-time fee.
Can Digital Sales Rooms replace in-person meetings?
While Digital Sales Rooms can be a great alternative to in-person meetings, they may not completely replace them. In some cases, in-person meetings may still be necessary or preferred, depending on the nature of the deal or the preferences of the parties involved.
How do Digital Sales Rooms integrate with existing CRM and other business systems?
Many Digital Sales Rooms are designed to integrate with existing business systems, including CRMs, marketing automation platforms, and other tools. This integration allows for a more streamlined sales process and enables businesses to easily share data and insights across different teams and departments.
What role does AI play in Digital Sales Rooms?
Some Digital Sales Rooms are leveraging AI technology to enhance the sales process. For example, AI-powered chatbots can assist with customer inquiries and help guide prospects through the sales funnel. Additionally, AI can be used to analyze data and identify patterns that can inform sales strategies and improve the overall effectiveness of the sales process.