The evolution of B2B sales: Trends and transformations

According to new research from Docusign, half of all sales deals are expected to be conducted remotely in a post-Covid world. This is a big leap from pre-Covid, where only a third were remote, and it demonstrates how fast the B2B sales process is changing. Now, the process is most definitely digital-first – and companies need to be ready for it. 

To explore the changing nature of B2B sales, Docusign recently hosted a webinar in which we shared some powerful stats from the research, and spoke to two Docusign customers who are leading the charge when it comes to the transformation of sales. 

Here’s our wrap. You can catch the full recording here for more great insights from Lloyd and Ayhan.

Measuring the evolution of B2B sales

Docusign’s Phil Dawsey jumped in first, joining us from the US to share the findings of a new report into B2B sales. Docusign spoke to 766 sales leaders from around the world to find out where their heads are at when it comes to using technology in the sales process. 

As noted above, there’s been a huge shift to digital due to Covid. And it’s expected to linger. In fact, according to McKinsey, 80% of B2B buyers now prefer remote human interactions or digital self-service. To deliver on this, 40% of sales leaders are prioritising customer experience, while 35% are focusing on digital transformation – and these numbers are predicted to jump to 67% and 60%, respectively, in the next five years. 

Sales teams are increasingly investing in new technologies to make sales more effective. The end game is to save time, improve the customer experience, reduce errors and boost collaboration. Yet, while there’s a growing focus on technology, a staggering 93% of sales teams don’t fully use the tools they have. Key barriers include a lack of integration with other systems, insufficient training, and non-intuitive software. 

It’s definitely worth the effort to overcome the barriers. The research found that ‘overachieving’ sales teams – that is, those who beat their sales quotas last year – were 94% more likely to be using contract lifecycle management (CLM) software like Docusign’s than the underachievers. In listening to our two Docusign customers on the webinar, it quickly becomes clear why. 

How Docusign helps transform B2B sales

A fascinating panel discussion followed Phil’s presentation. We heard from Lloyd Jones, General Manager of IT, Hi-Trans Express, and Ayhan Baba, CEO, MSA National – who both shared some incredible stats and insights about the benefits of going digital with contracts. 

MSA National has long been a trailblazer in the use of technology to accelerate the agreement process. Years ago, the law firm that specialises in mortgage documents made the bold the decision to “disrupt ourselves,” as Ayhan said. “Our main driver for adopting Docusign – which we use on our platform called DigiDocs – was survival. Before we introduced digital signing, the entire process was paper-based. We knew that, unless we did something, one of our competitors would.”

And MSA National hasn’t looked back. The company settles over 10,000 loans a month, and since switching to Docusign the results have been transformative. “Everything happens so much faster. People don’t sit on documents for as long – instead of taking a week, 18% are back within 3 hours, and 70% in 3 days. This ‘speed to yes’ has a big impact on conversion. In fact, Docusign has boosted our conversion rate by 6.5%.”

The ability to automatically iron out any kinks in the process is a big win, too. “With Docusign, there’s just one envelope, and a customer can’t send it back until everything is completed. When it was paper-based, they might forget to sign one document and we have to start the whole process again.

“Now, we never have to touch paper,” said Ayhan.

For Hi-Trans Express, a leader in the freight transport industry, the shift to digital sales contracts was brought on by Covid. And they haven’t looked back. As Lloyd said, “Contracts that once took weeks to turn around now come back within 1.5 hours. We can strike while the iron’s hot, and get revenue in earlier.

“And, by automating our workflows and removing all those manual steps in document creation, we’ve seen much greater consistency in our sales agreements. Sales can generate quotes themselves. In fact, they can do it straight after a meeting, in their car, on their laptop – simply by connecting to the Docusign system,” said Lloyd. 

“This optimised workflow totally transforms how we do business,” he said. 

Transformation of sales starts here

According to Ayhan, any business that hasn’t yet digitised its CLM process has no time to lose. “Don’t wait. If you’re not doing it, chances are your competitors are – and it will impact your business if you don’t,” he said.

The best place to start? By chatting to Docusign about how easy it is to go digital with sales. 

Don’t forget, you can watch the full webinar on-demand now.