Change is constant in the business technology arena. In an era where innovation evolves at breakneck speed, Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands out as a transformative force reshaping various commercial processes. One of the most significant impacts of Generative AI (GenAI) is in the software technology sector, particularly in how it influences the behavior of today's software buyers and the procurement process. The 2024 Buyer Behavior Report by G2 provides an in-depth analysis of these changes, revealing critical insights into spending expectations, buyer trust, and the evolving dynamics of s ..read more

Major change is needed in the business-to-business (B2B) procurement arena. It's long overdue. Traditional sales and marketing approaches have proven inadequate in a dynamic marketplace.  Buyers are more informed and empowered than ever before, and their purchasing journeys are no longer linear. To keep pace, technology vendors need to fundamentally transform their go-to-market (GTM) strategies by prioritizing customer-centricity at every touchpoint. The 'Forrester Opportunity Lifecycle' framework offers valuable insights into this paradigm shift. It emphasizes the importance of alignin ..read more

A recent Gartner report, "Product and Services Strategy for Tech CEOs," provides guidance for business technology vendors looking to capitalize on emerging trends and drive growth through effective go-to-market (GTM) strategy. Tech CEOs ranked “customer-led” as their top change driver (46 percent), and 82 percent of those saw an improvement in their business because of it. Other top drivers included “new market provides higher growth” (44 percent) and “competition is changing the value proposition in the market” (48 percent). These findings clearly indicate the importance of assessing custo ..read more

Are you prepared to compete in the GenAI-powered, omnichannel future? For senior leaders steering their teams through today's turbulent economy, a harrowing question looms: Are we doing everything required to master B2B sales excellence before Generative AI (GenAI) disrupts our strategies? New research from McKinsey reveals sobering realities about the modern sales capabilities separating global organizations. GenAI breakthroughs have created profound changes to how B2B companies must engage buyers through hyper-personalized and intelligent customer experiences. Make no mistake, this disrupti ..read more

The rapid pace of advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies over the past decade has been astonishing. From beating humans at complex strategy games like Go to churning out remarkably human-like conversational text, AI abilities are approaching a stage where machine cognition looks increasingly comparable to our own. Generative AI Takes Center Stage Generative AI (GenAI) represents the leading edge of this advance, with models like DALL-E for image generation and GPT for natural language tasks exhibiting creativity, insight, and judgment conspicuously reminiscent of human prac ..read more

I’m now anticipating a radical reset of the legacy IT vendor go-to-market mindset for B2B SaaS. Why? A recent survey by Gartner found that 60 percent of  buyers involved in decisions to renew or expand “as-a-service” agreements regret nearly every purchase they make. The Evolving Landscape of Procurement In the world of B2B SaaS procurement, the traditional dynamics between buyers and IT vendors are undergoing a significant transformation. Today, buyers are no longer passive recipients of sales pitches. They conduct SaaS solution assessment through self-directed online research. It’s wh ..read more

B2B sales and marketing are being transformed by the adoption of new technologies that help to communicate value. Gartner has identified seven technology disruptions that will impact sales organizations. These disruptions will drive significant go-to-market changes, as well as in the way businesses approach sales development and build customer relationships. Are you and your organization prepared for these disruptions? B2B Sales Process Change Management The first disruption identified by Gartner is the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in sales. AI can analyze large amounts of d ..read more

Given the realities of the current Global Networked Economy environment, why do so many business leaders report wanting a ‘return to normal’ ASAP? That’s very puzzling to me. As an example, changes within the commercial procurement arena demand radical new thinking. Forrester’s “2021 B2B Buying Study”, with more than 950 respondents from around the world, reveals significant changes in business-to-business buying behavior. Their study findings show how buyers navigated the transition of remote working, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, while seeking information about vendors and their offe ..read more

Many CMOs will proudly tell you that their organizations are data-driven -- meaning they make their marketing investment decisions based upon the data that's captured and reported in one or more analytics platforms. But there are significant consequences from the application of this approach. Let's consider the findings of a recent market study and look at the implications. The coronavirus pandemic is forcing rapid change on brands. Marketing leaders believe that a lack of agility and flexibility negatively impacts their marketing execution, according to a Gartner study. To remedy this, the ..read more

There was a time when vendor marketing executives could choose to focus their attention on branding and related advertising campaigns. From the company's sales leadership perspective, if that eventually resulted in generating new business opportunities, that was a welcomed bonus. But as time went on, the bar of expectations was raised and marketers were asked to more closely support meaningful new sales growth. Now it's already commonplace. More marketing leaders are expected to directly influence the acquisition of new customers and associated sales revenue. Besides, they're given the chal ..read more