In digital terms, the coronavirus has changed our Internet usage habits (we buy more, consume more content, use more digital services, etc.), and as a result, companies have had to adapt. This has accelerated their digital transformation exponentially .
Some changes in habits are temporary, but philippines girls telegram others will establish themselves as new standards. And my feeling is that we will see these changes more quickly in the professional context.
The first obvious change has been teleworking . This was a change that had been coming for some time. Many companies were already using this formula as a way of motivating employees and saving costs.
During the lockdown, it has been the only way to work for the vast majority. And we have to admit that the results have been mixed. Companies have managed, with great difficulty, to adapt. But it seems that long-term teleworking does not have such positive results (it lowers employee performance and commitment, etc.), but that is another topic.
Beyond these considerations, there have been important changes in the more professional sectors. As always, I liked McKinsey 's analysis of B2B in this regard.
1. The B2B sector prefers digital sales to in-person sales
For many years, companies have been looking for ways to reduce the economic and opportunity costs of business trips (sales, prospecting, etc.).
With the various technological developments and their subsequent adoption by users, we have seen how these trips have been reduced.
But this trend was still resisted by the belief that certain things cannot be done via video conference (I still believe this for certain topics).
But then the worldwide lockdown came, and it turned out that travel was not possible. In this context, McKinsey conducted a worldwide study that, among other things, concluded that:
Three out of four buyers and sellers prefer to do business remotely rather than in person
As you can see in the graph, this preference varies depending on the stage of the purchasing process. Digital channels have a significant weight in all stages, face-to-face meetings are more in demand in the initial stages. Which makes perfect sense, right? And even more so for certain sectors, where budgets are high, commercial relationships are medium-long term, and as a consequence, face-to-face contact is necessary to get to know the teams and, most importantly, to generate the bonds that create a relationship of trust.
It is striking to me that digital sales are gaining prominence in closing. Once the relationship has been established, the offer is known in detail and everything is 100% clear, what both parties want is to start as soon as possible.