{"id":13959,"date":"2023-10-26T14:09:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T03:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pulserecruitment.com.au\/?p=13959"},"modified":"2023-10-26T14:09:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T03:09:48","slug":"the-golden-age-of-b2b-sales-is-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pulserecruitment.com.au\/the-golden-age-of-b2b-sales-is-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"The Golden Age of B2B Sales is dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

The COO of retention.com<\/a>,\u00a0Santosh Sharan<\/a> shared this invaluable post on LinkedIn recently…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Last week Sam Jacobs<\/a> said “The Golden Age of SaaS is over”.<\/em><\/p>\n

This means The Golden Age of B2B Sales is dead too<\/em><\/p>\n

\n<\/blockquote>\n

Golden Age of B2B Sales (2007-2023):<\/em><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Most Markets were still unsaturated<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. There were plenty of net new customer acquisition opportunities<\/em><\/li>\n
  3. Several large markets opened up in horizontal SaaS<\/em><\/li>\n
  4. Cheap capital and low interest rates led to conversion and expanding ACVs<\/em><\/li>\n
  5. SDRs could still book meetings<\/em><\/li>\n
  6. Decreasing CAC, ever increasing LTV<\/em><\/li>\n
  7. Cold outreach (email and phone) worked and accelerated growth<\/em><\/li>\n
  8. Rapid business growth led to rapid career growth and promotions<\/em><\/li>\n
  9. Sales led buying process meant sales had a chance to influence decision<\/em><\/li>\n
  10. Discovery could start early as early as 10% of the buying process<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The New World of B2B Sales (2023 -????)<\/em><\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. Most SaaS markets are now saturated\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n
    2. No net new opportunities left, all opportunities are competitive displacements<\/em><\/li>\n
    3. A lot of the future opportunities are in niche vertical markets (much smaller)<\/em><\/li>\n
    4. Capital is expensive (5%+) leading to longer sales cycles and shrinking ACVs<\/em><\/li>\n
    5. SDRs are having a hard time booking meetings and will continue to do so<\/em><\/li>\n
    6. CAC is increasing, LTV is decreasing<\/em><\/li>\n
    7. Cold bulk outreach (email and phone) will increasingly not be effective<\/em><\/li>\n
    8. Slower business growth will also result in slower career growth<\/em><\/li>\n
    9. With Buyer led sales and PLG – sales has less opportunity to influence<\/em><\/li>\n
    10. -Discovery is starting late as late as 80% of the buying process<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Here’s the silver lining:<\/em><\/p>\n

      No matter what changes in sales…<\/em><\/p>\n

      Relationship, trust and credibility still matters.<\/em><\/p>\n

      In fact, maybe now more than ever.<\/em><\/p>\n

      The key for sellers will be developing and sharing unique insights:<\/em><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n