We’ve had this conversation dozens of times. A managing director of an industrial firm sits across from us and tells us a version of the same story.
Before the 2010s, his company had never needed a CRM, a sales process, or a marketing budget. Work came in, proposals went out, and the company grew steadily on the strength of good work alone. Then the market shifted, and that model stopped working. He built a sales team, went to trade shows, and started doing cold calling.
It helped… until it didn’t. Now he’s in a meeting with us because sales alone has hit a ceiling too.
How industrial B2B growth worked before the 2010s
For most of the decades before the 2010s, industrial companies grew without much active effort on the demand side. Stable supply chains and long-term client relationships meant that doing excellent technical work was enough to keep the pipeline full. The typical “sales function” was often just one technically-minded person fielding inbound enquiries. Not hunting, not building a pipeline, just responding. Marketing, if it existed at all, meant a brochure, a trade show booth, and maybe a website with some basic info.
This was simply how the market operated, and it worked well for a long time.
What changed after
Starting from the 2010s, the market began shifting gradually. Supply chains became more complex, competition intensified, and buyers started doing more research before reaching out to suppliers. The old model of relying on reputation and referrals alone started to show cracks.
The pandemic accelerated these changes dramatically, and it fundamentally changed how industrial buyers behave. What was a slow transition became an immediate necessity. These three findings are worth keeping in mind:
- Lockdown measures accelerated digital adoption at a pace that would have otherwise taken years, and that shift has proven sticky. (UBS Global)
- Two-thirds of B2B customers now prefer remote or digital self-service when making a purchase, and 80% of B2B leaders say omnichannel sales are equally or more effective than traditional in-person methods. (McKinsey & Company)
- More than 80% of B2B buyers research suppliers online during the pre-purchase phase, meaning the shortlisting process now happens before any phone call or meeting takes place. (Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing)
Why building a sales team only gets you so far
Building sales processes and a sales team was a logical response to the new reality, and for many companies, it bought a few more years of growth. Today, the problem is that a sales team can work a pipeline, but it can’t conjure one out of thin air. When there’s no consistent flow of inbound interest, salespeople spend the majority of their time on prospecting rather than closing. That is expensive and, at a certain point, unsustainable.
McKinsey’s global B2B Pulse Survey found that B2B decision-makers now use an average of 10 channels throughout their buying journey, up from just 5 channels in 2016. They are researching across LinkedIn, company websites, trade publications, peer recommendations, and more, long before they’re ready to talk to a salesperson.
A company that isn’t visible across the entire buying journey simply isn’t in the conversation.
Building the system that feeds your sales team
What most industrial companies are missing at this stage is an infrastructure that their sales team can actually lean on:
- a clear picture of who you’re trying to reach,
- a digital presence that establishes credibility before the first conversation,
- content that addresses buyer questions before they’re asked,
- and outreach that gets in front of the right people at the right moment.
The companies pulling ahead right now are largely those that started building this two or three years ago. The gap between them and everyone else widens a little more each year.
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The managing director we mentioned at the beginning of the article no longer waits for the phone to ring. His pipeline runs whether he’s at his desk or not. If you’d like yours to do the same, let’s talk.