Digitizing the B2B Payments Landscape Starts With … Sales?

The digitization of the B2B panorama is wanting like an more and more inevitable one. However within the near-term, the success of operational modernizations, together with key B2B fee processes, might hinge on extra than simply expertise — it could require a cultural change throughout all ranges of the group.

Gross sales groups, by advantage of their direct engagement with clients, are taking part in an outsized function in driving this variation. They aren’t simply the face of the corporate; they’re the hyperlink between clients’ wants and the digital improvements that may meet them.

In a testomony to the significance and strategic function of the gross sales operate, information broke final week that Michael Grimes, the top of world expertise funding banking at Morgan Stanley, is elevating tens of tens of millions of {dollars} to fund a brand new tutorial middle at U.C. Berkeley. The middle shall be devoted to educating gross sales to undergraduates with the intention to fill the next-generation wants of expertise companies, based on a report from The Data. 

In lots of organizations, salespeople have traditionally been seen because the drivers of income. However in the present day, they’ve taken on the extra function of digital change brokers. Their capability to grasp each the enterprise facet and the expertise panorama helps allow them to function key gamers within the adoption of digital options.

Towards that backdrop, gross sales professionals have gotten important to overcoming the adoption obstacles that usually accompany new expertise. It’s one factor to supply a software program resolution to a buyer; it’s one other to indicate them how that resolution solves a particular ache level. On this means, gross sales groups can act as trusted consultants, serving to their clients combine new instruments into their enterprise operations. 

Learn extra: ERP Improvements Are Rebooting the Again Workplace as Organizations Modernize

Breaking Down the Boundaries to Digital Adoption

One vital barrier to digital transformation in B2B is the entrenched reliance on legacy methods. Many organizations have been utilizing conventional gross sales processes, paper-based workflows and offline fee strategies for many years. The transition to digital methods might be overwhelming, particularly when these methods require vital modifications to present practices and workflows. 

“Loads of purchasers are challenged by integration with legacy methods, and digital adoption isn’t at all times [consistent] throughout varied geographies the place firms function,” Chris Jameson, head of product administration for International Funds Options (GPS) EMEA at Financial institution of America, advised PYMNTS.

In some ways, gross sales groups can act as a secret weapon within the B2B sector’s push for digitalization.

They’ll demystify the method for patrons, addressing considerations in regards to the upfront funding or the potential disruption to enterprise operations. By clearly articulating the long-term advantages of digital instruments — whether or not it’s sooner funds, improved effectivity or larger buyer satisfaction — salespeople could make the case for change in ways in which resonate with purchasers. 

“The center to again workplace, they’re not only a price middle,” Meghan Oakes, vice chairman of buyer success at FIS, advised PYMNTS this week. “They’re a value-added accomplice for everyone inside the enterprise. There are numerous totally different facets of that center to again workplace that are actually on the forefront of how firms function.” 

Because the calendar years’ value of 2024 PYMNTS Intelligence research have proven, accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) automation have gotten key areas of focus for companies seeking to remove handbook B2B processes and corral their disorganized tech stacks.

Learn extra: Into the Nitty-Gritty: How, Why, and The place Automation Optimizes B2B Funds

Driving Seamless Integration

Gross sales groups don’t function in a silo with regards to digital transformation. To make sure the seamless integration of latest applied sciences, gross sales professionals work carefully with IT, finance and operations groups. These collaborations allow salespeople to grasp the technical facets of the merchandise they’re promoting, guaranteeing they will confidently current digital options to their purchasers.

“The funds modernization winners would be the ones that may quickly regulate and evolve to fulfill the wants of their clients,” Increase Cost Options Chief Working Officer Illya Shell advised PYMNTS.  “The inflexibility of conventional methods and platforms have prevented a lot of firms from transferring ahead and maintaining with the altering dynamics of the big B2B buyer-supplier relationships. We’ve spent the previous 15 years targeted on changing handbook duties into automated ones to assist our clients perceive the worth of funds modernization.” 

By leveraging their deep understanding of buyer ache factors, advocating for digital options and guaranteeing seamless integration, gross sales groups assist make sure that digital services are designed with the shopper in thoughts. 

“Automate, automate, automate,” Lorenzo Soriano de Teresa, senior vice chairman, service provider companies at American Categorical, advised PYMNTS in an interview posted Aug. 27. “The proper automation resolution, or the best accomplice, will help companies transfer previous their present funds considerations to see tangible advantages.”