What is preventing the B2B sector from fully embracing e-commerce? The answer is sales representatives. Just over 70% of B2B decision makers believe a conflict with sales reps is inevitable when switching to e-commerce.

Many sales reps prefer to stick with the status quo, but in today’s sales landscape that simply isn’t an option. The e-commerce-driven sales environment requires a different approach, one that can be tricky for some reps. We’re still living in a transitional period in which there are two camps: those who resist change (no matter how beneficial), and those who embrace it.

B2B e-commerce forecasts do not equal actual adoption. Based on an estimate by Gartner, 80% of sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will be online by 2025. But according to internal data by Pepperi, only 18% of B2B businesses have implemented B2B e-commerce.

There are three main reasons for sales reps’ resistance to e-commerce:

• They fear losing control over customer relationships. They are territorial about their accounts, and don’t like giving up control to computer software or another rep who might take away one of their best clients.
• They fear losing control over information. Information is power in sales, and many salespeople see their information as proprietary data that’s not easily shared with others inside or outside the company, who might be able to use it more effectively.
• They fear losing income. Many salespeople think they'll earn less money if they start using an order-management system. They think they'll be forced into territory where they don't know enough about a product or service, and won't be able to compete successfully against another rep in their territory who does know something about it.

Historically, sales reps have put an emphasis on prospecting over expertise with their customers. Instead of focusing on customer service issues or giving customers advice on products or services, a rep's focus is placed squarely on selling something — even if it’s not necessarily in the customer’s best interest. 

Sales reps are important to any B2B business, but their roles will be changing due to new technology and techniques. As sales organizations become more agile, and prospects continue to engage directly with brands online without having to talk with a sales rep first, it seems likely that these numbers will only continue to climb in coming years.

So what will happen with all that time they used to spend following up with existing customers? It’s important to guide B2B sales reps toward embracing the future of their profession by helping them understand what these changes mean for their future.

The solution is to make sure that salespeople understand that being a customer expert is what really matters. This means knowing everything about each account: the client's needs, wants, expectations and competitor offerings.

For example, ongoing monitoring provides visibility at the account level into purchases, future orders, credits, fulfillment status, store functions, bestselling items, and much more.

If shifting their focus from selling to education, sales reps won’t feel like they’re losing control over their job, because now they have a way to contribute to closing deals while still retaining influence over the process.

It’s time to move past static sales reporting, the monthly-versus-quarterly cycle, and endless dashboards of mediocre data. In today’s high-velocity market, innovative data-driven tools are evolving.

Platforms are building out configurable models that allow users to design easy-to-use, interactive sales trends and comparative dashboards, choose different metrics and analysis methods, and connect to multiple platforms.

This is more than just a way for companies to get a more detailed view of what’s happening in real time; it also gives reps an opportunity to be more proactive about customer relationships. For example, showing the rep a list of accounts with a drop in sales over the previous three months, accounts that are below average, or those that have no sales at all, can take them to the next level.

Helping sales teams to use data-driven tools as an integral part of a B2B e-commerce solution is key to retaining them. With data-driven tools, sales reps can easily analyze sales trends, perform comparative analysis, visualize anomalies to take preventive steps and adjust their tactics accordingly.

By uncovering deviations in sales trends in customers’ buying behavior, sales reps help to pinpoint areas that need immediate involvement. With data at their fingertips, they are alerted to customers' negative trends before they start to impact the company’s bottom line.

Sales reps are important to any B2B e-commerce business, but their role will be changing due to new technology and techniques. It’s important to provide sales reps with a clear understanding of how technology can support them — and, most importantly, when it’s time for technology to take over.

Make sure to create a culture of acceptance among team members, by showing them why change is important, involving them in decision-making, and letting them know their contributions matter. Lead them down the path toward accepting B2B e-commerce, rather than resisting it.

Yana Persky is head of product marketing with Pepperi.