Business-to-business marketers face an alignment imperative

Mary Connors

Business-to-business (B2B) marketers must navigate an increasingly complex landscape in which buyers have grown more empowered than ever before.

Jaws dropped two years ago when a leading research company announced the death of the business-to-business (B2B) salesman.

One million business-to-business sales jobs would disappear by 2020, the startling Forrester Research report declared, as ecommerce – as well as the Googles, LinkedIns, and Twitters of the online world – drove them towards extinction.

That prediction was wrong. On two counts.

Mary Shea, Principal Analyst, Forrester

Sales jobs are actually evaporating more quickly than predicted, said Mary Shea, a Principal Analyst at Forrester who focuses on business-to-business marketing transformation.

And the traditional business-to-business salesperson is not dead – yet.

Business-to-business sellers...

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