The 'High-Voltage Digital Sales' study is based on a survey of 500 managers in sales and marketing positions at industrial companies worldwide. It comes to the conclusion that by 2025, almost a third (29%) of industrial sales in Germany will be processed via digital channels. Although all respondents in Germany (100%) generally see the need to transform their sales capabilities accordingly, more than 80% of industrial companies are still acting too slowly.

"The pandemic is accelerating the change in consumer behavior that has been evident in the B2C environment for some time, but increasingly in the B2B environment," comments Sarat Maitin, Managing Director Accenture. "Anyone who has a digital experience in their everyday life doesn't want to do without it in a professional environment either. Although the majority of industrial companies understand the need to digitally transform the sale of machines, spare parts and services, only a fraction are already acting on this premise." As a result, the majority of industrial companies are still a long way from offering their customers a consistent and appealing multichannel experience, as is common in other industries.

As part of the study, Accenture categorized the sales maturity of the companies surveyed based on their performance in five key competencies: digital interaction with the customer, predictive and tailored recommendations, data-driven insights into customer needs, automated and integrated sales processes between sales, marketing and service.

Based on these five factors, Accenture divides companies into three groups according to their level of digital sales maturity. In Germany, only 10% of the industrial companies surveyed are leading the way. Those with the least mature digital sales capabilities account for 36% in Germany, with the remainder spread across the midfield.

The results of the study show that leading companies excel in two of the five competencies in particular:

• Leading companies excel at creating seamless customer journeys that encompass all steps of the buying process: from marketing to sales to after-sales service. They combine data-driven insights into customer needs from each of these three areas to create customer-centric sales experiences. In addition, more than half (54%) of pioneers use advanced marketing practices globally and use them extensively to strategically support sales and aftersales initiatives.
• Pioneers offer their customers customized, data-based recommendations tailored to their needs. At the same time, they are personalizing their web stores and integrating them into customers' purchasing portals.

All companies in Germany are planning significant upgrades in the area of digital interaction with customers. The results of the study show that they intend to invest an average of EUR 10 million per year over the next three to five years to drive forward virtual product presentation. A well-integrated product data landscape is required in order to make a product not only configurable but also tangible online, and the relevance of digital twin capabilities is growing in this context.

However, in companies with a backlog in terms of digital sales, the study identifies a lower willingness on the part of sales employees to support this change.

"Many sales employees believe that the expansion of digital sales opportunities is putting their job at risk. Yet promoting complex products such as industrial machinery requires the support of an experienced sales expert," says Maitin. "Online sales is a sensible way for industrial companies to attract new groups of buyers and deepen existing customer relationships." There is no going back to the old status quo; instead, digital sales will probably become even more important after the pandemic.

For the 'High-Voltage Digital Sales' study, Accenture conducted an online survey of 500 executives in senior sales, marketing and after-sales positions at industrial companies in twelve countries in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region - 50 of them in Germany. The companies operate in four industry segments: Industrial and Electrical Equipment, Heavy Machinery, Automotive Suppliers and Consumer Durables. The survey was conducted in October and November 2020.