SalesTechStar Interview with Nicholas Greco, Senior Vice President, Head of Sales, North America at Channel Factory

Nicholas Greco, Senior Vice President, Head of Sales, North America at Channel Factory comments on the latest trends that are reshaping the B2B sales industry:

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Welcome to this SalesTechStar chat Nicholas, tell us about your sales journey and more about your new role at Channel Factory…

My career started on the ad agency side, which I feel still helps me to this day when it comes to putting myself in the client’s shoes. That experience added a layer of empathy when understanding a client’s needs.  My journey shifted from the buy side to the sell side in 2013 and developed over time into my current role as SVP, Head of Sales at Channel Factory where I’ve been for the last 2 years.  My role at Channel Factory has been to build out our sales team and lead expansion of our contextual suitability and conscious advertising solutions across North America.

It’s been incredible to be a part of a company with this level of purpose driven growth, product quality and client satisfaction, and I can’t think of anything more important than working for a company with products you believe in.

How are you seeing the state of B2B sales and the modern selling ecosystem evolve today?

The modern selling ecosystem is in a state of constant evolution and rapid adaptation.  As technology and customer experience change over time, those that are able to stay ahead of the curve and innovate in these areas are likely to be the ones that succeed.  Here are a few trends that have been shaping the sales ecosystem in recent years:

• Customer experience: In today’s hyper-competitive B2B sales landscape, providing a great customer experience is critical.  Companies are investing in strategies and tools that can help them deliver an experience aligned with the brand’s values across all touchpoints.
• Increased emphasis on personalization: With so much competition in the B2B space, looking for a way to stand out and build meaningful relationships is crucial for success.  Understanding every potential client’s needs and challenges will help tailor a unique your team’s approach focused on an outcome the potential client is looking for.
• Greater adoption of digital tools: Technology is playing an increasingly important role in B2B sales, from CRM systems and marketing automation platforms to social and AI tools.  Sales teams are using these tools to work more efficiently and effectively to reach buyers wherever they are.  Educate and embrace new technology to stay ahead of your competition.
• Growing importance of data: We all know that data is important and this shouldn’t be news to anyone, but like everything else, it’s constantly evolving and shaping the way buyers think about making better-informed decisions.  Leverage the data you have to identify trends and customer needs, and learn how to optimize your processes while effectively measuring which sales strategies are working best for your business.

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When it comes to creating and strengthening sales processes: what do you feel sales teams need to do more of?

There needs to be a greater level of education and knowledge sharing. From an education point of view; the team that never stops learning will always be one step ahead of everyone else.  Every customer, regardless of what vertical or type of clients you work with, have their own specific needs for their business.  Educate your sales team on how to ask the right discovery questions so that you can understand their unique situations and challenges.  Only then can you provide a real solution to those specific challenges faced with your offering.

Additionally, Sharing information is the best way to sharpen the skills of your sales team and ensure they are prepared for challenges they haven’t faced yet.  It’s important to talk about wins and revenue attainment, but spend the majority of knowledge sharing time on losses.  A successful sale using your existing processes means what you have in place works, but spending time digging into each loss is where you have the ability to find gaps that exist in your process today.

In your view: how can modern day sales leaders and business heads drive more impact with mediums like social channels, podcasts, webinars, events and more?

Use them!  Attend industry networking events relevant to your business, and listen to podcasts and webinars.  These are all opportunities to learn something new and meet potential new prospective clients.  If you have the opportunity to speak or present at an event or podcast and feel comfortable doing so, you should.  It’s also important to elevate your clients at these events.  If it’s something relevant for them and your company can bring them as well, that is an amazing opportunity to spend time on relationship development while providing meaningful value to your client.

Social is also a powerful tool to share exciting news about your company, but it’s important to know where and how to use each platform.  LinkedIn is always a great place to talk about new offerings and research, but users on other social platforms like TikTok and Meta are less focused on business so keep the content light and focus on positivity.  Even though the same audience may be using both, it’s important to remember the mindstate people have on each platform and which they are using for education vs. relaxation.

What can B2B tech teams today, given market dynamics, do more of to create longer customer lifecycles that help with retention and longevity?

Attrition will always happen, but spending the time to understand where and why it’s happened in the past will help increase retention.  You won’t be able to fix everything and competition will always keep knocking at the door, so getting a deeper understanding of losses is going to help you learn the root cause.  Is it relationship related?  Is it product related?  Was there no longer a need?  Have your competitors offered more efficient pricing?

While bringing in new business is always the main focus for a sales team, the easiest way to ensure your organization’s revenue stability is by supporting your existing clients and keeping up with their evolving needs.  Talk to them about your solution and how things are going, and make sure they are happy with your partnership.  If they aren’t, they will let you know what the problem areas are. As long as you can address those challenges and refine how you work together, you remove the roadblocks that competitors will capitalize on.

Read More: Seven Causes — and Fixes — for a Leaky Sales Pipeline

Can you highlight more about the future of the B2B tech market and in what ways you expect to see it grow?

One of the biggest highlights about the future of the B2B tech market is the rapid adoption of AI and automation.  Overall, these tools are increasingly important for marketers to streamline operations, improve targeting and increase ROI.  It’s imperative that anyone looking to stay ahead starts to think about automation and begin adopting AI tools and practices, but it’s also important to maintain a human element.  AI today is primarily based on open sources of data and not a closed loop of 100% accurate information, so when sourcing from the open web, AI tools are bringing in a combination of facts and opinion making it even more important to ensure there is always human involvement throughout the entirety of your product building and sales processes.