Data at your service! : A case study of utilizing in-service data to support the B2B sales process at a large information and communications technology company

The digitalization of our society and the creation of data intense industries are transforming how industrial sales can be made. Large volumes of data are generated when businesses and people use digital products and services which are available in the modern world. Some of this data describes the digital products and services when they are in use, i.e., it is in-service data. Furthermore, data has during the last decade been seen as an asset which can improve decision-making and has made sales activities become increasingly customer specific. The purpose of this study was to explore how knowledge from in-service data can serve B2B selling. To realize this purpose the following three research questions were answered by conducting a single case study of a large company in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. (RQ1) How does a company in a data intense industry use knowledge from in-service data in the B2B sales process? (RQ2) What opportunities does knowledge from in-service data create in the B2B sales process? (RQ3) What challenges hinder a company from using knowledge from in-service data in the B2B sales process? RQ1: This study has concluded that, in the context of a data intense industry, throughout the steps in the B2B sales process, knowledge from in-service data is actively used by the sales team, however, to varying degrees. In-service data is used in six categories of sales activities: (1) to understand the customer in terms of their technical and strategical needs, which enables lead generation and cross-selling, (2) to make information from in-service data available through data collection, storage, and analyses, (3) to nurture the relationship between buyer and seller by creating understanding, trust and satisfactory offers to the customer, (4) to present solutions with convincing arguments, (5) to solve problems and satisfy the customer’s needs, and (6) to provide post-sale value-adding services. Moreover, three general resources which are used in the activities were identified: An audit report which presents the information of the data, a plan which presents strategic expansions of the solution, and simulations of the solution. Furthermore, four general actors who are performing the activities were identified: the Key Account Manager (KAM) who is responsible for conducting the sales interactions with the customer, the sales team, and the presales team who both support the KAM, and the customer. In addition to the general resources and actors, companies may use step-specific resources and actors. RQ2: Four categories of opportunities were identified: knowledge from in-service data (1) assists KAMs in discovering customer needs, (2) guides the KAM in creating better customer specific solutions, (3) helps the KAM move the sale faster through the sales process, and (4) assists the company in becoming a true partner who provides strategic services, rather than acting as a supplier. RQ3: Finally, four categories of challenges were identified: (1) organizational, (2) technological, (3) cultural, and (4) legal & security. Out of these, obtaining access to the data was identified as the greatest challenge to use in-service data. The opportunities and the challenge to access data are deemed to be general for companies in data intense industries, while the other challenges are depending on the structure, size, and culture of the individual company. The findings of this study contribute to a general understanding of how companies in data intense industries may use knowledge from in-service data, what opportunities this data create for their B2B sales process, and which challenges they face when they pursue activities which use the knowledge from in-service data. To conclude, in-service data serves B2B selling especially as a source of customer knowledge. It is used by salespeople to understand the customer in terms of its technical and strategical needs and salespeople use this knowledge to conduct various customer-oriented sales activities. In-service data creates several opportunities in B2B sales. However, several challenges must be overcome to seize the opportunities. Especially the question of data access