Reclaiming Sales Relevance in a Buyer-Led Era

The B2B Engagement Podcast with the University of Houston

Guest: Johannes Habel, Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Houston

Hosted by Gavin Finn
Produced by Dana Polihovsky
Original music by Andrew Strout

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Do not miss this special episode of the B2B Engagement Podcast in which Gavin Finn speaks with Dr. Johannes Habel about how B2B sales must evolve in a buyer-led era! Drawing on academic research and real-world consulting, Dr. Habel explains why today’s buyers complete roughly 80% of their purchase journey before engaging a salesperson — and how marketing and sales must function as a single, customer-centric discipline to recapture those early stages.

Episode Highlights:

• Buyer-Led Dynamics: Why 80% of B2B buying happens before sales contact and how inbound marketing can “fight back” into the funnel.
• Tool Adoption: The four keys to getting reps to use CRM, sales enablement, and other digital platforms — usefulness, simplicity, training, and leadership.
• Unified Sales and Marketing: Why separating marketing and sales silos no longer works. Both must align on customer pain points and messaging.
• Specialized Sales Roles: How BDRs/SDRs, Account Executives, Solution Engineers, and Customer Success teams collaborate to meet buyers at every stage.
• Value-Based Selling: The shift from feature pitches to diagnosing genuine pain points — and the hands-on training required to master it.
• Future Sales Orchestrator: Envisioning reps who monitor digital signals, coordinate inside/outside functions, and deliver strategic consulting instead of just taking orders.

Tune in for an actionable roadmap to align sales and marketing, empower specialized roles, and build a truly customer-driven B2B organization.

The B2B Engagement Podcast is powered by Kaon Interactive. Join us as we explore the latest insights, real-life challenges, and practical solutions through in-depth conversations with IT, life science, and industrial industry thought leaders. Each episode dives into topics such as adapting to change, sustaining innovation, and serving customers across generations.