I created 3 takeaways for my sister (who works in sales at a biotech company) from yesterday's FlipMyFunnel event in Boston: 
 1. Forrester forecasts that 1M US B2B salespeople will lose their jobs to self-service eCommerce by the year 2020.
 Note: This became a topic of debate on Twitter, so to be clear, Forrester is saying those most likely to lose their jobs are those who currently take orders for commodity products.  
 Source: Marketo's  Jill Rowley 

 Where appropriate, invest in an Amazon-like experience for buyers via website, and focus role of salespeople to be expert value-drivers (questions/recommendations).  
 2. When reaching out to accounts we must focus on a key business challenge or opportunity. Within that messaging our outreach should: 
 - Educate them on the space - Be contextual to their business 
- Prescribe a plan of action 
- Be clear about the process - and the outcome Source: TOPO's Craig Rosenberg 
 3. The role of brand is key- customers don't get sold to anymore, they buy, in a sea of competition and noise. 
 Source: Drift's  Dave Gerhardt 
 
Takeaway for B2B firms: Invest in brand activation to differentiate, using customer stories and peer perspective.  I'll share more in a writeup this weekend via my newsletter, sign up here:  https://lnkd.in/ePA767x …see more