Rattle & Pedal: B2B Marketing Podcast REPLAY: Avoiding the Sales Kill Box with Gartner’s Maria Boulden
8 snips
Jul 7, 2025 In this insightful discussion, Maria Boulden, Gartner's CSO Whisperer and former DuPont leader, delves into the evolving B2B sales landscape. She highlights how the pandemic has shifted buyer behaviors, noting that buyers now spend less time with suppliers. Maria emphasizes the importance of adapting sales strategies to align with contemporary preferences, such as the growing demand for rep-free experiences. She also explores the challenges sales teams face in guiding buyers through the complex decision-making process and stresses the need for relationship-building and clarity in communication.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Old Selling Skills Trigger The Kill Box
- Buyers changed dramatically since 2019 and sellers who didn't adapt face a "kill box."
- Maria Boulden warns sellers with 2019 skills will fail in modern buying cycles.
Buyers Spend Less Time With Sellers
- Buyers spend far less time meeting suppliers and more time on digital learning.
- Maria explains virtual interactions squeezed seller access even before the pandemic amplified it.
Buying Teams Self‑Educate Remotely
- Buying teams average six to eleven people who each research independently across many sources.
- Maria notes 44% prefer a rep-free purchase and millennials prefer it even more.
