Innovating the Use of Digital Channels in B2B Sales with Customers.

The purpose of the paper is to study how customer knowledge can be utilized to innovate new forms of B2B sales in digital channels. The paper combines literature on innovation, B2B sales and purchasing. The study includes 32 qualitative customer interviews from two case companies -- one in the digital software industry and one in the more traditional interior industry. The paper discusses what kind of innovation incentives for B2B digital sales come from customers and what kind of face-to-face and digital interactions customers expect. As a result, buyers are categorized as either digitalist buyers or old-school buyers. Our research findings show that buyers act very differently in the initial phases of the buying process depending on their digital profiles. The results include also incentives for innovation for both categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]