#Software

Sales & Marketing Technology

The way B2B buyers procure products and services has seen a decisive shift from a salesperson-led model to a digital, self-serve journey, and it’s changing the way companies identify, target, qualify and engage leads.

We believe several segments in the sales and marketing ecosystem will be instrumental in helping companies adapt and thrive in this new reality, and that integrating them will be the next step in the sector’s evolution. Read why in the GrowthBit below and contact Cheng Li about opportunities to invest in and support the growth of vendors in this space.

B2B buyers are leaving behind a massive digital footprint as they research and consume content prior to engaging with salespeople, and vendors that can help organizations recognize, interpret and act on this data will likely become indispensable.

Cheng Li, Principal at LLR Partners

What's driving growth in Sales & Marketing Technology?

Shift in B2B Buying Preferences

  • Millennials comprise the majority of today’s B2B buyers and are increasingly skeptical of the value of traditional sales reps, spending just 17% of the total purchase journey with them.1
  • The proportion of sales interactions within digital channels continues to increase.

Explosion of Digital Data

  • Increased digital buying behavior is leaving behind a massive data trail for B2B sellers to harness.
  • Yet, few B2B companies understand how to capture, organize and query this digital data systematically and efficiently.
  • B2B sellers need a robust toolset to analyze funnel trends, generate forecasts, qualify opportunities and proactively engage customers.

Convergence of Sales and Marketing Roles

  • As cloud‐based software models has taken off, sales teams have an insatiable appetite for leads that marketing cannot meet.
  • Marketing is getting pulled into sales cycles due to knowledge of buyer and account intelligence.
  • Increased demand for revenue operations to better align sales, marketing, and customer success and leverage data in siloed tech stacks.

Three Sector Standouts

While the sector is still young and fragmented, we see compelling tailwinds in three areas that focus on the earliest part of the buyer journey. We believe that integrating these capabilities will help enable companies to collect deeper market insights, influence buyers throughout their digital journey and use that influence to close more deals.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM)
Technologies that are helping organizations identify high-value opportunities within existing accounts and engage them with highly relevant, programmatic outreach.

Performance Marketing
Fully outsourced models providing organizations with net new leads that have shown an intent to buy.

Information Services
Includes contact databases and intent solutions that identify potential buyers early in the funnel based on their behaviors.

The Future of B2B Sales and Marketing

80%
1
of B2B sales interactions will occur on digital channels by 2025
60%
2
of B2B sales orgs will transition to data-driven selling by 2025
300%
3
increase in RevOps jobs listed on LinkedIn in 18 months

Get to Know LLR Partners

25 Years of Investing in Technology

  • Founded in 1999, LLR is a growth oriented private equity firm investing in high growth, disruptive technology companies.
  • Raised over $7.0 billion of capital across seven funds.
  • We are focused on organic, topline growth initiatives and complementary acquisitions to create value for all stakeholders.
  • Thesis-driven investment teams look to build fit-for-purpose strategies along side management teams.

Operational Support

  • Leverage best practices developed through codifying successful strategies across our 130+ investments since inception.
  • Access LLR’s Value Creation Team (strategy, talent, GTM, product, finance, M&A) to help accelerate growth.

Focus on Partnership

  • Flexible capital provider (majority or minority ownership).
  • Reward and motivate key players with equity.

Investment Criteria

  • Ability to invest $30 – $150M of equity.
Select Related Investments

LLR invests in the sectors where our investment experience indicates there are attractive business models and market trends supporting strong growthpotential. Here are some of our related investments.

Latest GrowthBits

View All
#Software
The B2B Buyer Journey Has Changed. These Sales and Marketing Technologies Are Riding the Wave.
Cheng Li / Principal
#Marketing
Best Practices to Scale ABM and Improve Demand Generation
Domenic Colasante / CEO of 2X Marketing and former CMO of WGroup

Meet the LLR Team

David Reuter

David Reuter
Cheng Li

Cheng Li
Devon Bembery

Devon Bembery
Edward McCann

Edward McCann
Ousmane Sow

Ousmane Sow
Evan Johnson

Evan Johnson

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References

  1. “Gartner Says 80% of B2B Sales Interactions Between Suppliers and Buyers Will Occur in Digital Channels by 2025.” Gartner, 2020, https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020-09-15-gartner-says-80–of-b2b-sales-interactions-between-su 
  2. “Gartner Predicts 65% of B2B Sales Organizations Will Transition from Intuition-Based to Data-Driven Decision Making by 2026.” Gartner, 2022, https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/gartner-predicts-65–of-b2b-sales-organizations-will-transition- 
  3. LLR proprietary research on LinkedIn Jobs.
Disclaimer:

The information presented herein is intended for an audience of potential LLR portfolio companies and the intermediaries supporting their capital raise processes. Named LLR investments presented herein do not reflect a complete list of LLR investments and are provided for informational purposes only. Certain statements about LLR made by portfolio company executives and other quoted parties herein are intended to illustrate the work of LLR’s Value Creation Team with such portfolio companies or reflect the individual’s perspective on the featured industry sector. Such portfolio companies are controlled by investment vehicles managed by LLR. Quoted parties were not compensated in connection with their participation, although they generally receive compensation and investment opportunities in connection with their portfolio company or Senior Operating Advisor roles, and in certain cases are also owners of portfolio company securities and/or investors in LLR-sponsored vehicles. Such compensation and investments subject participants to potential conflicts of interest in making the statements herein.