B2B dataset – a real world dataset (anonymized)
Business-to-business (B2B) sales process represents a structural approach to sales, where establishing a relationship between parties plays very important role. In industrial segments, sales process often involves different business divisions on both sides (buyer, seller) jointly developing a project into a stage, where needs and expectations are well defined and the general parameters reflecting the delivery of the project are outlined. This requires a substantial resource planning, especially from a seller/delivery organization. It is of utmost importance for a seller to assess which opportunity will materialize. Particularly for SME’s, where negative outcome could have serious consequences, if company bets on the deal and dedicates a vast of resources to get it. Unfortunately, the nature of B2B sales opportunities is often binary; they happen as a whole deal or they do not happen at all.
Companies usually track their sales efforts in CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. Historical data create an opportunity to leverage machine learning (ML) techniques. ML has proven itself in other fields, therefore it is reasonable to expect that its application can decrease an error in B2B sales forecasting, too.
To address the gap in availability of data sets related to B2B sales, we here provide one to support scientific research and application of ML to this field. It contains anonymized data from a real-world company, selling software solutions and services internationally. It contains of 448 instances, described with 22 attributes + 1 for outcome status.
As a result of our research and consulting work, we have developed a web solution. Three months free trial is available at www.SalesNT.com. Per client’s requests, some level of adaptation of the web solution to their needs is available as a subscription model, pending the outcome of preliminary feasibility study. For more information, please contact us at info@salvirt.com.
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| Attribute | Description | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Product | Offered product. | Product code |
| Seller | Seller’s name. | Seller’s code |
| Authority | Authority level at a client side. | Low, Mid, High |
| Company size | Size of a company. | Big, Mid, Small |
| Competitors | Do we have competitors? | No, Yes, Unknown |
| Purchasing department | Is the purchasing department involved? | No, Yes, Unknown |
| Partnership | Selling in partnership? | No, Yes |
| Budget allocated | Did the client reserve the budget? | No, Yes, Unknown |
| Formal tender | Is a tendering procedure required? | No, Yes |
| RFI | Did we get Request for Information? | No, Yes |
| RFP | Did we get Request for Proposal? | No, Yes |
| Growth | Growth of a client? | Growth, Stable, etc. |
| Positive statements | Positive attitude expressed? | No, Yes, Neutral |
| Source | Source of the opportunity. | e.g. Referral, Web, etc. |
| Client | Type of a client. | New, Current, Past |
| Scope clarity | Implementation scope defined? | Clear, Few questions, etc. |
| Strategic deal | Does this deal have a strategic value? | Very important, etc. |
| Cross sale | Do we sell a different product to existing client? | No, Yes |
| Up sale | Increasing existing products? | No, Yes |
| Deal type | Type of a sale. | Consulting, Project, etc. |
| Needs defined | Is client clear in expressing the needs? | Info gathering, etc. |
| Attention to client | Attention to a client. | First deal, Normal, etc. |
| Status | An outcome of sales opportunity. | Lost, Won |