We are at the dawn of a new reality driven by personal and professional change. The pandemic has overhauled nearly every aspect of life, from how people make payments to how doctor’s visits are conducted, where people choose to live, and how workplaces operate. It’s not a new normal, it’s an entirely new reality in a new world.
Rapid change is not limited to organizations–it’s equally impacting the way customers buy. The modern buyer is autonomous, independent, and digitally driven. Our research at Vistage shows 78 percent of CEOs report dramatic shifts in buyer behavior as the result of Covid, led by four main factors:
Supply chain issues and inflation may cycle with time, but how buyers acquire, source, and utilize information to make purchases has changed forever. CEOs must be willing to meet customers where they are, or risk falling behind.
Every step of the customer journey should be smooth and consistent, no matter the digital platform or human interactions. 
A cross-industry shift to digital was already in progress, but the pandemic greatly accelerated our progression toward a digital future. Business leaders who are able to quickly embrace and adapt to change will have a significant competitive advantage over those who try to return to their previous models.
CEOs must make a mindset shift to digital, from rethinking marketing strategy, to re-inventing customers’ digital experience, and realigning sales and marketing teams to create a world in which digital buyers can thrive. The buyer has spoken: Modern customers want to be empowered to self-inform, self-educate, and self-purchase. CEOs who successfully pivot to address customers’ changing desires and reinvest their sales and marketing strategies accordingly will be primed for success in the years to come.

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