Learn how digital commerce can smart-up your sales managers, boost cross- and up-sell and ultimately: lead to happier customers!
Most manufacturers are on the brink of digitalization. Some are already doing well, but many are still lacking customer-centric digital sales and services. There are many reasons for this, but as we found out in our recent study, almost 20% of all respondents state that the cooperation with the sales department hinders the digital transformation of their company!
Those responsible for future-proof sales know that digital puts the customer needs at the steering wheel of change. Happy customers buy more and won't leave to hang out with your competitors.
But if your sales team doesn't trust just yet the possibilities digital B2B commerce offers, 👉 here are the 3 most important benefits to convince them to support the digital initiative:
1 - Digital sales simplifies everyday work
When your sales guys as well as your customers have access to real-time updates on the status of the latest quotes, orders, or deliveries, account managers can solve more pressing matters than answering those recurring status questions. Fixing pressing matters is what strengthens your customer relationship! Also: When customers handle their personal account data themselves, errors are reduced.
Personal meetings can become more valuable, when improvements of products, novelties and process optimizations can be discussed. Therefore, dedicated field sales apps can be used, which shorten the decision-making process.
In short, sales managers benefit from digital commerce in their everyday work because:
- They get access to sales statistics where it is possible to see if sales are on target and detect customers which offer higher margins.
- They can organize their routes to become more efficient.
- They get a reminder of customer visit frequency.
- They may use transparent, efficient and structured communication channels with their customers.
2 - Next-level product information for up- and cross-sell opportunities
Your sales team will be happy to have detailed and easily searchable product information at hand. Due to centralized maintenance, product information is always up to date – no more dealing with outdated printed material!
Digital product information can be detailed specifications, technical documentation, technical drawings, Hi-res images and multimedia content. But that’s not all. Modern sales departments support their clients with self-service digital configurators, making sure to meet all their need without mistakes. This way, they request only what can be delivered. Your sales rep will be enabled to tell the customer when the product will be ready since data on availability can easily be included in the digital configuration.
If the commerce system stores information on the installed base of the customer, your sales rep can configure push notifications for new products, additional consumables or relevant services. And in after-sales, perfectly fitting cross- and up-sell possibilities can be found in an instant – or even replacements with spare parts for certain products, to remain flexible.
3 - Exploit information on buying behavior to increase overall sales
Digital or not, knowing the customer well is a major benefit to retain their loyalty. Digital commerce supports sales reps in providing data on buying behavior, prices, order patterns and much more. The time-per-customer can be reduced drastically, all while proposing new products, identifying up- and cross-sell potentials as well as negotiating agreements is happening.
Knowledge of buying behavior is also:
- the base for increasing individual sales volumes and up- and cross sell opportunities
- supporting proactive offerings which prove to have a higher conversion or better margin
- beneficial for better product recommendations
- enabling the sales rep to recognize changes in order patterns – which could prevent the loss of business to competitors
The world of digital commerce offers huge potential. Customers benefit from being served in a comfortable, personalized way and sales managers will easily be more efficient and successful.
Do you want to read more tips and tricks for increasing sales, decreasing costs and happier customers? 👉 Download our new checklist now:
