Fast paced technology is disrupting most industries of today and the expert announcements predict that we can only expect more change. It’s affecting the way we work, employment, organization and overall productivity.
One of the professions that are already seeing great change owing to technology is sales. Sales reps in every industry are quickly adapting to the tech-savvy world of over 500 software that is helping them manage their tasks on a daily basis.
Old ways of selling are becoming things of the past. And if you don’t adapt, you will quickly fall behind those who do.
What is Digital First strategy?
For those just considering using tech in their advantage, Digital First strategy means basing your productivity improvements and your core business activities on advanced technological solutions like – e-commerce, ERP systems, advanced predictive analytics, mobile ordering solutions.
For example, if you are considering empowering E-commerce platforms, they will help your customers make quick and easy purchases whenever and wherever they want, you will open a new revenue stream and new markets. ERP systems help you optimize your resources so you know exactly what are your strengths and weaknesses at any given moment. Predictive analytics use existing and historical data to predict the outcomes of your business strategies helping the top-level management make data-driven confident decisions.
Why do you need Digital First strategy?
In today’s B2B market, customers are better informed and more educated. In Salesforce State of Sales Report, 61% of consumers and 76% of business buyers said they feel significantly more empowered than five years ago. The competition is fierce, waiting to take over your client behind every corner. Customer service doesn’t sleep 365/24/7 (partially owing to advanced technology) and clients expect undivided attention and low prices with service that can only be delivered with advanced software solutions.
Leading B2B companies are already implementing these solutions and setting new records in productivity, leaving those that are stuck in the old ways behind.
This is where B2B businesses have a lot to learn from their B2C colleagues who had already gone through a tech revolution.
Those who made their offer simple, easy, always available for their customers and highly personalized, such as eCommerce giants Amazon and AliBaba, are the ones who thrived.
Bellow is the list of advantages that the wholesale industry is seeing by implementing latest technologies.
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E-commerce – Simple And Easy Buying
Those who enable their customers to make a quick, hassle-free and simple purchase are the ones who will survive in the business.
The clearer and more transparent your offer is – the less trouble there is for your customer to do their job. You’re saving their time, simplifying the entire process and looking at things from your customer’s perspective.
This kind of buying experience helps put customers in control with only necessary consultation from your side.
On the other hand, you as a seller are able to make your business offer leaner, more scalable and easily adaptable to any of your customer’s needs. Boundaries of yesteryear, such as product availability or bundles with unnecessary products and services are starting to disappear.
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Analytics And Data Driven Decision Making – Predictive And Anticipating
Related to the simple and easy experience you should provide for your customers the kind of experience they are expecting. For that, you will need the ability to recognize your customers’ behavior by collecting their interest and purchase history at the same time personalizing their experience, so they can find exactly what they need.
The preconfigured information aimed at customer’s segment or specific situation cuts through the noise and makes buyer’s experience far simpler and intuitive.
For example, sales reps do not have to rely on their gut or experience feeling in supposing the client’s next purchase but instead have a clear buying history. This is immensely helpful with boosting sales i.e. upselling and cross-selling.
Predictability is crucial for the analysis, as well. The ability of the given algorithm to predict future outcomes based on previously generated data can prevent many a mistake. Of course, this is nothing new, but the amounts of data that we are able to use nowadays and technology processing them is far greater, faster and more accurate.
Business intelligence expert Jane Landry states that those organizations that have used analytics for business initiatives outperformed their peers in terms of revenue generation, profits and market valuation. And the Gallup study shows that data-driven companies are more productive and profitable.
In B2B the right sales forecasting can keep a company running smoothly and increase customer satisfaction, while inaccurate predictions can lead to poor allocation of resources and lack of preparedness.
Additionally, being able to make confident decisions within the company changes the entire workplace.
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Creating Superheroes In Sales
There are employees and every organization has its top performers. By continually tracking the performance of your sales reps, you can see which ones are exceeding their quota and which ones need a little push or stimulation.
As the expectations and therefore pressure for wholesale companies to provide a top-notch service grows, so do the expectations and pressure towards their sales reps. It is demanded that they always sell more, better and quicker. What is worse, this trend shows no sign of slowing down.
The only way to make this possible is, obviously, by using technology, which for wholesale means advanced omnichannel sales solutions.
Logically, the ones who are able to provide the expected service owing to those solutions are the only ones who will survive.
But don’t blame it all on sales reps – good sales solution means that everybody needs to cooperate, from C-level management right down to the sales department, in order to achieve the growth in sales.
As a sales solution built by sales professionals to help sales professionals, Intelisale was designed to enable the cooperation among all other main functions of sales for wholesale and distribution industry.
From intelligent route planning for field sales to direct sales advice from superiors at any given time, the entire process can be set up so the employees are always giving their maximum effort and are empowered with the know-how of entire organization to do so.
That effort can be stimulated with gamification to encourage sales reps to compete among themselves.
What is most important, this creates the company atmosphere where it isn’t only the management that pulls all the strings, but the sales force as well, helped by the tech to achieve more in the same period of time. Sales staff turnover can be reduced by creating the culture of empowerment and accountability.
Don’t Be The Last To Change
Forrester predicts that by 2019, the B2B e-Commerce market will be worth $1.1T compared to the B2C market at $480B.
Gartner predicts that in 2018, 70% of e-Commerce will have moved from B2C and B2B models to models that focus on the individual customer experience.
As the market grows, so does the competition and customers will go where their demands (no matter how excessive) are met. They want low prices, ready-made solutions, but which are also adjusted to their needs and around the clock customer support.
So don’t expect them to get softer with their needs, only more exhausting.
The quicker and more accurate your response is – the better are your chances of keeping the old and winning the new customers.
What’s more, having an entire company’s know-how under your finger by using advanced sales solutions will make it easier for your company to adjust to any market fluctuations and changes.
Now it’s up to you to decide whether you want to be the last to change or the one to improve your business before everybody else and get ahead of the competition while you still can.
