Are you prepared for the way your customers are buying today?
The buying process has changed dramatically in the last five to ten years. In the past, especially in business to business sales and big ticket consumer sales, your sales team was really in control of the buying process because they provided most of the information that buyers needed. They were the primary link between the buyers and your product.
Today, that has changed dramatically. Buyers can get information on your products and services in a variety of ways. Buyers are now in control of the research process due to their access to a wealth of whitepapers, videos, and other informational website content. They’re often fully informed before they even talk to a salesperson.
Social media has transformed the sales process as well. Social media lets buyers see what other people think about your products, so that your sales team is not even in control of providing references. In the past, you could provide a few references from a group of happy customers, and buyers would be happy with that information. Today, buyers can see what people are saying about about your product constantly, and even one bad post can set you up to lose a sale.
To compete in this new world, you need to take three important steps:
First, you need provide better and more complete information than your competitors are providing. Since the competition for the buyer’s attention starts well before your sales person gets involved, you need to provide the best content possible.
Second, you need to use digital marketing to bring in traffic, convert that traffic to leads, and then nurture those leads to become customers. This might include digital advertising, SEO, Social Media Marketing and Marketing Automation.
Third, you need to train your sales team to operate in the new paradigm. Instead of teaching them how to simply provide information to prospects, you need to train them to sell and close. If they are well trained, they can be much more productive when they have the right technology and content to support them.
