Digital Sales Can Help You Weather the Coronavirus Slump
COVID-19 is a scourge in every industry in all economies, disrupting the most stable of companies. From SMB’s to the largest organizations, adjustments have to be made to survive shutdowns and the disruption of business as usual.
As all industries look for a way to survive this, companies look to ways on how sales can continue for their companies to continue getting the funds they need to survive. USA Today names iconic businesses that have been forced to downsize because they could not adapt quickly.
Companies that rely on walk-in customers, like clothing stores that let customers try on clothing, or restaurants that market their locations as places for bonding, find their models challenged at this time. With people no longer allowed to gather in places, companies are struggling to find a way to make sales in this new reality as their places are forced to shut down.
B2B businesses are also affected as offices are forced to shut their doors to prevent people from congregating together and spreading the virus. Because of this, companies are trimming their staff. Worse, without any prospects to meet in person, sales teams are wondering how they can acquire new customers and retain relationships with old ones.
But as these avenues close for businesses, new opportunities open with technology. For your company to survive, it has to be more dynamic than ever and see which suite of solutions technology can support your business.
Tech solutions for your sales teams
There are many solutions that enable your sales team to present, sign contracts, seal deals, and even receive payments from clients, even with social distancing and quarantines imposed. Check the examples below:
1.Communications/Conferencing technologies
Making business presentations? Responding to company queries? These are all the first steps your company needs to take to close deals and sell to customers.
For B2B, this means giving presentations online or having online meetings to clarify deals instead of face-to-face discussions.
B2C companies can use these technologies to respond to customer queries and sell to individual customers efficiently.
More importantly, companies can see data from communications and share information with their sales teams through these technologies to improve their sales strategies.
2. Sales Engagement Technologies
Potential customers may be very interested in your product and/or service at the onset. However, without continuous engagement with them, you could lose potential sales and repeat sales.
Both B2C and B2B companies can take advantage of sales engagement tools to follow through with prospective interests and convert them to paying customers and clients.
From email engagement to activity tracking, from phone calls to social media, sales engagement technologies can help your company reach a high conversion rate even in times of crisis.
3.Content Sharing and Management Technologies
Content is not just the realm of marketing. Content used by sales teams is very helpful when considering tech for sales. Not only is information at their fingertips, but they are also able to access a whole suite of content to respond exactly to what customers need.
More importantly, content can be used to train your sales teams. Both B2B and B2C companies can use these tools to share learnings to help every member of the team to meet, and even exceed, their quotas.
Advantages in investing in digital sales
Digital sales are no longer a trend. As crises like COVID-19 appear, the digital transformation of sales is now a necessity. This is why powerful online retail companies like Amazon are posting $75 billion in first-quarter revenues during these challenging times.
Businesses that have embraced the full strength of technology not only survive in crises, but thrive and grow exponentially. In contrast, those who fail to adapt go out of business.
Here are a few reasons why your company needs to invest in digital sales technologies:
1.Better Collaboration
When your sales team is able to receive and communicate important information within and without the team, the performance of your sales improves by leaps and bounds.
Sales teams that exercise good collaboration are able to attract customers because they know their purchase intent, and recommend products based on their past purchases and updated needs.
2.Better Customer Experience
Personalization is a buzzword worth its salt as people now have a huge number of companies to choose from. Companies that are not able to customize according to their customer needs are unable to catch their attention, resulting in fewer sales and fewer conversions.
Being able to tailor to individual client tastes means that your company has a better chance of attracting the 59 percent of customers who are influenced by personalization in their shopping decisions, says Instapage.
With all these capabilities at your fingertips, now is the time to adapt sales technologies as crises like COVID-19 finally force our hands to make the move.
