Face-to-face selling saw its decline long before work from home became a norm (owing to the ongoing pandemic). It all started when companies graciously embraced digital transformation and sales teams would be on the lookout for new emerging technologies and would spend hours brainstorming on tactics they can leverage to lay a strong foundation of their relationship with buyers that would eventually result in the development of a smooth road for their customers down the sales funnel.
That’s digital selling for you.
What is Digital Selling?💭
Digital Selling — although the term has been in the market for quite some time now, with the ongoing pandemic, the use of this term has been more frequent than ever. Coronavirus has undoubtedly compelled even sellers into digital selling and has given them another reason to replace traditional in-person meetings with virtual engagement.
According to a LinkedIn survey,
- 81% of salespeople are holding more video meetings
- 58% of salespeople are sending more emails
- 56% of salespeople are making more phone calls
This means that sales professionals are turning to virtual methods to establish and maintain contact with potential buyers or customers.
For digital selling all you need is the right skillset, robust strategies, and some amazing digital tools (CRM systems, CMS platforms, Lead-Gen resources), all in one place, and voila, your business can see a boost in sales and enhance overall customer experience, one that you most probably never saw before.
Why Digital Selling is Thriving?😎
According to a survey conducted by McKinsey,
- Prioritization of digital ordering has seen almost a ~2X increase in traditional sales interactions.
- With almost 96% of B2B companies shifting their GTM model during COVID-19, remote selling is becoming the new norm.
Surviving the ongoing pandemic is one thing and thriving it is totally another, that’s what digital selling helps you do — “ thrive” in any situation that may befall.
Here are some of the reasons why and how virtual selling is thriving.
Better Results With DATA💪
According to 59% of consumers that were a part of the survey by SalesForce, Businesses that utilize personalized engagement on the basis of past interactions have a better chance of winning the market “. Right from the start of the sale, data-driven thinking is the key that drives and steers digital selling. Digital selling leverages from big data as much as possible right from the beginning of a campaign.
With 80% of companies seeing an uplift since the implementation of personalization (Econsultancy), a data-driven campaign undoubtedly proves to be more effective when it comes to enhancing the overall sales of a company.
Insights Into Customer Preferences🔍
SalesForce claims, “Consumers are 2.1x more likely to view personalized offers as a priority than the rest.”
Because of the availability of all the information online, via web and social channels, there seems to be an added complexity to the overall buying process. It’s not a linear journey anymore, rather one where they go through the stages of educating, researching, evaluating, and when satisfied, then considering.
One of the key factors behind the success of digital selling is big data analytics. Predictive analytics and Sales intelligence assist the marketing and sales teams to craft content and campaigns according to the audience preferences, without the need for traditional customer research. These not only give you an insight into the customer personas but also allow you to build a bond with them.
Around 71% of consumers said that a personalized experience would likely influence their decision to open and read brand emails. ~ Dynamic Yield
It’s a Collective Effort👏
Digital selling needs the collective effort of marketing and sales teams to generate personalized campaigns ( personalization is said to have increased marketing spend efficiency by up to 30%. — Adweek ) and content that can be leveraged to engage with potential buyers.
Gone are the days when selling was based on a hunch — “this might be the product that the buyer was looking for” and other such statements. Today’s customers participate, pursue, and digest the content that you present and then make an informed decision, whether or not they should go for it.
Digital selling is here to stay as it has created opportunities for sales and marketing teams to come together and work towards the creation of a seamless customer journey that would eventually lead to better sales. It’s more customer-focused and customer-centric sales. The science behind virtual selling is simple — the more efficiently you use the data presented, the more focussed your strategies will be, and the better you will be able to target prospects.
With companies actively adapting digital selling in their business strategies, according to a report by McKinsey, “32% of the companies surveyed were more likely to retain their now-changed sales model for at least 12+ months after COVID-19 while almost 47% were “somewhat likely” to do so.”
Originally published at https://sitesandbooks.blogspot.com on December 9, 2020.