The pandemic has accelerated digital commerce and changed the way companies generate revenues, run their operations, and interact with their customers and key stakeholders. According to research by Gartner, buyers typically only spend 17% of their time meeting with potential suppliers when considering their purchase and predicts that by 2025, 80% of software sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur in digital channels.
But what does this mean for sales leaders and teams who are adapting and engaging in the 'new normal', where the in-person meeting, handshake and networking event is being replaced by remote working, video calls and digital marketing? Enterprise sales professionals must rethink their sales strategies if they wish to succeed at virtual selling in a world where they have a decreasing amount of time with their customers face to face and rising expectations when it comes to a positive buyer experience.
Charting the future of software sales
Previous research by Forrester predicted that one million sales professionals in the United States would lose their jobs to e-commerce by 2020. The research went on to say that three in four buyers preferred buying from an e-commerce site than a sales professional, with advancements in automation and AI making (some) sales professionals redundant.
It's undeniable that artificial intelligence is changing the world and those businesses whose sales professionals concentrate on cold-calling and order processing will be challenged to keep up in a digital and customer-centric world. However, not all sales jobs will be irrelevant, with those who can adapt their business development processes to embrace and partner with digital marketing plus deliver higher-value, higher-end services to solve complex business challenges will be best positioned to take advantage. Here's how:
Replace busywork with technology
- A lot of time is being spent on tasks that can be automated, including prospecting and qualifying leads, scheduling meetings, following up and creating pitches and reports.
- During the pandemic, a lot of cold calling activity was replaced with cold emailing as sales people couldn't reach contacts on switchboards – this should be replaced by marketing automation and lead generation.
- Chatbots can also help with prequalifying and information gathering, allowing them to tailor their conversations and pitch to the specific pain points customers are facing. Chatbots also allow for 24/7 monitoring, helping businesses account for both the 'always on' and international econom(ies) without having to have sales professionals always on call.
- The opportunity for sales leaders is to have a clear vision of where their challenges lie and how technology can help streamline processes to give their sales reps more time to focus on value-added activities.
Prioritise customer needs
- Tech also allows businesses to garner insights on the personality and buying behaviours of customers, allowing sales professionals to prioritise their needs and craft specific pitches and communications accordingly.
- Can therefore leverage this insight to both craft more targeted campaigns in partnership with marketing and/or address BD follow up and account management accordingly.
- It also allows you to improve relevance and therefore authenticity and credibility, being responsive to customer needs.
Stay human
- Importance still of the human touch and focus for sales people to inherently want to help their customers.
- People still want the personal connection and know that their pain points are being addressed and for higher-value and longer lead-time sales – like enterprise software sales – having that business development perspective and ability to navigate the organisation cannot be replaced with automation.
Leverage lead generation
- Biggest opportunity for sales people is to tap into the lead generation opportunities that arise from the marketing team or other technology-enabled function (chatbots, automated emails etc.).
- Educating and embracing the process from a leadership standpoint and championing it across your sales teams is critical to making this work.
- Consider your processes to ensure all leads are followed up on, plus educate your sales teams on the importance – it can also be a great way to attract and retain strong sales talent as it demonstrates that the company is investing in their success.
Partner with marketing
Sales and BD professionals know their customer better than anyone, including their challenges, opportunities and pain points. By establishing open communication lines with the marketing team to understand these personas and build the right messages, strategies and tactics, a more robust BD process rooted in customer-centricism can be established.
Successful teams start with the right individuals
At Target Alliance, we know that no two people nor organisations are the same, and that's why we tailor our services to fit your needs and preferences. We take the time to listen to your individual requirements and are proud to act as your Executive Search partner across the Technology and Telecoms industry. Get in touch below to find out how we can help scale your team for future success.