MOBILITY SHIFT

Here are 4 important shifts that sales and marketing professionals must integrate into their strategies to ensure continued sales success in the highly connected digital economy.

1. The customer is more informed than ever before.

Did you know that according to Forrester Research that the average consumer is 68-90% through the sales journey before they will actively engage a vendor?  This means that by the time you hear from a potential prospect, that person is likely well aware of your products and your competitors products.  Furthered by the average buyer consumption of more than 11 pieces of online content prior to making a buying decision, clients are turning to websites, Google and their social networks for information and brand sentiment much sooner than they are calling up potential vendors.

2. Clients and Prospects have exceedingly high expectations for responsiveness to service and sales requests.

Thanks to a world where we are seemingly connected all of the time on mobile devices; people are now being driven by an almost unrealistic expectation of immediacy.  Did you know that.   Moreover, our best customer experiences offline and online are driving our professional expectations.  While the need to be connected all of the time may seem unreasonable, our businesses live in a customer driven world where being available when they need us may be more important than the hours we post on our front door.

3. Value is rooted in information and creativity.  Customers need vendors that drive user adoption and improved (measurable outcomes)

As a sales professional you need to be thinking about what important information your clients and prospects need to become more familiar and comfortable with your products and services.  The second part of the role is using data and analytics to help your customers reach more quantifiable successes with the products you sell them.  Smart companies are thinking about how they can provide analytical data to their customers to show them that what they sold them is helping them achieve the goal of the sale.  Whether software, technology or cleaning supplies, businesses need to think about how they can prove that they are delivering the value they promised during the sale. This is a key to building word of mouth and retaining customers into the future.

4. Trust tops the list when it comes to building successful, sustainable customer relationships and winning the sale.

  Fact is, we are being marketed to like crazy, but our response to marketing isn’t necessarily garnering the results that businesses hope.  To combat this, many companies are turning to influence marketing campaigns and community building activities to drive stronger customer sentiment.  This is directly related to the fact that 90% of consumers trust a referral that they receive from their personal network.  Furthermore, 81% of people go online to find those trusted referrals which is precisely why businesses are focused on building improved numbers of ambassadors and product evangelists that can spread the good word on their products.  With word of mouth being the greatest business development opportunity according to 98% of businesses, it is a mere 3% that have true word of mouth business strategies in place leaving too much growth to chance.  High levels of trust through building referral relationships with current clients and improved sentiment through brand influence are high on the list for sales growth in 2014 and beyond.

In short, the rules of sales are changing.  Some of the shifts are fast and some are slow, but all of them should impact the way you connect with customers and manage those relationships.

 By Mbogo Tausi

     BAPRM 42611