MOBILITY SHIFT
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 JAMES CATHERINE
BAPRM 42566
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