In the digital age, technology evolves in leaps and bounds, and companies are increasingly relying on it to deliver solutions that satisfy their customers. In any organization this reality is transversal to its structure, affecting all its processes, mainly that of sales.
It is then essential that companies, especially small businesses, understand that ignoring digital transformation would mean lagging behind in competition for customers. However, many entrepreneurs do not understand what this digitization is or how they can benefit from it.
What is digital transformation?
Digital transformation is a process that seeks to improve and optimize the connection that companies have with their customers. The Digital Transformation process uses various types of technology to improve a business’ operations or create new ones, it also seeks to improve the business culture and customer experience.
Digital transformation and sales
If we focus on sales,digital transformation is the answer to a number of changes in consumer habits. Social media, mobile devices and constant access to digital information have altered the role of consumers in the purchasing process, as they are better informed, they rely less on traditional sellers to make decisions.
In this sense, the digitization of the sales process can be understood as the development of new competencies, through the implementation of digital tools, to meet the needs of these “hyperconnected” buyers.
An organization that seeks to drive sales has at its fingertips a number of digital technologies, among which you can choose those that best fit your needs and budget.
This article is focused on how digital transformation can improve the sales process.
The top 4 areas of digital transformation
According to Microsoft,the transformation has 4 main areas:
- Catching customers’ attention
- Transform products
- Optimize operations
- Empowering employees
Understanding how digital transformation consulting services can help a business become a digital enterprise.
It can be defined as digital companies as “organizations that incorporate digital technology to generate revenue, through innovative strategies, products, processes and experiences. By using digital resources, they create value for the customer, as well as business results.”
In essence, that’s just what digital transformation achieves: creating value for the customer, as well as business results.
Implementing digital technologies without dying in the attempt
But adopting these tools successfully requires some preparation. There must first be a sales strategy that guides the organization as a whole and ensures that digital resources are aligned with other processes that help stimulate sales.
Another aspect that should not be underestimated is training.
If the sales team doesn’t understand how to combine this digital transformation with its specific functions or doesn’t know how to use the tools, they should receive the right training.
Hiring a consultant for this purpose will be ideal, although many companies that provide digital solutions offer training as part of the package when their services are purchased.
With the above in mind, it remains to mention some of the technological solutions that organizations can implement to modernize their sales processes.
Tools for digital transformation
- Big Data
Collecting, storing and analyzing large volumes of consumer information is the basis for deciphering your shopping habits. However, average companies only analyze 12 percent of the data they collect.
That’s right where the big data comes in.
Big data provides a number of tools to analyze this information, allowing organizations to generate prospectives or studies to establish the feasibility of future scenarios. Thus, by using analytics models, based on consumer behavior, it is possible not only to identify leads, but also to determine which messages may be most effective in capturing their attention.
Social media
Social media offers companies the opportunity to “shake hands with customers,” so to speak.
By interacting with them and knowing their opinion about different products or services, it is possible to define their profiles on these platforms and create personalized messages for each one. The advantage of these means is that they allow thousands of consumers to shake hands at the same time and around the world.
Today, customers are more connected than ever, thanks to social networks like Facebook or Twitter, and in a large percentage they support their purchasing decisions in recommendations of acquaintances, comments or reviews in these media.
The feedback you get from consumers on such platforms allows companies to design better sales tactics to ensure higher returns in the future. Social media is a great asset in the sales process, in fact, it is estimated that 78 percent of the sales professionals who use them, get better results than those who don’t.
Automation systems
Tasks such as arranging customer appointments, sending emails, or making invoices, time-demanding, and reducing productivity and profitability.
Automation systems, as the name implies, automate these tasks, so sellers can focus on generating more sales.
Similarly, with these systems, sales supervisors can access timely employee information, such as success rates, customer complaints, and other data used to determine sales indicators. This information is generated in real time and allows area managers to make decisions or make adjustments quickly, optimizing procedures.
Cloud-based CRM technology
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems are powerful tools designed to give organizations a perspective, from different angles, on customer relationships by integrating marketing, sales, and consumer service processes.
Unlike traditional CRM software, cloud-hosted services free employees from the personal computer and servers. When the data generated by these systems is stored in the cloud, it can be accessed from anywhere, anytime.
Used correctly, these systems represent a huge advantage, as sellers quickly access information about their customers, such as what they are interested in, and what are the chances of them making a purchase at any given time. With this data and the ease of contacting customers from anywhere, a sales team is more agile, effective and productive.
Mobile technology
The proliferation of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, has radically changed the sales process.
For consumers, the ability to research, evaluate and purchase products and services online from these devices has transformed the shopping experience. Marketing and sales departments should keep this in mind, as a large percentage of customers who use their phones to make such inquiries end up making a purchase.
The use of these technologies represents a great competitive advantage for sellers. Not only are they enabled to access their customers’ information from anywhere in real time, but they can also update it, without having to resort to a computer.
They can also view product specifications or inventory availability, and access other tools to increase their effectiveness in the process, resulting in higher sales rates and a better customer experience. Also, when you close a business, mobile technologies make documents, such as contracts, instantly available.