How has digital affected the sales process
This blog will explore the different changes that have happened to the traditional buying process as a result of digital and technology. By the end of this blog I hope you will be in a position to see what changes need to take place in your business.
So traditionally selling was quite straight forward, get in front of enough people enough times and in the end some of them would buy. We heard expressions such as "always be closing", "It's a numbers game", and "pound the pavement". Businesses of all sizes would employ telesales people to call hundreds of companies each and everyday trying to sell something. This would be combined with advertising,networking and trade shows.
Now to be fair a lot of companies today still do this and will claim to still do well. I believe networking is still valuable when combined with digital.
As for the rest of it lots has changed. What sales people had in the last 10 years was uninformed decision makers. We relied on trade shows and trade magazines to keep up to date. There was no social media or the abundance of information that we have today.
Today we can get access to the answer to any question we have in a few seconds from the device that is always within an arms reach - our mobile phone.
As a result of the fact that we can we now research everything and anything and its quick and easy. We are no longer restrained and reliant on a sales person to tell us about their product or service.
We also have an abundance of feedback from reviews and from people actually experiencing the product or service.
When Google conducted their ZMOT (Zero moment of truth) study a few years back they found that their was a huge increase in the amount of sources that people consume before making a purchase decision. It jumped from around 5.4 to over 11 sources on average and that was in 2012, imagine what that number would be now. The ZMOT also showed how we read reviews and also asked our trusted network before making a purchase decision.
The ZMOT study showed us that between 59 - 70% of the buying process was taking place online before they contacted a company via a form or telephone.
The study as recently been updated for 2015 and there is now what they are calling Micro moments of truth. This is where there are even more moments of truth for a prospect and they take place across multiple devices.
Understanding that the modern consumer is taking your funnel and turning upside down is imperative.
You have lost business that you never knew you were competing for as a result of not providing the experience or the answer this prospect was looking for when they wanted it.
Digital is not a fad nor is any of the elements within it, social, blogging, podcasting may come and go but great teaching online and being useful and valuable is here to stay.
As a business owner you need to understand how your prospects buy and understand what they are looking for.
So investing your time into this is fundamental to the future of business. When is that future? Is it hurting now? Is sales getting harder?
Many of the small business owners I speak to don't think this applies to them. My advice today is to start creating a hub of resources that teach and enable your prospects to buy. Sounds like hard work they say and it takes too long and I want sales now. It does take time but once in place works for you 24/7 365 exactly when your prospect needs you.
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Author- Speaker - Consultant. Passionate about all things digital.