Strengthening Digital Channels

In recent years, people have become more independent when they are looking to buy something. They form their evaluations and analysis instead of relying only on salespeople. Even after the sale has been completed, customers are increasingly likely to seek solutions through digital methods rather than talking with an actual person.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to more digital transformation. This means that people are meeting each other online instead of in person. So businesses need to make sure that their sales and customer service channels are strong. A recent survey showed that people want to interact with businesses digitally instead of in person two or three times more than before the pandemic.

Digital as part of the sales process

As the business world transitions to digital, it's important not just to replicate your existing electronic material online. The entire sales experience must be redesigned and adapted for a more modern setting. Here are two essential components you should keep in mind before taking this major step toward progress:

1. Think about the experience first: As you think about how your customers want to connect with you, make a note of it. This will help you understand what kind of digital content is required and which interaction modes – such as email or chat - should be used. Visualizing the process in this way offers a great opportunity to not only inform clients but also give them a better experience than your competitors.
2. Focus on consistency: We should try to make our customers happy and give them good experiences. This means that we need to have the same content and brand tone across all devices. If a customer has a good experience on one device but not on another, this can make them frustrated and not want to use our product again. If product info is not displayed in an organized way, people will not trust it. If a website is not updated in one section but is updated in another section, this can make people not trust the website. If features are more complicated and there are more benefits, this will make people trust the product even less.

Digital as part of the post-sales process

Digital tools can have a huge impact on the post-sales process. From online FAQs and chatbots to customer forums, digital self-serve is becoming increasingly important. With this article in particular, we are concentrating on how businesses may use the connection after the sale to both deliver an outstanding client experience as well as generate the potential for more cross-selling or upselling opportunities.

Here are three essential elements to consider as part of the post-purchase customer experience that will help spur further sales:

1. Track the interaction data: If you keep track of the questions customers ask, you might be able to sell them more products. For example, if you make financial software and lots of people are asking about Shopify integration, you could try to sell them your integration module. This also gives sales representatives a script to use when talking to customers and trying to get them interested in your product.
2. Leverage customer advocacy: It is important to have a good digital customer experience so that your customers trust you and feel confident in your product. You can turn customers into advocates by making it easy for them to show their satisfaction with your product on social media. For example, you can give them discounts or freebies if they post about the product on LinkedIn. This will help get more people interested in what you have to offer!
3. Measure progress: As you build up your post-sales digital channels, make sure to track the progress. Apart from measuring customer satisfaction (which is probably something that you have already done), it's also important to monitor how many leads are generated through your online interactions. In the software industry, customer success teams manage customers after they have been sold a product. They must produce Customer Service Qualified Leads (CSQLs). If the customer has a good experience, they are more likely to generate CSQLs. By measuring this data, you can figure out where you should spend more resources to get the most return on investment.
   

No matter where you are on your digital transformation journey, it is essential that you invest more into strengthening your digital channels to support the sales team before and after closing a sale.