Adapting Your Sales Strategy to a Digital World

All you need to know to start your digital selling journey.

Today’s world is moving to the beat of a digital drum. With a wealth of channels and touchpoints available at the swipe of a screen or the click of a button, customers are more empowered than ever before.

Traditional engagement tactics no longer work on today’s tech-savvy customers. If you want to thrive, taking a digital approach to your sales strategy is the way forward.

According to Microsoft, we’re five years ahead of where we thought we would be concerning digital transformation. Like it or not, digitalisation has arrived.

Whether your company deals in B2B or B2C sales, digital is the future. To help you on your path to success, we’re going to explore the five key aspects of digital transformation within the sales function.

Let’s begin.

Changing your sales approach

The rapid advance of technology, coupled with an accelerated shift towards digitalisation spurred by the pandemic, has changed our behaviours.

Studies suggest that 83% of sales meetings are now 30 minutes or shorter. In addition to shorter sales meetings, most prospects are further down the buying cycle when they make first contact, having already conducted their research and discovery work online.

Another interesting behavioural trend is the fact that the recent acceleration of digitalisation has lowered peoples’ inhibitions, making them more likely to voice their opinions during sales communications.

To navigate this new landscape effectively, taking a direct approach when talking to prospects is vital. You must aim to be concise and address your prospects’ pain points early on in the meeting.

Today’s customers are discerning and hyper-informed. To spark engagement from the offset, you should have valuable content prepared. Creating relevant infographics, articles, case studies, white papers, and video demonstrations will prove paramount to cutting through the noise and nurturing your leads in the digital age.

Understanding the key challenges for sales people

Sales people need to prioritise delivering more compact and focused sales stories that tap directly into their customers’ needs.

The aim of the game from a digital selling standpoint is to create an immediate sense of rapport and get to the heart of the narrative by helping prospects fill in gaps in their research while offering a valuable solution to their problem.

Building a bond and creating an impactful sales story is easier said than done when you have 30 minutes or less—but it is possible. Here are some practical tips for success:

• When setting up a video call, use proper lighting and an elevated camera to make yourself as visible as possible.

• Practice positive body language and ensure you’re making eye contact with your prospects throughout the call.

• Ensure you have the tools and resources you need at your disposal and ready to send to the prospect as a tangible piece of content.

• Trim the fat, getting straight to the point. Your prospect is likely to be well researched, so there’s no time for eight intro slides. Prepare in advance of the meeting and find a powerful conversational entry point so you can establish value from the start.

Knowing the digital demand funnel 

Another key digital selling consideration is potential changes to the demand funnel or sales cycle. As mentioned, people are entering the buying cycle later than they used to, emphasising the need for an instant solution (there’s not much room for sales or marketing preamble these days).

Further, your prospects’ budgets might look slightly different, with spending prioritised in other areas. This is something to consider when crafting your sales content or messaging.

Condensing your sales cycle-based activities is essential. You should break down your interactions and processes into smaller chunks. For instance, if you’ve prepared an hour and 30-minute video demo, try breaking it down into 30-minute chunks to make it more digestible.

You can also record your sales meetings with your prospects and share them, offering the opportunity to mull back over any key points at their leisure.

You must focus on maintaining engagement, using a mix of digital mediums (social media content, articles, demos, eBooks, white papers, etc.) to spark engagement and drill your message home swiftly and with maximum clout.

Including the right attributes in your sales pitch

Expanding on our last point, with less time to dazzle your customers in the digital age, getting your 30-minute sales pitch just right is vital.

Here are the key 30-minute sales pitch tips for success in the digital age:

• Invite more contacts to your online sales meetings. Taking an account-based approach improves the decision-making process.

• Establish your value proposition and lead with it from the onset.

• Qualify hard and early – set out your qualification questions early on.

• Tell your prospect why you’re better than or stand out from your direct competitors. Also, share valuable information that they likely didn’t find while doing their research.

• Demonstrate your vision of the prospect’s journey with your brand and share relevant use cases to bring that journey to light.

• Ensure your pitch is 100% customer-led and focused. Use content that is visually-rich, showcases your value, and dives into your USP immediately—you only have 30 minutes after all.

Embracing digital selling and its many evolutions

If there’s one key takeaway from this, it’s that digital is here to stay, and you should not fight the change—you must embrace it.

COVID-19 has served to highlight the universal value of digital selling and the importance of investing more in understanding your customers’ complex needs.

Even when the grip of the pandemic starts to become a thing of the past, adopting a digital-first mindset and getting to the heart of your consumers’ issues will remain critical to closing sales.

It’s more than likely that virtual interactions and meetings will remain the norm in the near future and beyond. Adapting to digital selling today will push you ahead of the pack tomorrow.

By taking the five essential aspects of digital selling into consideration and working with the right tools for the job, you will boost your sales performance while remaining agile and adaptable in an ever-changing landscape. Now’s the time to strike.

For a deeper dive into the topics discussed here, check out our full “adapting your sales approach to succeed in the digital age” webinar.