While remote working can be a substitute for desk jobs, things are quite different in a (B2B) sales environment, which usually relies on face-to-face interactions. This situation requires a shift in way-of-working, as well as an unexpected surge in digital commerce and customer engagement. In this article, we share our thinking on how to keep the engine running in (B2B) sales, while being unable to physically visit customers.

A virtual way-of-working: successfully selling via a screen

Staying at home forms a dramatic shift in the daily routines of salespeople. Today’s challenge is to stimulate openness for change to enable virtualization of their way-of-working. Several of our clients did so successfully by piloting online “sales visits” or broadcasting their product launch instead of showcasing it live on a trade show. One of our clients in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) even reported improved conversion compared to offline visits.

To put in place a fast and foolproof virtual sales engine, we recognize five process steps:

• Fix the basics
  Equip your salesforce with the right hardware and tools. Preferably use devices and software that are already used or are off-the-shelf (SaaS) solutions to minimize educational needs. Also validate if the buying counterparty has matching infrastructure in place. Remember that you want to service them, not complicate their lives.
• Rewrite your sales pitch
  Re-evaluate if your brand story and products/services are still relevant in Corona-times. Historically, uncertainty causes buyers to prefer familiar brands to new ones. Consider increasing the promotion of well-known brands over new launches. If possible, adapt your sales pitch to the particular relevancy of your products/services right now.
• Test small
  Establish a testing panel with cross-category and cross-region sales specialists, as well as a loyal group of pilot customers. Incorporating process- and technology-related feedback into an MVP 2.0 increases the speed and smoothens the process of rolling out this new way-of-working at scale.
• Overinvest in change management
  Ensure a foolproof approach through clear manuals and instruction videos (also for your buyers/customers). If needed, arrange (external) virtual sales trainings to get your salesforce comfortable with selling via a screen. Dedicate the required IT- and project management employees to function as a “hypercare” department during the rollout and respond quickly to early feedback.
• Enable data-driven sales
  As a next step, use the time savings from virtualizing sales efforts to shift towards data-driven sales. This implies your salespeople transform from generic into targeted value creators. For example, through leveraging the right data and dashboards, a sales representative could get buyer-specific recommendations on assortment, pricing or restocking, allowing him or her to drive very targeted sales.

Practical examples of sales virtualization efforts

To put these principles into practice, we would like to share with you some case examples from our own work:

• A beverage producer used an on-the-ground salesforce to check the refrigerator layout – a direct sales driver – of partnered outlets. We virtualized this process by instructing store owners to share a picture of their fridge via WhatsApp, enabling sales reps to evaluate and provide direct feedback. Within weeks, this led to a double-digit sales uplift per average store. No technology acquisition or education was required, significantly shortening the implementation cycle.
• An industrial company wanted to tap into new customer segments through their online platform. We supported them by applying a two-step approach. Firstly, we created Google Ads campaigns to reach a 5-10 times bigger audience than possible with their regular salesforce activities. Secondly, we designed a process to onboard newly reached customers at scale. As a result, a representative now builds (new) customer relationships, explains platform functionalities, and gathers direct feedback via videoconference.

We are here to help

For a decade, SparkOptimus has supported her clients to achieve concrete results in areas that are now more relevant than ever. This has resulted in our fourth #1 position in digital consultancy in the Netherlands. Especially in these days of turmoil, we are determined to help you navigate current and post-Corona times, setting up your (online) business for success. Feel free to reach out – we are here to help.

Over the past few weeks, our main focus has been with the health and wellbeing of our families, friends, and employees. All of us had to think of pragmatic solutions to make this new life work. B2B business leaders asked themselves: “How do I keep my factory operational with public transport being shut down?”. These unusual questions required a solution within a matter of days. With the initial chaos settling down, we have been in close contact with business leaders who are carefully creating a vision on life and business post-crisis.

Over the past decade, SparkOptimus supported several of these business leaders in building the foundation of their digital (B2B) platforms. For some, we even transformed their platforms into fully data-driven digital commerce & engagement solutions. Others recognized the need for digital, but decided to pursue other plans first. Whatever “group” or “stage” you are in, we understand that making bold decisions on this topic feels uncomfortable right now. Therefore, we would like to share with you why these times in particular could create unparalleled momentum and why we believe digital is a means to improve your daily business, now more than ever.

Why these times could create unparalleled momentum

Regardless of your digital maturity or industry, an online platform requires different capabilities compared to your “traditional” business. It requires change and strong change management. In fact, this change rapidly became the only constant in your organization, creating momentum that was never there before:

• The business case to build or expand your digital platform is more attractive than ever
  Expanding into online channels requires investments. More conservative businesses often decide to spread these investments over several years, allowing the online channels to prove their worth without taking too much risk. However, with many “traditional” channels disappearing (temporarily), all incremental sales through digital channels directly contribute. To illustrate this, a client in chemical distribution decided to increase the budget to scale their B2B platform with a factor 30 (!) to capture the momentum of today’s crisis.
• Local organizations have resources available due to daily business being slowed down
  An organization’s digital agenda is often pushed from central level, resulting in resistance from local organizations dealing with budget- and resource scarcity. Current developments, however, are freeing up resources and shuffle roadmaps, creating momentum to rapidly design, test, and implement digital projects. As an example, after years of local de-prioritization, an animal nutrition producer all of a sudden found several local operating companies willing to participate in their digital ideation workshops.
• Often-voiced counter-arguments suddenly lose their power of persuasion
  “Change takes time”, “it will take years for our B2B customers to get used to online channels”, “online expansion is in our vision 2025”: these are just some of the counter-arguments we hear a lot in discussions around building or expanding B2B sales platforms. However, the resilience, adaptability, and creativity our clients’ businesses have demonstrated recently suddenly invalidated these counter-arguments and changed the minds of even the strongest disbelievers in digital. A new level of urgency became apparent when a client producing adhesives shared their updated digital platform roadmap with us. Timelines shifted from 4 years to 24 months.

The SparkOptimus approach

At SparkOptimus, we believe that digital is not just about having a digital (B2B) platform. Instead, we believe that digital is a means to help improving our clients’ daily businesses and (data-driven) decision-making. We support you in doing so by adhering to three main principles:

• Start small & local
  We do not believe in centrally-developed “one-size-fits-all”-online platforms. All your geographical markets, customer segments, or product categories have different needs and particularities and we want to understand these. We teach you how to make decisions based on data and which levers you should steer on. At HEINEKEN, we set up digital B2B capabilities within local operating companies fully leveraging local capabilities, partnerships, and technology (read more about it here).
• Scale towards fully digital commerce
  After successfully launching and accelerating your transactional sales platform, the next step is to integrate marketing, customer engagement, and retention efforts to transform into a full-fledged digital commerce business. We help you drive technological and organizational change management, scaling towards fully online commerce and engagement. We supported Unilever Food Solutions in building local digital and data-driven CRM capabilities to capture the full potential of their B2B platform (read more about it here).
• Continuously improve
  Once your digital platform is up and running, you should not sit back and relax. Customer expectations are rapidly changing, as well as the underlying technology. Recognizing these changes and making decisions based on data will help you to stay ahead. The current crisis is your ultimate test for adaptability and scalability. What problems did you face? Which customers switched to your online channels? Which did not? What do you need to be ready for the next unpredictable event? Make sure to use the momentum that was never there before.

We are here to help

For a decade, SparkOptimus has supported her clients to achieve concrete results in areas that are now more relevant than ever. This has resulted in our fourth #1 position in digital consultancy in the Netherlands. Especially in these days of turmoil, we are determined to help you navigate current and post-Corona times, setting up your (online) business for success. Feel free to reach out, we are here to help.

Let’s get in touch!