Need for Digital Sales Managers…

Need for Digital Sales Managers…

Time has come to hire Digital Sales Managers (DSM). In my opinion the role of DSM could be defined as ‘Art and Science of generating revenue through #DigitalMedia.’ In other words, the process of identifying, prospecting, profiling and need assessment by using various digital tools, platforms, channels and analytics. These managers need to equip themselves with special skills to sell and organizations must facilitate the specific training. 

The Need:

#Socialmedia is changing how buyers buy, how sellers sell, and how buyers and sellers interact. Thus it is important that how sales teams make effective use of social media to gain better customer insights, get access to difficult to reach buyers, and cultivate mutual relationships with customers.

How to find Prospect:

Potential customers are already talking about your product, solution or service and these are conversations happening all around. These conversations, discussions and activities clearly are leads. Some are direct leads and some are not.  Tracking and monitoring these conversations using #SocialMedia and other web analytical tools one can identify the prospects. There are various innovative ways and means to engage with your target audience - it could be initiating discussion or joining some groups or participating in forums in terms of adding value by providing useful and usable information. E.g #twitterchats #linkedin groups and #GoogleHangouts… Sales teams can effectively use these platforms to network and build professional relationships.

Require Special Skills:

Selling to these leads requires entirely different and unique skills. Knowing how to pull leads from the conversations that happen on various #socialmedia platforms requires some knowledge and practice. Direct sales & product pitch may not work here. Understanding the need of the prospect and communicating valuable information that would solve his/her problem would translate into lead or sale. The process may be little slow and intricate.  

Conclusion: Typically we have Face to Face sales teams and Inside Sales Team which predominately uses telephone and e-mails. In this digital age there is a definite need to equip the Inside sales team with all knowledge and expertise. Alternatively, identify people with #digital skills to sell. This new skill will definitely will add a lot of value in terms of identifying the potential customers and generating qualified leads.

PN: Some people may have the opinion that #digitlamedia activities are considered as a typical marketing manager’s job. Here I am trying to highlight how new age medium can contribute significantly to the 'sales process' and help Inside Sales and Field Sales Teams. Both marketing and sales need to work closely to achieve desired results.

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