Digital transformation has created an entirely new set of expectations and demands for B2B and B2C sales. Regardless of how simple or complex your sales flowchart is, ultimately, the sales experience itself has become just as critical as the quality of the goods being sold. Buyers just don’t have the patience to accept a less than stellar customer experience, and thus, the burden is on you to master the art of modern selling. Welcome to the world of mass personalization, where everything you do must be specifically targeted to each individual customer.
Ready to get started? Before you transform your customer experience, it’s important to have a clear understanding of what both your buyers and sales teams need and expect from this modern, digital sales cycle.
What buyers want
Your customers want an easy way to discover, select, customize, order, and receive their goods, and they expect an intuitive, efficient user experience that provides them with easy-to-find, relevant information.
Make buyers happy with:
- Comparison tools that empower them to run different product option and purchasing scenarios
- Access to critical data from past orders, current availability of items of interest, exact pricing based on customized feature selection, and accurate delivery windows
- Custom, personalized recommendations and notifications pushed out to them during the discovery process
- 3D renderings to help them visualize their custom products
- A streamlined buying experience using digital signatures
- Systems that are always available, on any device platform they choose
What sellers want (and need) to serve buyers
The ultimate goal for every sales organization is the same — a continuous, successful, and efficient sales cycle.
Really, the needs of the seller aren’t significantly different from those of the buyer. Both want easy access to the information most relevant to them, and both want the sales cycle to move quickly and easily. However, the seller also needs access to critical information and analysis about buyer behavior. Things like historical data analysis, sales analytics, and accurate real-time information help to provide valuable insights into individual buying patterns. Access to buyer behavior analytics is the key to providing personalized service and strengthening customer relationships.
Designing a buying/selling eco-system that provides a truly customized experience
In terms of technical capabilities, successful buying and selling eco-systems need to provide:
- Mobile platforms
- Self-service tools
- Real time data shared across multiple systems
- Business intelligence and analytics
- Up-to-date notifications during the entire sales process
- Automated workflows
- Configuration & pricing engines
- Document generators
- Security and audit capabilities
- Product data management
All of this can be accomplished using Configure, Price, and Quote (CPQ) software, like Oracle CPQ Cloud or Salesforce CPQ. A great CPQ solution helps you to create a superior cross-device user experience, benefits multiple departments at the same time (while increasing efficiency), shortens the sales cycle, and makes for a satisfied buyer.
Want to learn more about what CPQ can do for you? Go here to learn more, download one of our case studies, or contact us directly to learn more about Keste’s CPQ expertise.
