Multi-Level Contacting and Its Importance in Sales
Internal Stakeholders from a Sales Perspective
Salespeople are often asked: “Do you know this customer?” While a salesperson may know the company, this familiarity is often limited to just one or a few individuals. Modern sales, however, require that knowledge of the company’s services is widely known among different stakeholders within the customer company. According to research, on average, up to seven people in a customer company participate in decision-making, and in Finland, this number is often 4-6 people.
Why Is This Important?
People change jobs, so the customer relationship must be secured on multiple levels. This way, the departure of one key person does not jeopardize the entire customer relationship. Additionally, products have many benefits that are important to different stakeholders: procurement values low prices and good availability, occupational safety values the latest safety features, the worksite values productivity, and the CEO values overall productivity.
Every positively thinking person in the customer company can play a crucial role. Therefore, it is important to be courteous to everyone during a company visit, starting from the reception.
Data Storage and Usage
Information must be collected in a customer development plan, whether on graph paper, Excel, or Salesforce. The most important thing is that the information is stored within the company. When a salesperson changes roles or leaves the company, it is important that the company has a clear picture of the things done and agreed upon with customers. Ideally, the salesperson involves their company’s experts in different sales phases, such as logistics, sustainability, and occupational safety.
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Omnichannel Marketing
Omnichannel marketing means a multi-channel approach. The company should consider what is the best model for them. Simply updating the system will not ultimately change the sales development trajectory.
How to Proceed?
You can investigate things yourself or acquire expertise either by hiring or purchasing services, during which guidelines are created for the areas of multichannel and multi-level sales and marketing. Often, developing one’s understanding together with external expertise is the most effective solution for achieving quick results.
The author is an engineer with work experience in sales and marketing since 1990. Extensive experience in information technology dates back to programming hobbies in the 1980s. The first customer projects in the 1990s, such as websites and FTP servers in business development, represented cutting-edge technology. According to the author’s experience, nothing has changed. Even then, leveraging technology was seen as a challenge, but sufficient understanding of the subject area and the right partners were a functional combination.