Pertinent points concerning selling and marketing in the online environment are raised in a recent feature from ModernSelling.com - a consultancy providing selling and sales management advice to the sales profession.
Customer empowerment
The demands of the web environment are forcing the disciplines of marketing and sales to adapt, and both are being forced to contend with a switch in the balance of power away from sellers to buyers - a situation brought sharply into focus by the current tough business climate. These pressures have resulted in marketing and sales becoming more customer-centric and converging in focus. Both of these are described as positive trends, according to ‘Modern Selling'.
Teamwork
In a global environment that is currently dominated by coalitions and talk of teamwork, the advantages of working as a team are clearly visible - as was notably shown in the successes and failures of the 2010 World Cup. The same concept of teamwork increasingly applies to marketing and sales, particularly in an IT / web dominated environment.
Prospecting
Boundaries between traditional sales and marketing roles are also blurring, not least in their approach to prospecting for sales leads. Again, with regards this convergence of roles, it is the customer who is driving the process - because increasingly they have a genuine choice and the information available to make that choice.
Although tensions between the marketing and sales functions inevitably rise when the going gets tough, there are excellent online tools available to smooth out those tensions - specifically with reference to prospecting for new clients. This is where Prospectvision steps in - its unique Behavioral Inference Engine (BIE) enabling the conversion of anonymous website visitors into qualified sales leads.
All about people
In summary, sales and marketing is ‘all about people', with new technology enabling much better identification, targeting and communication with prospective customers. This technology, which is driving the new customer focus, is driving a more collaborative approach between sales and marketing. The staff of both disciplines will have to learn subtly new approaches and skills while they work out how to communicate with each other and, more importantly, engage with the customer.
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