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The Sales Rep Metamorphosis: From Order-Taker to Strategic Partner

November 3, 2015 No Comments

Featured article by Oren Ezra, CMO, Pepperi

As technological innovations continue to make advances, machines will increasingly replace people’s jobs. This development isn’t news, and this isn’t the first time technology has streamlined processes. Countless production lines have been replaced by machines performing identical tasks, with more precision and efficiency.

Earlier this year, Forrester analyst Andy Hoar predicted that by 2020, 1 million of the U.S.’s 4.5 million B2B salespeople will have lost their jobs due to the growing adoption of B2B e-commerce. Hoar terms this trend “The Death of a (B2B) Salesman” – and those most affected will be the salespeople operating in the highly transactional world of wholesale and distribution. Simply put, if a salespeople’s only role is order taking, chances are technology will replace them.

But, is there a way that technology – in this case, field sales automation tools – can support, and even transform the role of sales reps into value-adding assets to their companies?

It is true the role of sales reps is changing; however, technology can actually help them become more versatile in their positions. Utilizing sales automation tools means that reps spend less time pushing paper, less time dealing with order processing, and make fewer errors. A wonderful byproduct of error-reduction is happier customers.

And so, bolstered by sales automation tools, sales reps can be elevated from performing a repetitive transactional role to providing new, strategic value to their company. Sales reps will have the capacity to engage in many new tasks, including business development, new customer acquisition, and even marketing.

A company such as OGI Eyewear, which manufactures and sells its branded eyewear portfolio to retail optical and independent optical stores worldwide, equips its sales force with mobile tools featuring geo-location services and complete customer data to locate prospective clients in a specific area, ramping up new customer acquisition using a data-driven approach.

Beyond business development and new customer acquisition, the role of the sales rep can be augmented to include in-store retail merchandising. Reps can perform shelf-display audits of the company’s product lines, take in-store photos, perform stock taking, collect competitive data, as well as capture feedback on new product introductions via structured customer surveys. This data represents a goldmine of information for product and brand managers as they strive to “win on the shelf”.

Sales reps can also serve as marketing’s “field sensors” to increase the level of campaign personalization directed toward their customers. Sales reps have the best understanding of their customers’ demands, preferences, and wants. They can work with marketing to devise and refine campaigns that target the specific needs of their customers. These targeted campaigns will increase customer engagement, ultimately leading to higher sales from future sales rep visits, as well as from the self-service B2B e-commerce channel.

In fact, B2B salespeople can be rewarded for increasing the adoption of B2B self-service e-commerce sites by their customers. Sales reps can resolve customer issues and questions related to the online store while onsite and spend time training those buyers that are struggling with self-service ordering. By doing so, customers can complete smaller orders (which may not be worth the trip for a sales rep) from the comfort of their home, office, or even the store floor, provided that a mobile e-commerce tool is available. A win-win for the business, customer, and sales rep.

Will sales reps lose jobs as a result of advancements in technology? Absolutely. But sales reps provided with the right tools can transition from the role of order-taking to becoming strategic members of both the sales and marketing teams, broadening the customer base, improving the customer experience, and raising the profile of the brand in the eyes of buyers and prospective customers.

Oren Ezra

Oren Ezra is the CMO of Pepperi, the mobile sales suite for brands and wholesalers. Oren has over 20 years of experience in all aspects of B2B marketing, product management and professional services. He has held marketing and product leadership positions at start-ups, young IPO up-starts and well-established software giants. In his role at Pepperi, Oren has learned what works in marketing and sales for some of the most well-known brands in the world.

 

 

 

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