Social Sales
December 04 2009 by Jeannette Cezanne ~ View CommentsThe last few years have witnessed a dramatic and even revolutionary shift in communications, brought to us via both the internet and the rapid increase in usage of mobile devices. And the old sales paradigms just don’t work in this new arena.
It used to be that a salesperson could represent him or herself as an expert in the marketplace: “I know your needs, and this is what you must have to meet them.” Fairly simple and straightforward. And consumers trusted salespeople and advertisers to tell them what they needed, when they needed it, and how much they should pay for it. Cynical? You bet … but also true.
What started via the internet and then exploded through the use of mobile devices is a rise in the trust accorded by consumers to their peers, as opposed to trusting some outside authority. Suddenly data is available—data from people that they trust—about the whole cycle of involvement with a given company, from sales through customer support through product/service quality.
This data changes how consumers want to relate to companies. It’s not enough for the sales experience to be positive; consumers want to know everything about what their experience with the company as a whole is likely to be. So it’s more and more important for companies to make sure that customer support is at least as good as—if not better than—the initial sales experience. Otherwise, word travels at the speed of … mobile devices!
Personal attention to every customer, treating every customer as if she were the only customer … these are best practices that may have slipped by the wayside, but are more important than ever now to maintain. It’s what we at eWayDirect have always done.
Time for the rest of the business world to catch up!
Related posts:
