Building relationships and building trust with prospects is critical to sales teams and to business development¹. However, since the health crisis, 53% of retail professionals highlight difficulties in reaching this essential point. What if digital technology was the key to relationships and trust?
The sales profession: a paradigm shift
Following the current economic, health, climate, leadership and social justice crises, customers are increasingly connected, digitally informed, mobile, autonomous and demanding. Digital-first behavior has become the norm. In these upheavals, where there is also an increasingly thin distinction between private and professional life, customers are asking businesses to adapt. Companies then ask their sales teams to adapt... through new digital prospecting tools and a commercial posture in line with changing customer needs. These same sales teams must also be aligned with the new sales channels that are social networks, artificial intelligence, which is changing marketing as much as it facilitates commercial prospecting, and with the challenges of virtualizing business through the metaverse.
Artificial intelligence, big data and commercial prospecting
The use of AI and Big Data is now as widespread as it is fruitful: Google uses them to keep store opening hours up to date, Hubspot to update contact information, Evercontact automatically extracts contacts from emails and updates its customers' CRM automatically. Artificial intelligence backed by big data also contributes to the analysis and better understanding of the needs of prospects, by automatically identifying their intentions. For example, Cloudura identifies prospects by analyzing their feelings with artificial intelligence.
Medical data
The digital imperative: a moment of truth?
It is then up to companies to implement innovative processes and to prove to sales teams the additional gains induced by their technological choices. This is not self-evident: CRM took nearly ten years to prove its undeniable effectiveness and yet still contested by salespeople used to making cold calls, presentations and proposals. However, the The digital transformation of teams is now more than effective and it must be exploited by sales departments and their field teams to respond to market changes.. As the world adapts and evolves, the challenges that emerge can, and should, be a source of opportunity, ingenuity, and innovation.
In his 2021 survey 2, the SNITEM is committed to defining what will be the evolution of the Medical Device Sales profession. One of the expected qualities is:
“Strong appetite for Digital and digital tools (remote interaction, digital products, virtual product demonstrations, call centers, online sales platform, digital delivery solution)”
“Business intelligence” at the service of prospecting for the future
“Business Intelligence” makes it possible to exploit all the information from digital media to target the right prospect at the right time. “Sales Intelligence” is a set oftools and methods thanks to which the salesperson can better exploit all the data from the digital media that constitute Big Data (press, social networks, blogs, etc.), to detect the signals that will make it possible to contact the right target at the right time. To acquire new customers and develop their turnover, salespeople must innovate and focus on digital technology.
From “Business intelligence” ” To Smart Data
An ideal complement to CRM, “Business Intelligence” offers the ability to use the company's internal data and also to enrich it with external sources for more relevance in the actions carried out. It can increase the number of leads and their quality, so efforts can be focused on Right people, at the right time, using the right arguments. “Business Intelligence” thus consists in offering the best offer to each prospect. With “Business Intelligence”, the Transition between Big Data and Smart Data : the quality of the data is still more important than the quantity.
In no way is it subject to dehumanizing the relationship! On the contrary: commercial intelligence makes it possible to humanize sales and to engage with prospects in personalized relationships to gain commercial efficiency. Empathy and taking into account the expectations, problems and individual needs of customers are as essential as offering a connected and easy to use experience.
[1] https://www.journaldunet.com/ebusiness/crm-marketing/1496683-entreprises-comment-optimiser-sa-prospection-en-2021-avec-la-sales-intelligence/
[2] OPCO2i/Metallurgy Observatory - Evolution of the Sales profession in the Medical Device sector - October 4, 2021- SNITEM
