Marketing. Sales. Dealers. When it comes to manufacturing, there are a lot of different players and a lot of moving parts. But at the end of the day, every experience should feel completely seamless and personalized for your customers.
Here’s where to start:
1. Better Digital Experience = Better Sales
Ecommerce and highly customized pricing and quoting (e.g., Salesforce CPQ) are changing the game for sales and channel managers. And when it comes to loyalty, mobile has made it easy for customers to switch from one manufacturer to another.
Focus on easy, intuitive interfaces and apps. Simplify. Think mobile-first. Because if you don’t deliver the best digital experience, your competitors will.
2. Maximizing Journeys & Personas
Not only do you need to understand what happens in the customer journey, you need to know why.
Personas will help your marketing and sales teams better understand your buyers’ needs. And they’ll give you a better lens for aligning everything from your tactics to your technology.
3. Content That Serves, Not Sells
While most of the sales process is becoming digital, it still needs to reinforce the human touch. Share relevant and inspired content, segmented by industries and products, across multiple channels. Tell a story. Make it personal, and make it easy to create user-generated content.
Help your customers and your channel partners educate each other about what you have to offer, using communities and social networks. Remember, everyone wants to be served – not sold.
4. Clear Business Outcomes
Even after you’ve defined the customer journey, that’s only half the battle. Mapping the buying process against your company’s processes and desired outcomes can be eye-opening, too, especially when they don’t match up. Find the gaps, and focus on your biggest opportunities.
5. More Automated Processes
Technology is key to scalability. Look for ways to automate routine tasks, so your marketing and sales teams can focus on what matters most.
Don’t be afraid to rethink traditional roles and responsibilities. For many companies, that means creating selling teams focused on key accounts, based on skills, talents and industry expertise. And by aligning around the customer, technologies like marketing automation, CRM and marketing intelligence tools can become your common platforms for collaboration, too.
Not sure where to begin? Let’s talk about it.
