Building a Digital Sales Culture

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to present at the Applied Net user group conference in Orlando. My topic was Building a Digital Sales Culture.

I, along with others, have talked quite a bit over the last few years about the changes in the buying behaviors of consumers. The digital consumer starts their search for information online. For example, 55% of people looking to purchase a new product start their search for information on Amazon. This buying behavior does carry over into insurance.

It is well established that an increasing percentage of consumers begin their search for information about insurance products and services online. A high proportion of these consumers want to talk to a person before they make a final purchase decision. And that is good news for insurance agents.

However, does your insurance agency sales culture embrace the different sales processes needed to engage and, ultimately, sell to this digital consumer?

What happens when the prospect finds you online and contacts your agency? What is your follow-up process if they fill out that form on your website? Do they receive the same experience they have come to expect in other digital channels?

This is where the concept of building a digital sales culture becomes necessary. If the agency sales process is not updated to include the digital channel, then the consumer experience will not be optimized, and they will buy from someone else.

How to Begin

Following are some ideas on how your organization can begin thinking about building a digital sales culture.

Understand the Customer Journey

The graphic below provides an overview of what I consider to be the perfect customer journey. The old marketing funnel has been replaced by this circle because anyone can enter at any point.

Prospect Management

This is the traditional Customer Relationship Management (CRM) process. Keeping track of information about prospects and clients is important so engagement can be customized for each person.

Mobile First

This is not about phones. It is about a mindset that understands people often (most of the time?) engage via mobile first. Are your follow-up processes built for mobile?

Facebook and LinkedIn Advertising

A vast untapped resource for both personal and business lead generation.

Opportunity Management

Being able to do a better job identifying which prospects have a higher potential for becoming clients.

Campaign Management

Creating an ongoing communication process that will keep you (and the agency) in front of those prospects that you want to work with but the time is not right. This “long-term wait” series could go on for years.

Marketing Automation

Allows you to track when someone clicks on a link in a newsletter, for example, and automatically modifies the follow-up process with customized and personalized information.

Results Management

Lets you know what is and is not working so you can adjust your time, effort, and resources to maximize your sales process.

Your agency is well positioned to help prospects with the products and services digital consumers want and need. When you transition your sales culture to recognize and embrace digital, your agency will be prepared to welcome the digital consumer with open arms.

How is your organization building a digital sales culture? Let me know in the Comments Section below.