{"id":2678,"date":"2018-01-19T16:15:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T16:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=2678"},"modified":"2023-10-18T17:35:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T17:35:46","slug":"sales-teams-comfortable-e-commerce-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/ca\/blog\/sales-teams-comfortable-e-commerce-options\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Way To Make Sales Teams Comfortable With E-commerce Options"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It takes a lot more than a \u201cBuy Now!\u201d button to make customers move towards e-commerce, but there is little doubt the shift is under way.<\/p>\n

Just look at the rise of e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Rakuten, who have created massive changes in the way consumers purchase everything from books and clothes to groceries and even cars. In the consumer space, e-commerce brings convenience because it means people don\u2019t have to visit a physical store location to find and buy what they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n

Among business customers, some of the same advantages may apply, but there\u2019s an extra, critical factor to consider: the corporate sales team of the vendor selling to them.<\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019re a small or medium-sized business with only a few reps, e-commerce may look, at least at first, as an almost existential threat to the sales team. Forget about the fears of robots and artificial intelligence — if customers can click their way to a purchase, why would an organization need a sales team at all?<\/p>\n

Of course, there\u2019s a lot more to it than that, but as demand for e-commerce options make their way to B2B — and analyst firms such as Forrester suggest this is already the case<\/a> — it\u2019s best for firms to figure out their strategy now.<\/p>\n

In some organizations this starts with offering a commission or other incentive for sales reps who refer customers to buy via e-commerce. That may or may not work depending on your products, your culture and other factors. The advice you\u2019ll see here will work whether you opt to incentivize e-commerce sales or not.<\/p>\n

The good thing is that, if you\u2019re already using CRM tools such as Sales Cloud<\/a>, you may be better able to execute on that strategy once you\u2019re ready.<\/p>\n

Separate Commodity Vs. Solution Sales<\/h3>\n

Some B2B companies may only offer a handful of items for customers versus the hundreds or even thousands that a consumer brand has on its shelves or in its warehouses. If you think about what\u2019s involved in buying, say, a major appliance like a washing machine versus a scarf, \u201cclosing the sale\u201d is probably a little different in each case. After all, a scarf is a scarf — unless the customer wants a certain colour or fabric, it\u2019s a commodity item. Buying a washing machine, on the other hand, may involve a lot more research and questions to a sales associate standing in the appliances section of a department store.<\/p>\n

There are commodity items in B2B firms too, of course. In some cases these may be add-ons to the orders customers make when they decide on a larger purchase (details of which should be in your CRM), but companies may be in a position to sell more of them — and more often — if customers can do so via e-commerce. These are not where your sales team\u2019s talents are best put to use anyway.<\/p>\n

Instead, what is the equivalent of a washing machine in your product and service portfolio — where are your reps not merely selling an item but helping to solve a complex problem? Solution selling is where the best reps perform, and usually have the biggest profit margin — which of course means more commission for the rep.<\/p>\n

Even if you don\u2019t have anything you\u2019d call a commodify item, think about demo or trial versions of products that might only be available through a rep today, and think about how you could make them more accessible online as a pilot project.<\/p>\n

Use E-Commerce To Expand Into New Territory<\/h3>\n

Even if they\u2019re among the most highly productive quota-crushers, reps can only cover so much ground. There might be customers in geographies far beyond your typical borders, for instance, where e-commerce might be a way to reach them. In other cases there could be new vertical industries to grow your business, but you don\u2019t want to risk taking a rep away from existing accounts. If you\u2019re selling primarily to big businesses today, meanwhile, there could be additional revenue from smaller customers — but they might not be worth the extra time and attention that a dedicated rep could offer.<\/p>\n

In all of these areas, it\u2019s not just a matter of telling the sales team what\u2019s off-limits. Look for ways to leverage their knowledge, along with insights about what converts buyers from Sales Cloud, to shape the user experience you build into e-commerce tools. This could include everything from:<\/p>\n