How to Impact Buyers Through a Digital Selling Experience

Navigating the New Digital Selling Landscape

Sales has changed over the last ten years, and 2020 alone was a catalyst for the industry as a whole. No more in-person meetings, no more handshakes, no more conference room discussions, or sales on the road. Last year marked the metamorphosis of B2B sales into digital selling, devoid of face-to-face time and full of “FaceTime.”

But you already knew that. You’ve been in the middle of the disruption, poised to handle the transition in whatever way works. However, for many sellers, selling via Zoom has proven to be a difficult task. Buyers are hard to contact, they’re hard to read, and keeping them engaged has added to the compounding frustration. 

Although things are slowly reverting to normal, what’s here to stay is digital selling. 

So what is digital selling? How is its stronghold over sales changing modern outbound? And, how can we create a digital selling experience that empowers buyers? Along with that, what’s a digital selling experience? 

That’s a lot of questions, but thankfully, we have a lot of answers.

What is Digital Selling?

A completely digital or virtual sales process. 

A completely digital sale is not a new process or concept for many inside sellers or SaaS companies.

With the blow-up of sales technology, social selling, and quality of virtual meetings, virtual note-takers, and virtual demos, a completely digital sale isn’t impossible on any level. Data shows that B2B sales are becoming increasingly digital, with some analysts predicting that nearly a fifth of all B2B sales will be through virtual means by 2023. However, the higher the dollar value, the more difficult it becomes.

Digital selling is a different kind of art that needs to be perfected. It needs to take the intimate and humanistic approach of in-person or face-to-face and infuse those tactics and attitude throughout the engagement. That’s where a digital selling experience comes in.

What is a Digital Experience?

A buyer’s online journey to finding the right solution and how they interact with Sales digitally and virtually. 

An effective and high-converting sales process or methodology used to be about ease and speed for the seller. Now it’s about ease and speed for the buyer.According to Gartner, by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between sellers and buyers will occur in digital channels (The Future of Sales, 2020). However, it’s also very likely that many industries and organizations are already there, and many more will get to 80% before 2025 if this research was compiled pre- or during-COVID.

Creating a Digital Selling Experience

The digital selling experience today can be, in short, a bit rocky and very dull.

You could be having the same conversations and selling the same product that you were just a year ago, but buyers are now uninterested or unengaged. 

Think about how many meetings you have today — for your buyers, they have just as many, and you’re just one of the many. But, this doesn’t mean your job is over as a seller. You just need to step up your game and put yourself in your buyer’s shoes. 

What would you want from a salesperson or potential partner to help you overcome your meeting fatigue? Go into your meetings as focused as you would if the meeting was in person, give information to prospects freely and regularly, and actively build a relationship with them. Leverage these strategies to ensure their engagement and make your product or service a priority over the 20 others they have on your plate.

Four Tips for Creating Impactful Digital Selling Experiences

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Removing Friction Without Removing Sales

In 2020, more than half the homes purchased in the US were found by the buyer online or through a real estate app. 

Buyers want the power, they want autonomy in their journey, and they want to move through the cycle as smoothly as possible. 

There’s a terrifying statistic floating around that 44% of millennial buyers prefer no sales rep interaction at all in their purchasing journey.

But we also know that the majority of B2B sales need a conversation to convert buyers into customers. That’s to say that the digital selling experience is not about digitizing your sales funnel and process to eliminate sellers. It’s about digitizing most of your interactions with buyers to create a frictionless, self-guided journey led by you. 

This comes back to an earlier point: humanizing digital selling to make it an enjoyable experience. While half of the input needs to create exciting and engaging meetings, the other half comes before the meeting even begins. Keeping your buyers warm before the first interaction is ideal for ensuring that both sides have what they need before clicking into the Zoom meeting.

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There are a couple of different ways you can do that. You can send them a personalized video to get the conversation going, or you can email a relevant article or piece of content to validate a point or counter a potential objection. You can also send them a link to a webinar or podcast covering topics you’ve already talked about. Whatever you send them to ignite their interest, make sure it adds value to the experience. 

Value is king in creating a digital selling experience. It shows your buyers that you’re going to give them everything they need to propel themselves through the cycle. Remember: buyers are looking for a partner and a guide through their digital buying journey with you.

Make an Impact in Every Digital Selling Experience

The future of B2B sales is grounded in a digital selling landscape, and it’s your job as a salesperson to make an impact at every touchpoint with your buyers. Keeping your buyers engaged, delivering value, and guiding them through the journey without friction are essential for creating a digital selling experience. 

Skaled’s Modern Outbound Playbook (The Digital Selling Experience Edition) explores the ins and outs of digital selling. From effective ways to create an exceptional experience to best practices for creating unique and interactive outbound plays, we map out the essential elements of successful modern sales.

Download your copy today and start creating impactful digital selling experiences.