6 Steps To A Digital Selling Strategy That Works

Digital selling works.

In fact, B2B companies now expect a seamless digital sales experience, with studies revealing 70 - 80% of B2B decision-makers prefer remote human interactions and digital self-service over traditional sales reps. 

The Covid-19 pandemic certainly helped fuel this digital-first mentality, as buyers and sellers had no choice but to go online. 

Here’s what I really find interesting, though:

Only 20% of B2B buyers want to go back to in-person sales. 

As businesses increasingly turn to digital platforms to engage with suppliers, so too must your sales team. 

Many B2B businesses have yet to develop a clear digital sales strategy — and, as a result, are missing out on opportunities to sell to customers where they already engage and transact. 

If you want to succeed in today’s increasingly digital landscape, you need a digital selling strategy that works. So, let’s explore how to do exactly that.

In this article, I’ll explain the six steps to a smart digital selling strategy so you can convert more customers with ease. Let’s jump in. 

Why digital sales matter

Do you already have a digital marketing strategy? Excellent!

Whether through paid ads, content marketing, or SEO, attracting and engaging your target audience online is an intelligent first step to growing your business. 

There’s only one problem..

Most businesses stop here.

What happens when traffic lands on your website? How do you guide these digital leads through the buyer’s journey so that they convert into customers? And what about your outbound sales strategy — are you using the proper accounts-based marketing to close high-value clients?

This is why you need a digital sales strategy. 

When you embrace a digital selling strategy, you start to connect with prospects more efficiently — and close more deals, too. 

Six steps to a digital sales strategy that works

Digital sales still requires a human touch.

However, with the right tips and tools, you can start interacting with prospects where they’re already engaging to provide an elevated sales experience. 

Let’s take a look at how to create a winning digital selling strategy today. 

1. Align your digital marketing and sales teams 

Is your sales team siloed from marketing? It’s time to get both teams together. 

Marketing and sales must work collectively to ensure a seamless message — from initial encounter with your brand through to the final sale.

When your digital marketing and sales team realise they’re working together, they’ll better meet and communicate the customer’s needs. That means a more consistent brand experience for your prospects — and more sales and revenue for you. 

Pro tip: Integrate sales and marketing with a well-defined set of shared KPIs.

2. Help sales understand your marketing flywheel

Are you familiar with the term marketing flywheel?  First introduced by Hubspot co-founder Brian Halligan, marketing flywheels are a new way to look at the relationship between marketing/sales and how buyers interact with your brand.

I’ve written a complete guide to marketing flywheels here. 

Here’s what I want you to know right now: Your digital sales teams must understand how prospects interact with your business at each stage of the funnel (or flywheel.) 

When they use this information to inform their digital selling strategy, your sales message stays aligned with your brand goals and feels natural to your prospects. 

Better yet, your digital sales team will better understand the buyer’s psychology — and be able to adjust their sales strategy accordingly. 

3. Meet prospects at each stage of their buyer’s journey

Just as your digital sales team must understand each element of your marketing flywheel, so too should they consider where the prospect is at on their buyer’s journey. 

When your digital sales strategists understand your customer’s changing needs at each Buyer’s Journey stage, they can speak directly to the prospect’s pain points and successfully overcome objectives. 

Think about which platforms your prospects are using at each stage of their journey, too. Many B2B digital sales teams make a beeline for LinkedIn. Often, this is a fantastic resource — but only if it’s where your target customer is spending time. 

With a bit of technology and a dash of ingenuity, your sales team can research which digital platforms your prospects are using at different touchpoints in their journey. 

4. Rethink your sales-enablement strategy

Sales enablement is just as it sounds: the process of providing your digital sales team with the resources they need to convert prospects with ease. 

These resources could include content, tools, or marketing materials — whatever information they can use to more effectively sell your product. 

The best sales enablement strategies align sales with the customer’s preferred engagement channels. 

Focus your sales enablement strategy on the buyer’s journey (not just the product), so you can equip your digital sales team with the customer-first orientation they need to succeed.

5. Don’t overlook Accounts-Based Marketing (ABM)

So far, we’ve talked about how digital sales strategy can work with marketing to convert inbound leads into revenue. 

I’d be remiss not to mention the second element of a successful digital sales strategy: Accounts-Based Marketing (ABM.)

Is there a large account that you’d love to support — a dream business you know you could help, that would also provide substantial revenue to your company? 

With an ABM campaign, your digital sales team uses personalised messaging to engage with and close specific accounts. Thanks to digital tools and technology, it’s never been easier to target and sell into high-value larger accounts. 

Again, the key to a successful ABM campaign? Marketing and sales alignment. 

6. Use digital tools to track and analyse results

The smartest digital sales strategists harness the power of data to understand how prospects are interacting with their sales funnel. Then, they make tweaks to their selling strategies to streamline conversions. 

The digital tools your business uses will depend on the platforms you utilise. However, Google Analytics and a good CRM tool can offer prolific information on brand engagement and drop-off points. 

Listen…

Business-to-business companies that embrace a digital selling strategy will be the ones to succeed in today’s increasingly technology-driven world. 

So, are you ready to fast-track your success and improve your customer’s experience, too?