Over the past few years, customer habits have changed rapidly to reflect the new normal that is working from home in your fanciest pair of sweatpants. More importantly, the average B2B customer has also transformed.
Millennials and Gen Z are taking over the workforce, and this younger generation prefers B2B purchases to flow more like B2C eCommerce. Accessible, straightforward omnichannel experiences are becoming an increasingly vital part of selling your product to appease these new buyers. There are many things a B2B marketer can learn from a good eCommerce marketing strategy; the eCommerce business model has just evolved.
So if you're reading this, it's a sign to ditch the telemarketing calls and finally roll up your digital sleeves to pull in those leads.
We will explore the top three reasons you must start selling online today. Plus, we'll share how to implement them for the best customer experience possible.
Your customers' expectations are changing.
Consider your customer profile may have undergone a makeover this past decade.
Millennials and Gen Z are taking the job market by storm, and a surprisingly high number of those millennials are now making major B2B purchasing decisions for their companies.
Gone are handwritten signatures and the meticulously penned Little Black Book. These modern customers have been plugged in all their lives, increasing the demand for streamlined digital sales experiences.
44% of your new millennial customers prefer to avoid interacting with sales reps entirely. Instead, you should deliver a seamless omnichannel experience right at their fingertips. This way, when they are ready to pull the trigger, their purchase is as intuitive as the click of a button.
Unlocking new revenue streams will scale your business
Take a moment to think about how much revenue you bring in through traditional channels. Now close your eyes and imagine the exponential business growth if you could double or even triple those streams.
Selling online can deliver that growth to you in a few months. The conventional methods are tried and true, but the internet can offer a practical and lucrative approach to expanding your revenue streams to places you never even dreamed of.
A. Sell online through your website.
You can appeal more easily to modern customers and choose unique products and services to sell through your online channels.
Selling through your website lets you have easy-to-understand information about your business at the click of a button. The moment your customers are ready to buy, nothing is getting in their way.
B. Hold digital events
For many B2B businesses, webinars and digital conventions are an excellent way to garner interest in your services and provide immediate value to potential customers.
The best part is that you can use all the online tools at your disposal to build those valuable relationships right away with customers worldwide.
C. Add a paywall for digital content
Once you've developed rapport and intrigue among your potential customers, it's time to give them a chance to add to that value. Provide the juicy details and good bits of your service behind a paywall.
Take The Copy Posse, for example. Alex Cattoni draws in potential students for her online copywriting course by offering online educational content. However, those who want to learn to apply her tips are prompted to purchase her online course to learn how to ignite their online business.
D. Start a subscription-based service
When you move your selling online, you can also implement a subscription pricing model. Customers will benefit from the ability to repurchase your software conveniently. Meanwhile, you can easily retain that revenue to help your business grow better every month.
Drive a more efficient buying process for your customers and team
Once upon a time, the Gilded Age of in-person sales interaction was upon us. Now, selling online makes the sales process more efficient for your customers and internal teams.
Contracts can finally be signed from miles away, and millions can be made by streamlining your process. Now, you and your team can quickly onboard more customers and save precious time to focus on growing your business together.
How To Get Started
Define your goals.
How would you like to see selling online change the game for your business? Whether you want to grow your revenue streams, attract more customers, or streamline your sales processes, defining your goals will guide your priorities.
Decide what to sell.
Whether you want to sell your entire product or move certain aspects of your business online, you must first decide what you want to sell and how to sell it.
For example, the tech company Apps Without Code sells online boot camps that provide immense value by teaching their customers app coding skills at the click of a button.
If you sell B2B products instead, online sales can open even more doors. For example, Plants Without Borders offers wholesale exotic plants to their online customers, with no trade shows or showrooms required.
No product is too big for B2B online sales, even if you sell something a bit heftier. Stone Products Unlimited, Inc. provides a streamlined buying experience for customers seeking trend-forward stone and tile for their home or business.
The infrastructure nonprofit American Concrete Pipe Association offers no digital or physical products. Instead, they use their online platform to sell tickets for their week-long Concrete Pipe Week event.
Decide how you will accept payments.
When you start selling online, you'll need a payment platform to bring it all together. While your Revenue Operations skills might only be limited, HubSpot offers a native payment system that streamlines the whole process.
Instead of cobbling together your payment data with other tools that don't talk with each other, HubSpot Payments are built together with the HubSpot CRM Platform and seamlessly integrate with the entire HubSpot Suite. HubSpot Payments allows you to grow by unlocking new revenue streams through online sales. You will get paid faster through digital payments and manage everything through your personalized all-in-one platform. Plus, you save your team time when your payment data flows flawlessly from one HubSpot tool to another. With HubSpot Payments, you can trigger automation for emails, onboarding documents, and beyond.
This means you can rest easy knowing that your customers undergo a seamless, easy payment process and their information is securely organized with the rest of your essential business data.
Start selling
Finally, once you have your goals, products, and payments in line, it's time to get out there and start selling!
Moving your purchasing process online can be intimidating at first, but you will soon fall in love with the time and energy you save to focus on bringing your business to new heights.
The reality is that the market is rapidly moving towards hybrid and digital sales models. Your business must move online today to keep up with your customers' quickly changing needs and get a leg up on your competitors.
If you're already online or starting to ease into the transition, try HubSpot Payments and the HubSpot Commerce Hub to make the process even smoother.
Your customers will thank you for the straightforward and secure checkout, and you will be thanking yourself once the revenue starts rolling in like magic from your online sales.
This post was created with the support and published with the permission of HubSpot.
