Today, business growth cannot be expected without an omnichannel strategy, where omnichannel means being present in all the channels that are used by customers. This is why it is so important to put the customer at the center of the strategy in order to achieve personalized activations that optimize efficiency and results. In this article, we will look at the sales channels most used by industrial companies.
In order to design the value proposition, it must be taken into account that all these elements have to be integrated into a single and coherent message. According to Michael Etzel Stanton, the factors to be taken into account when defining the mix are:
Target market: Willingness to buy, geographic spread, type of customer and market concentration.
The nature of the product: unit value, the level of customization, pre-sales, and customer service.
Product stage: Novelty, awareness, competition, and the product life cycle.
Funds Available: Arbitrary, Percentage of sales, Competitive parity, Targets, and tasks.
As our society is hyper-communicated, messages are often not delivered through a single channel. For this reason, it is proposed to generate an omnichannel strategy.
Value proposition strategies
Before going into detail on each of the channels, it is important to consider the different strategies of the value proposition, which can be the two basic strategies for developing the promotion mix: push and pull.
Push strategy: Push is developed through the channel to "push" the product to the end user. Pull, on the other hand, has higher costs because it is developed at the level of end users so that they ask for the product from the channel. Communication from the manufacturer to the channel and from the channel to the end user. This communication is generated when manufacturers or the channel direct their promotion directly to other intermediaries in the distribution chain. This form of communication is mainly used through personal sales and e-commerce promotions. This strategy is widely used in industrial markets, mainly for undifferentiated products that do not have an important brand strength or where the price is the only variable at the time of purchase.
Pull strategy: Communication from the manufacturer to the end user. In this case, the focus is on the end user, to motivate them to order the product from the channel. It is usually carried out through advertising and promotions aimed at the end user.
In many cases, a mixed strategy may be needed, such as in the case of new products, when the end user must be informed of their existence and benefits. Intermediaries also need to be convinced to work with it and make the initial purchase. Therefore, both push and pull are crucial in this introductory stage. Always start with the push so that when the end user goes looking for the product, they can find it.
Despite what kind of strategy you will implement, here is a list of the sales channels most used in industrial markets: asynchronous selling, face-to-face selling
1. Asynchronous selling
The use of asynchronous selling is born with the use of technology that allows selling through different channels that do not require human interaction. This remote selling is being widely used since the pandemic forced the digitization of these processes. One of the success factors of asynchronous selling is to have an up-to-date database and to define it with a series of attributes to create groups according to different criteria. The segmentation of the databases is basically done by historical purchasing behavior, assessing future purchasing capacity, and by characteristics or activities registered in a technological platform.
The conversion rate is one of the most important metrics in asynchronous sales campaigns. These values represent the percentage of customers who responded affirmatively to the campaign proposal. This response rate will depend on the correct classification of the database and the sending of communication appropriate to the profile of each person. A widely used method is RFM:
Purchase latency: time elapsed since the customer's last purchase.
Frequency of purchase: Average number of purchases you have made since the start.
Monetary Value: Average monetary value of purchases.
Asynchronous selling can be a very effective tool in industrial markets because there are often long buying cycles. To create such a campaign, you must have a database that allows for the segmentation necessary to meet the campaign objectives. If you are running a campaign for a product line, or a product launch, you need to target the customers who buy those products. This information can be easily obtained by analyzing historical customer purchases.
2. Face-to-face selling
Face-to-face selling is a form of personal, two-way communication through a company representative. This term is defined in various ways, some of which are listed below:
To transfer ownership of one's property to someone else for an agreed price. To expose or offer goods or merchandise to the public for those who want to buy them.
To sacrifice to interest something that has no material value. To sell one's honor, justice. To fail in one's faith, trust or friendship that one owes to another.
Inadvertently saying or doing something that reveals what you want to keep hidden. To attribute to oneself a status or quality that one does not have.
As can be seen from the definitions above, the term has many unfavorable connotations. For this reason, it is of utmost importance to define a strategy and structure, the sales structure can be classified as follows:
Territorial: Each salesperson is assigned an exclusive geographical area to market the entire product line.
By product: Salespeople specialize in selling a group of products or lines of the company.
By customer: The sales force is divided by customer type or sector.
3. Telemarketing
Telemarketing can be used as a sales tool to attract new customers, contact existing customers, determine customer satisfaction or increase sales. The main benefit of this tool is the possibility of interaction and personal contact. This tool can be very effective, depending on how it is used. In the following, some issues are presented and two basic concepts that must be taken into account for a successful telemarketing strategy are developed:
4. Trade fair marketing
One of the areas suitable for PR is trade fairs and exhibitions. Trade fair marketing is a good way to promote new products, make new contacts, renew old ones, generate important sales, reward customers, motivate salespeople and reinforce brand image.
Considering the related national and international trade fairs widely used in industrial markets, they can be divided into the following groups:
The professional ones can be specialized in a certain field or be general, but they are designed for the professional working in the sector. A meeting point is generated between the different participants in the commercialization and installation channel, but they are not aimed at the end user. Technical or commercial training talks given by the exhibitors may be held.
As for the general ones, they have a larger number of visitors than the professional ones because, in addition to professionals, the general public attends.
Likewise, the professional ones can be subdivided into horizontal/vertical ones, depending on whether they are aimed at one or different industrial sub-sectors. Finally, both professional and general trade fairs are divided into international, national, and regional, depending on the origin of the visitors.
Participation in trade fairs and exhibitions is a widely used tool nowadays and is considered fundamental in industrial marketing. However, its cost per impact is very high in relation to other marketing instruments and it must be taken into account that not all types of trade fairs are equally effective.
If we focus on the relational nature of trade fairs, we can see how trade fairs allow face-to-face communication with the customer that goes beyond direct sales. They also allow the visitor to compare the competitive offer available.
Objectives of trade fair participation
Aid the purchasing decision.
Establish and maintain contacts with other companies.
Obtain information on other products and products and technologies.
Search for and compare new suppliers.
Access new product development ideas.
Promote products to a professional audience.
Retain and build the loyalty of existing customers.
Promote cross-selling of products.
Knowing the business reality and the competitive position of the company.
Encourage the introduction of new products.
Development of new markets.
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