PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
It’s (not) different in our industry!
The case for digitalisation of the sales process in a traditional B2B world
Steve Knapp and Rob Taylor Co-founders, Plan. Grow. Do.
‘So... is face to face selling dead?’ ‘Yes... ’
Arms folded, eyes roll, a physical shift in comfort as we introduce the concept of digital in one of the more traditional industries. We accept digital in our supply chain, in our product development, in the efficiencies it brings our operations – but sales? It will never work...
What do we mean by digital? It’s important to highlight early that when we say digital we do not leap in to the world of the dreaded social media. Without doubt, social media is a key ingredient of successful digitalisation adoption but you must see social media as one part of the wider digital world and not digital in itself.
Consider here your own buying habits. What does that look like? Think for a moment about your last considered purchase; a holiday, a car, a new piece of machinery or travel arrangements for the conference you are attending. Ask yourself, what did you do to research, compare, identify risk and validate your assumptions and decisions?
From Google, to websites, to reviews platforms, to social media, to chat bots to WhatsApp to research papers and how to guides – all of this is digital. And whilst digital weaves itself seamlessly in to the more traditional – phone, site visits, face to face, when it comes time for the use of those traditional engagements ask yourself how much better informed
you are at the point of meeting than you perhaps might have been 10 years ago. Yet when it comes to our own business and our own industry we revert to our own objections and comfort, in reality to hide our own uncertainty about the platforms which are becoming so dominant. You might here yourself saying things like
“It’s different in our industry” “That’ll never work here” “We’re a bespoke solution, our sales reps need to showcase our experience” “Our buyers buy off spec, digital doesn’t matter to us”
Let’s explore the art of the possible here and consider just for a moment if our customers are buying like I buy things, then what gaps exist to help the buyer validate, research, inform and educate their own problem, and how might our insistence on selling how we’ve always sold actually be hindering a move to a more digital and customer focussed environment?
But what does all this mean for the lubricants industry?
Whilst digital may have creeped in to the industry slower perhaps than other sectors, there is no denying that digital can and does play a part in the sales process simply because your buyers are more digitally native now. In a global market where face to face isn’t needed, required or indeed wanted as it once was, it is incumbent on the business that wanted
Continued on page 40 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.173 FEBRUARY 2023 39
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