Hardwood Floors August/September 2018

Preparing Flooring Salespeople FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

The flooring and construction industry is steeped in tradition – and it has served the community well so far. Market and Markets’ Flooring Markets Report said that the flooring market was valued at $324.26 billion in 2017 and is projected to reach $447.74 billion by 2023. The industry has proven resilient through times of economic uncertainty and has managed to create demand for more innovative flooring and construction solutions. But it is now faced with a different type of challenge – digital transformation. This process is best understood as the implementation of new technologies to accelerate sales, productivity, and ultimately, the growth of the business from end to end. It applies across the production, manufacturing, and operations departments, and also in the sales and customer experience departments, too.

Customers are becoming more and more educated and technologically empowered. This means that they can move faster and do more research than ever before; they’ve often made up their mind on what they’d like to buy before they even engage with a salesperson. Consequently, companies must be able to match them in their agility and digital prowess at every stage of the buying journey. Enhanced day-to-day insight and productivity is crucial to maximizing the opportunities that exist within the flooring industry. When you first start delving into the world of new technology, it can feel overwhelming. Let’s take a look at some of the key technology trends that will be key to achieving digital transformation success.

Data-driven technology Maintaining and building relationships with current clients is crucial to growing a business. A study from sales-i looked at the major problems and obstacles for salespeople, and it revealed that only six percent of salespeople rely on their gut instinct alone to drive decision-making, by comparison to 40 percent who use the data they have on existing accounts as a guide. Bearing this in mind, consider the strength of a strategy that combines customer knowledge, instinct, and data analysis. Data analytics and reporting capabilities, which are o en built into Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Business Intelligence (BI) systems, can keep track of customer

need a data scientist on hand to analyze and explain the raw data; instead, user- friendly visualization will help them process and interpret the information with simple clarity. Automation Our research showed that 17 percent of salespeople ba le with manual data entry, 9.5 percent use outdated spreadsheets for reporting and analysis, and six percent feel inadequately prepared for sales meetings. Allocating time and employees to manage these tasks is an archaic and ine cient use of resources. In the modern business environment, many so ware applications already use task bots to automate data entry, reporting, and the collation of information for meetings.

buying pa erns and identify any up- or cross-selling opportunities. is supports greater visibility into market trends and allows salespeople to personalize their e orts for enhanced results. e right data eliminates the need for guesswork or cold-calls. No time is wasted on trying to ll in the gaps; sales teams know what their customers need and when they need it. For example, salespeople can be noti ed if there’s a sudden dip in spending. at way, they can call the customer in good time and resolve any issues that may have occurred. As data analytics become more sophisticated, the easier it is to share and understand insights. In today’s world, sales and marketing teams don’t

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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