The aspects of a traditional sales process cycle are present in an optimized web-driven model in their online form.
As you migrate to full implementation of a mature, optimized web-driven model, you should find that your costs to perform conventional sales are reduced since you gain leverage from the systems implemented for the web driven model. The web-driven model helps you reduce inefficiencies in your processes by automating and streamlining tasks that previously relied on human interaction.
This can be tough work, because it means you must think hard about the processes involved in moving a customer from inquiry to sale. The key, as with other best practices, is to start from your customer's perspective and work backward, crafting a solution that makes the logical sense for your business and requirements.
The most effective web-driven organizations rely on use-specific web properties, or microsites, not through their home page.
One hosting provider completed a restructuring of its value-added services microsite, expecting a considerable increase in sales revenue.
- The anticipated sales increase occurred
- But - surprise! The increase did not come from online sales
- Instead, the increased revenue came as a direct result of direct sales and partner sales teams having access to web-based tools, messaging, and consistent offers
- The web site and tools meant all sales agents were communicating the desired value proposition in a consistent manner, resulting in a unified front to customers
