Most FMCG sales managers usually use external teamwork communications apps, like MS Teams, internally within their organisations. But why not make use of that valuable technology to connect with retail customers, too? There is an apparent reason. It will help you visit the stores virtually when your time, frequency, and coverage are limited or when the lockdown continues making your sales force temporarily home-office workers.
Infrequent contact with retailers carries the danger of slowing down your sales. It may cause a minor impact on the POS, little feedback on what is going on in-store and unexploited selling potential. How to avoid it? The best option to mitigate or prevent harm arising from the situation is to complement face-to-face sales representatives’ visits at the POS with digital interactions with retailers.
Enable virtual sales visits at the POS
Having access to digital technology and appropriate retail execution tools, you can complete traditional sales methods or even replace the brick-and-mortar calls with a virtual sales visit at the POS. It helps you continually stay in touch with the POSs and react respectively when needed, no matter how often your field employees can visit a customer. You can also replace the brick-and-mortar calls in some critical cases, like a temporary lack of ability to physically meet with store’s employees. It is also a good solution when your resources are limited and you do not cover all the points of sales with your field representatives in a given area; you can then reach some of the new customers digitally.
How to include virtual sales visit in your sales strategy?
One of the most efficient options is combining your current sales tools with the teamwork communications apps’ capability, like MS Teams. Such an application offers you easy access to functionalities like chat, meetings, video conferencing, calling and content collaboration. What is essential, you can include it in both the Retail Execution solution (available on your sales representatives’ mobile devices) and Customer Engagement Portal (which the stores’ personnel can easily access on their smartphones or tablets).
Growing visiting opportunities in FMCG sales
Here are your current possibilities regarding the visit execution at retail customers, taking into account both an offline and online mode:
- Traditional face-to-face visits of your mobile staff at the POS using the Sales Force Automation solution. It is necessary to build close relationships with the most important clients based on direct personal contacts.
- A hybrid model including both traditional face-to-face sales calls and virtual POS visits (realised via a communication app) fully integrated into your Omnichannel platform. It is a perfect option when you want to serve more customers effectively, combining personal and online interactions.
- Virtual POS visits using only a communication app, e.g. MS Teams, fully integrated with your sales support application. A good choice when many countries worldwide continue a full or partial lockdown due to the ongoing pandemic.
Inspiring?
Learn more about Omnichannel for FMCG by Asseco, which includes a set of solutions for sales excellence in the consumer goods industry. The platform allows you to bring your offline FMCG sales processes and digital cooperation with business partners and retailers.
