THE FUTURE OF VIRTUAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Re-imagined Virtual Customer Experience

​A common phrase from many CEO’s over the last 20 years has been, “Everyone is in Sales!”

Today this needs to be re-imagined and re-written as, “Everyone is in Customer Experience!”

For most B2B companies the sales process is as old as their business
 
No need to spend too much time on this other than to outline what this has looked like for
many years
 
So let’s look at the most common model for sales, marketing, and customer support systems

Traditional Sales & Marketing Organizational Chart

​Original equipment manufacturers (OEM’s)
*Includes:

• Suppliers 
• Distributors                                                  
• Resellers

Sales:

• VP Sales, CSO 
• Sales manager(s) / Regional 
• Outside sales teams
• Sales engineers
• Inside salespeople 
• Customer service and warranty people 

Marketing:

• VP Marketing, CMO
• Marketing manager
• Marketing coordinators
• Graphics and or website personnel 
• Outsourced agency support

Technology companies
Sales:

• VP Sales, CSO 
• Sales manager
• Outside sales teams
• Sales engineers
• Inside salespeople
• Onboarding and customer service people
• Technical support 

Marketing:

• VP Marketing, CMO
• Digital marketing manager
• Content coordinators
• Lead or sales funnel qualifiers 
• Outside agency support often including marketing services such as PPC advertising

Service industries 
Sales:

• VP Sales, CSO 
• Sales manager
• Outside sales team
• Technical sales support
• Inside salespeople
• Customer service 
• Technical customer support (where applicable)

Marketing:

• VP Marketing, CMO
• Digital marketing manager
• Content and marketing coordinators
• Outsourced agency support often including marketing services such as PPC advertising

B2C / Retail 
Sales & Marketing:
​

• VP Sales & Marketing
• Retail salespeople directly communicating and working with end-user customers
• Customer service and support 
• Outsourced website support often including marketing services such as PPC advertising 

Virtual Customer Centric Organizational Chart

So what’s the problem? ​

The Customer Journey has radically changed from analog to digital, “Absolutely everything is now done Online” 

These old traditional models no longer support or follow today’s customer journey 

You see, all of these models assume that new customers were found and developed. This was done by disruptive advertising, push marketing and to some extent, pay per click advertising depending on the industry.

This completely ignores the fact that customers are no longer “Found”

Today, customers find you!  (*assuming you have a strong online presence allowing google to bring you up on page 1)

They do this by researching online by simply googling either verbally or in text whatever they are searching for

The evidence to support this is everywhere but here are a few key examples:

•  https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/02/14/the-customer-journey-then-and-now/#1b17d3d83f41 
  

• https://www.modernmarketingpartners.com/2014/04/16/7-types-of-marketing-organization-structures/  

• https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/leading-and-governing-the-customer-centric-organization  

• https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/global-surveys-of-consumer-sentiment-during-the-coronavirus-crisis

​So, what does this mean and how does it impact an organizational chart?

Well, things have changed as we can now communicate with customers who are actually interested in our products or services and we can do so in real-time. 

So let’s try this on: (*Sales & Marketing become one / Virtual Business Development)

• VP of Virtual Business Development
• Virtual Business Development Manager (s)
• Brand Managers (s)
• Customer experience manager
• Customer experience representative
• Virtual Customer experience representative
• Virtual Customer experience representative
• Virtual Customer support 

You will note that two distinct silo’s (departments) of traditional companies have now become “1” team all with one focused goal. 

“AMAZING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE!”

Does this mean that some positions will disappear? Yes, however, the number of positions required to now communicate with customers virtually in real-time has greatly increased!

What’s the most efficient number of front line Customer Experience Representatives? 

Every industry is different but it comes down to how many customers can one person manage so that ALL customers receive amazing service in real-time. 

Add to this the inflow of new customers from all online sources and the time required to create an amazing experience for each and you begin to get the picture.

​​

Virtual Customer Service

 Now, how to do this? "Digital Transformation" 

First, you must break all your old habits which have been part of your business model since inception.
​

• Begin and complete a full Digital Transformation accross your organization

 

• Far fewer trade shows, (perhaps none) or external events unless they can be proven to provide exceptional customer value and or provide a platform for new product introductions

 

• No need for traditional outside salespeople. Now to be replaced with more in-house or virtual customer experience representatives

 

• No need for separate Sales & Marketing silo’s or departments 

 

• All positions become customer-centric, even yours!

 

• All communication is online in real-time

 

• Very little if any email

 

• Much more focus on online events, demonstrations, and experiences

 

• Retooling for all customer-facing positions in order to function in this new world.

 

• In-person meetings are still important! But now where they add to the customer experience and not just because we have always done it this way!

This is a simple example of how you can re-imagine your team based on your customer’s actual journey in 2020 post-pandemic and beyond.

As you can see your customers are now number “1” across every area we have addressed and you now have much closer relationships with all of them.

This is not to say that customers were not already number “1”, it’s to say that we need to communicate where they are and not where they used to be...

Online customer recommendations, referrals, testimonials and customer reviews will now build more sales for you than any advertisement or PPC campaign alone ever could. 

What are you missing? 

The decision to catch up  with the 21st century customer experience and sales growth!!

We look forward to creating an amazing experience for your customers by helping you and your organization re-imagine the

“Future of Virtual Business Development”

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