Sales Force: Communicating Better in the Digital Age [2/2]

This article is the second part of a reflection on the evolution of our communication methods. Transformed by new digital uses, these communication tools are real opportunities when it comes to more effectively engaging your sales force.

Used wisely, digital is a powerful performance lever. In terms of communication, it notably enables:

• Increase interactions
• Build stronger connections
• Drive engagement
• Foster a sense of belonging
• Awaken collective intelligence
• Unleash creative expression
• Foster innovation

How can sales departments today seize this opportunity to maximize efficiency within their sales forces? Today, there is a multitude of tools available to organizations to digitize internal communication. Each organization will have to find the balance that suits it between “classic” internal communication tools and these new tools: a focus on the essentials.

Email: The World’s Primary Communication Tool

First, with nearly 215 billion emails exchanged daily, it is the planet’s primary communication tool. It’s impossible to talk about internal communication without mentioning it. Email is a great tool when it comes to transmitting formal information or sending important documents. However, email is now saturated: our inboxes are overflowing! A recurring and widespread problem that often causes your teams to lose time and energy. Ask yourself what internal communication would look like if it allowed you to save this precious time for your sales representatives to use elsewhere. (Or, how to free up valuable sales time)

How to reduce excessive demands on your sales force? Initially, this involves better management of email sending: limit the number of people in copy to only those truly concerned and regularly clear out unnecessary emails. But above all, you must choose the right tool depending on the message, and take advantage of the alternative means at your disposal: instant messaging, collaborative workspaces, phone, and discussion forums.

Engaging your sales force to build loyalty

Instant Messaging: Increase Efficiency

On the other hand, the daily issues and urgencies related to your sales force require much more fluid communication: instant messaging completely frees itself from the formal constraints of email. The message is more direct and the tone more informal. This makes it an easier and faster mode of communication than email. If during a client meeting, one of your sales representatives wants you to validate a commercial operation that a client has just mentioned, the feedback can now be immediate.

Already widely used in the private sphere, it is now entering the professional sphere. As a result, there is a significant gain in time and fluidity in exchanges. This promotes better information transmission at all levels of the organization.

Discussion Forums: Create Real Communities!

Finally, discussion forums, such as those offered by the Incenteev solution, break down organizational silos and revolutionize the geometry of internal communication: from a vertical, top-down communication to an upward, participatory, and transversal communication. More than just communication, you break down barriers to exchange and create real communities. Unleash creative thinking and awaken collective intelligence! Indeed, what is the value of an idea never expressed? Give your teams more informal means of interaction. Introduce mechanisms that allow them to express their ideas and provide quick feedback. This will establish a climate of trust and emulation conducive to greater mutual aid and creativity.

What are your strengths for effectively communicating with your sales force? Have you already implemented a new digital tool within your sales team? What was the feedback from your sales representatives? Feel free to share your experience of better communication with your sales force.

Other articles that might interest you:

• Sales Management: Is Santa Claus the Perfect Sales Director?
• Sales Performance: how to Communicate Better Digitally (3/4)
• Sales Engagement: How to Motivate Without Relying on Bonuses?
• Sales Force Management: 10 Mistakes for a Sales Director to Avoid
• “AI cannot substitute managers.” – an exclusive expert interview