5 digital techniques for improving your sales effectiveness
Need to grow your pool business? Find out how to use the latest information and communication technology for attracting more customers.
All businesses share three basic concerns: growth, profitability, and long-term viability. Those in the swimming pool and health spa sector are no exception to this rule! But what’s the best way to use the latest information and communication technology for attracting more customers? Improve your sales effectiveness with Salah-Eddine Benzakour, specialist in marketing and digital transformation of businesses, who held a dedicated conference on the subject at the Piscine Global Europe 2022 trade show.
The importance of getting things in the “right order”
Which of these three do you think a business should give priority to:
- sales canvassing?
- converting prospective customers to active customers?
- securing customer loyalty?
If you answered “1” then you need to set things straight: that’s what comes last, because the urgency lies in winning over sales prospects who have already shown interest, stresses Salah-Eddine Benzakour. To quantify this transformation and define your objectives, just count how many quotations you issue and how many come back signed—and set your target for that ratio!
1. Put your customer database to work
In Europe, the GDPR regulations have dampened the ardor of many a business since they came into effect. But you shouldn’t forget that you still have every right to contact customers who have already bought from you! You can send them e-mails telling them about a new pool cleaning robot or a software update for a home automation system.
“Companies in the swimming pool business don’t send enough e-mails. There’s no point leaving your customer database snoozing in the corner of an Excel file. Make what they call "kiss calls", a brief word to keep the relation warm, to mention a new product, etc. Even if your customer database contains 3-year-old data!” insists Salah-Eddine Benzakour.
2. Be quicker at sending quotations
How long do you take to send out a quotation to a potential customer? 24 hours? Three days? MORE? Well that’s just enough time to let the client change their mind or look for the competitor who’s more responsive than you.
By using the latest technologies, you can issue quotations automatically—even very complex ones—according to Salah-Eddine’s experience with the Zoho Forms digital solution. No more spending hours putting a quotation together: all the models are already there in the tool and you can hand the quotation directly to the customer during the preliminary visit to their work site. What better way of getting off to a good start and seeing a big increase in customer satisfaction!
3. Get involved in e-commerce
In 2000, French e-commerce amounted to 0.7 billion euros. By 2022, the figure was 147 billion euros. No, you can’t sell a swimming pool construction project online nor the installation of a heat pump in a communal swimming pool. But at least being able to offer related products and services, like for example a cleaning robot, water treatment products, or even an hour of maintenance via WhatsApp, paves the way to customer action and increases your turnover without too much effort. There are some easy solutions out there for creating an online storefront, for example Shopify.
4. Develop an ambassador program
And what if you offered discounts to your clientele for recommending your company’s products? That’s what enables Salah-Eddine to set up the Smile.io service in companies. The principle is simple: convert your new customers to loyal customers. A technique that’s easy to implement and complements the work of your sales team.
How to use your customers’ reviews to boost your pool business
5. Gain visibility on social media
Social media provide an excellent opportunity to reach more potential customers and stay in touch with your current customer base. They cost nothing unless you decide to sponsor publications or get into target advertising. But if you are going to roll out a Social Media strategy, you need to do a bit of self-appraisal:
- what do you want to share
- what does your audience expect
- what are your objectives
- what are your available means
To find out much more on the use of social media as a swimming pool and health spa business, look to our dedicated guide!
Watch the conference “Digital technology: an opportunity for the business model of tomorrow”
For Salah-Eddine Benzakour, improving your sales effectiveness must without any shadow of a doubt involve your digital transformation. It’s up to you to choose what you think are the wisest solutions with respect to your own business!
© Photo credit: xyz+ / Adobe Stock
