COVID-19 destroyed normalcy throughout the world. Many communities are trying to adapt to the implication of this virus and the lockdown. The consequences on economic factors are clear now. However, if you are a sales personnel in the IT sector, the hurdles are more significant and complicated. Every element of your business changes, starting from how you should interact to how the demand changes with the bizarre shift in customer buying habits.
Shift to digital
Digital transactions are not new to the IT sector. However, COVID is now making it essential to rely mainly on digital. Digital channel-based sales doubled in numerous countries during the initial stages of this pandemic. The shift towards digital is not just about creating a digital presence via your website. You need to supply significant interactions for your customers via mobile apps, social media, online communities, etc.
Transparency
Transparency is now very critical. Explain in detail about what your brand can and cannot afford to do during this pandemic. The customers are currently working from home, in most cases. Or, in general, trying to avoid as much human contact as possible. Can you create products or offer alterations to keep social-distancing a priority? If so, advertise with that priority. It is best not to oversell or pretend as if COVID is not affecting your business style.
Speed your website
Global network usage is at a peak now. There is nothing an individual brand can do about global network usage. However, you can increase the speed of your site. If your site even takes an additional second to load, it would lead to a 7% decrease in conversion. Compress your photos and videos. Use CDN to optimize content. According to a study conducted by McKinsey & Company on B2B sales, 34% of the people leave a website if there were any technical glitches, and 36% disliked long ordering processes.
Phone and videoconferencing
By April 2020, 90% of the B2B business became phone or videoconference oriented. You should be able to accommodate such a platform to allow customers to engage. The efficiency to offer remote services would be a significant influence in closing deals.
Better email marketing
Every IT company is trying to turn COVID or working-from-home scenarios into their gold mine. There are numerous IT solutions to help businesses and individuals work from home, conduct video conferencing, entertainment software, and so on. If you do not try to create better marketing emails, your customers might not give a second to view your customer, as their inbox is already full of marketing messages. Use unique templates, create a caring message, advocate health, and hygiene methods, clear content format, etc.
Online events
Everything is now virtual. Are you planning to release new software? Do you have a complete ERP solution for working-from-home scenarios? Well, it is best to postpone everything at least to the end of the year. Or, you can go virtual. Online conferences and fairs are getting more popular. You can use social media to create a hype for your virtual release. It is a low-cost option, and you can attract a global audience, and offer free software trials for participants.
Panel discussions and support
Your IT products that are currently in the market needs constant support. It is time to think about being there for your customers. Create panel discussions where users can interact with top professionals or your support team to get quick troubleshooting tips. You can even offer video call based support solutions. Every single step towards making your customers’ life easier would pay you in sales numbers.
SEO
As an IT sector player, SEO is not something new to you. It is crucial to create an online presence and cash on it. Make your brand visible everywhere. Create content that would generate interest. You can backlink your content with other relevant sites. Research high-volume keywords, optimize images, create the sitemap, and use meta tags to become more prominent in the online community. Also, try to cover your base in LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and so on.
Buckle up for a global audience
Many countries are currently under strict lockdown, and many businesses are looking for alternatives, temporary and permanent. While most of the market sectors are plummeting, IT is growing. This demand can create a massive audience for companies, which can stand straight during these troubling times. If you want to increase your sales volume, it is time to go global. It is not just about creating websites and responsive pages. Your sales team should have cultural sensitivity, knowledge about alien environment requirements, and so on. The essential requirements for a video conference tool in India might not be the same in South Africa. Most of the high-technology companies were China-dependent, and it is time for them to move to other geographical areas. This change would increase demand.
Flexibility
Your business should be flexible to adapt to the current scenario. It includes flexibility or new options in payment models, offering alternative prices, changing the value chain to maintain safety, and collaborate. People fear job loss and stock market depression. Thus, long-term pricing packages might not be efficient.
Security
Security was never an understatement for IT solutions. However, today, more than 3/4th of the business is happening via online platforms, and thus, the amount of data shared via these channels is high. The data would vary from a simple status of work-in-progress to sensitive financial details. If you wish to create demand for your package, it is the right time to amp the security features.
You cannot expect the same demand for your pre-Corona products today. The requirements of customers are now on a new horizon. The need for cloud computing and technologies capable of handling a large workload is vital. People are looking for mobility solutions.
It is time to offer the right tools in collaboration with other features to create a proper work-from-home or business continuity solution. You should transform your business to digital and offer services beyond borders with high security. An elastic workforce with investments in AI-based customer behavior tracking will help your sales volume.
