Business-to-Business Internet Marketing, Fourth Edition - Lifecycle ...

Selling on the Internet 287
Internet telephony offers one intriguing way to take advantage of
sales force selling. Technologies that integrate telephony with the Web
make it possible for telesales representatives to intercede during a
prospect’s Web session and assist the prospect by answering questions
immediately. The technology is still in its early stage, but more and more
sites are incorporating Call Me buttons and other forms of Internet
telephony. As a result, it may not be long before online ordering is enhanced
with live voice support.
The Internet-enhanced sales force selling model can also facilitate
the traditional sales call. A salesperson could walk into a prospect’s
office and make a sales presentation that was absolutely guaranteed to
be consistently the same, anywhere in the world, regardless of that
salesperson’s personal knowledge base. That could happen by adapting
a Web-based presentation, such as an online seminar, for the specific
selling situation.
After an online seminar is created, it can be captured and modified
for any salesperson to use. Loaded onto a notebook computer and called
up locally through a Web browser, the seminar becomes an interactive
sales presentation. The salesperson has instant access to it, without the
need for an Internet connection. The salesperson can lead a prospect
through a personalized one-to-one presentation, and the company has
the assurance that the selling message is uniform and consistent. By
connecting the notebook computer to a projection device, the salesperson
can make the interactive presentation to many individuals at a single
prospect or customer location.
Similarly, while in a prospect’s office, the salesperson could access
the company Web site or a private intranet or extranet to inform and
educate the prospect and facilitate the sales process. If the prospect is
ready to buy, contracts and product ordering information could be available
to the salesperson over the Web. The salesperson could even place
an order and receive an instant electronic acknowledgment from the
company—all while sitting right in the prospect’s office.
Regardless of the selling model, Internet-enhanced order generation
can have a dramatic beneficial impact on your sales process. You can
either augment the way you sell products and services with the Internet
or transition to the Internet and eventually replace your existing selling
model with an Internet selling model.
The way you approach it is up to you, but whatever you decide,
generating orders through the Internet is already offering significant