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Why distributors are an essential cog in every manufacturer's wheel

Industrial manufacturing is a defined and specific field of operation. There aren't many choices when it comes to getting the product into the marketplace. The merits of adopting a direct selling model are always a temptation, but multiple challenges emerge (in most cases, stemming from the complexity of supply-chain management). To avoid the pitfalls, manufacturers instead opt to sell their products through traditional distribution channels. 

Comprehensive real-time solutions in the construction industry are more connected to automated sales enablement (SE) techniques than anyone can imagine. The surprising thing is that building, although not a sale in the conventional sense requires owner satisfaction for a signed-off completion - and hopefully participation in future projects. Project consultants (PCs) and General Contractors (GCs) working under pressure understand that SE methodology vitally affects modern developments.

Value messaging is a concept that lies at the root of every effective sales enablement platform. In the quest to empower modern sellers in a competitive environment, the focus rests on the sales process – step by vital step. The pundits say that if you look after each pivotal stage en route, the closing of the deal will look after itself.

Sales enablement (SE) as we know it today was never a mainstream corporate activity.  It hovered in a twilight zone, wedged somewhere into a conglomeration of diverse departmental activities. For example, marketing claimed messaging and lead generation as its own; Sales jealously guarded deal flow & process, and HR felt that team cohesion was its responsibility. 

Automated Sales Enablement without communication freezes up. Communication, in turn, needs a message like a song needs a tune. The essence of a message lies in its content, and compelling content can shift sentiments in a few words. Put it all together, and content enables sales if its on-point, but unfortunately disables it if not. Content is the key to engaging new customers and holding onto existing ones.  

In the 2015 Forbes Report - The Power of Enablement - an intensive research study determined that the most successful enterprises depend on communications prioritizing thoughtful content as a sales momentum energizer for outstanding achievement.

 
Artificial Intelligence (AI), aligned with voice recognition capability, empowers modern sellers with an awesome strategic tool, particularly in the enhancement of CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Indeed, it’s conceivably one of the master keys to selling smarter - with bigger, faster, and smoother sales volume. Many AI proponents sing its praises – how it saves sales reps time and money; how it increases their forecasting accuracy, how it has an aura of driving a more efficient and effective sales team.

 
There are no two ways about it; successful sales enablement centers on integrating marketing and sales to deliver fast, enduring, and penetrating results. More specifically, marketing has a core responsibility to provide qualified leads to the sales division, and at the same time elevate the brands. It’s expansive role demands exerting sales-driven energy across all the relevant functions and understanding the sales processes at work.

 
Big Data as a limitation on SME sales enablement

If you are a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) the chances are you haven’t connected to the new business revelation known popularly as Sales Enablement or SE. Principals in the SME category sit on the belief that artificial intelligence (AI) and automated platforms like SE are hugely dependent on big data. If this is your starting point, then yes, it’s easy to dismiss SMEs’ SE participation as insignificant: factually only 23% of all business entities have a plan built around big data, and SME is indeed only a minute portion of that 23%. However, there’s truly quite a lot of latitude for SME to immerse itself in SE activity – despite obvious Big Data limitations.

 
What is AI?

Modern AI has attracted an enormous amount of attention in the 21^st century – and with it a huge load of controversy. Ask a few random people what AI means to them and the likely answers will include visions of machines taking over totally from humans, all the way over to robots totally taking over the world. Terminator comes to life. 

What C2C media are we talking about?

WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter are household social media names in the C2C communication arena that have grown prolifically in the last 10 years. They’re traditionally loaded with emotional content that’s most often free-spirited and fun-filled. The Internet carries social media conversations between friends, family, and acquaintances in multiple directions, with previously unheard of speed and intensity (measured in seconds). These channels have opened our eyes to a new world where the ins and outs of intimates from our past and present, living across international borders, are condensed down to village size familiarity.