How to Select the Best Sales Channels for Success as a Sales Manager

As a sales manager, you are tasked with ensuring your company thrives and achieves its goals. To do so, you must understand the different sales channels available to reach prospects, as this will be crucial to execute on your sales strategy. As we’ll see below, not all sales channels are created equal. In other words, some are better than others when it comes to ensuring success as a sales team. This article will discuss the pros and cons of various sales channels so that you can make an informed decision about which ones work best for your company.

Online Sales Channels

As the first type of sales channels discussed in this article, online sales channels are the portals and websites through which you sell. While these channels are very important for many businesses, the best sales managers know that they need to supplement them with other methods. After all, in some industries even the best salespeople will generate no sales when only relying on the web. Indeed, there are industries (any complex product or service) where only about 20% of all sales come from online channels. As such, you can’t rely on them exclusively to reach prospects and close sales. At the same time, these channels still represent an important part of your sales strategy. Thus, the first step in selecting the best sales channels is to evaluate online sales channels. You can start by asking yourself some questions:

• What products and/or services does your target audience use online?
• What websites do they visit most often?
• What platforms do they spend the most time on?

And so on. By answering these questions, you can develop a better understanding of your target audience. With that knowledge in hand, you can better select the best sales channels for your company.

Offline Sales Channels

While some of the best sales channels are online, many sales still take place offline. Specifically, sales of complex products or services, which require demonstration, have a multi-step approval process (enterprise sales) and that therefore require things such as face-to-face meetings, trade shows, conventions, etc. These offline sales channels are the most important for those industries, although the online channels play a role at the top of the funnel. To a certain extent, this will depend on the size of your target audience. Thus, if your main focus is on SMB or Enterprise customers, as stated above, offline channels can play a key role in your strategy. As the most basic sales channel type, the best methods for selling offline revolve around selling your products or services face-to-face. While you can use social media to connect with customers, you should avoid using it as your primary sales channel. After all, you want to be the face of your company not its voice.

B2B Networks

As the next type of sales channels discussed in this article, B2B networks are designed for selling to business-to-business (B2B) customers. Specifically, these sales channels are designed for sales teams who want to sell their products and/or services to other businesses.

B2B networks can take many forms, including online communities, software platforms, etc. The benefit of using these types of sales channels is that they are specifically designed for selling to other companies. At the same time, they are typically more expensive to use than B2C sales channels.

The best sales managers know that they cannot rely solely on B2B networks to generate business. Instead, they should complement B2B networks and online sales channels with offline sales channels to ensure success as a sales team.

B2C Networks

The final type of sales channels discussed in this article, B2C networks, are designed for selling to consumers. Specifically, these sales channels are designed for sales teams who want to sell their products and/or services to consumers. As the name suggests, B2C sales channels are designed for selling to consumers. This type of sales channel is typically more cost-effective than B2B sales channels, however, it is also more limited.

Unlike B2B sales channels, which are designed for business-to-business transactions, B2C sales channels are specifically designed for consumer transactions. That said, the best sales managers know that the effectiveness of these types of sales channels is not guaranteed. In other words, a sound sales strategy requires a multi-channel approach.

Trade Shows and Conferences

The final sales channel type discussed in this article is trade shows and conferences. While it is important to attend these types of sales events, it is relatively rare that you will generate a sale at a conference (unless a customer meeting there represents the last step of a funnel process started long ago). After all, attendees are not necessarily ready to buy. Instead, they are more focused on exploring new products and services.

At the same time, trade shows are often the best channels for a company’s lead generation. Specifically, these sales events offer a great opportunity for salespeople to meet with prospects and build relationships with decision-makers, thus building the top of your sales funnel. Trade shows and conferences are useful for building relationships with prospects, however, you must understand that it is difficult to generate sales at these events.

Customer Service and Chatting Platforms

The final sales channel type discussed in this article is customer service and chatting platforms. While they are often not thought of as sales channels, they are really a mixed bag of communications mediums that if managed well, can become a lead generation engine.

They were borne out of the need to communicate with customers, manage and resolve their concerns and issues, and are meant to build a relationship with customers over time. But in reality, they can also generate leads, and serve as a sales channel too.

Conclusion

Finding the best sales channels for your business can be difficult. After all, not all types of sales channels are created equal. The best way to ensure success is to pick the channels that work best for your company. Ultimately, this will depend on the type of products and/or services you offer.