The pandemic has shown what sales and distribution look like when salespeople have to stay outside and customers are not (physically) allowed in. It will (hopefully) soon be a thing of the past. Even if the view into the future is still blurred, one thing becomes clear about Online Sales Power 21: a lot will be different. Sustainably different. The sales power itself was also different, as Uwe Tännler and Paul David Becker emphasized in their greeting to the participants. The astonishment then sounded that 80 percent of all conferences are currently taking place online. Prof. Dr. Markus Schögel, who moderated the conference and left no doubt that radical and lasting changes in sales and distribution are pending.
What changes? The opinion of the speakers:
- The form of selling has changed during the pandemic, like Dr. Martin Baumüller von Geberit emphasized in his presentation. Physical sales will not simply go away, but digital sales will catch up even more, as customers have built up trust in online buying and have experienced its benefits over a longer period of time. This opinion was also shared by the participants in Online Sales Power, as a survey showed: Only 30 percent were of the opinion that sales in the future will primarily be physical, in contrast to 70 percent who are convinced that it will primarily take place digitally. Accordingly, optimal customer service should not just be a project, but become an attitude, like a speaker and successful author Sabine Huebner stressed.
- The shift in interaction channels to remote selling, hybrid selling and multi-channel was the topic of Prof. Dr. Christian Schmitz from the Ruhr University Bochum. Sales representatives will still need it, because not all customers sit at their PCs or are very familiar with the technology.
- Platforms have become important, stresses Klaus Hengstmann. CRM systems are becoming more and more important for sales. Marketing / sales automation, social media, sales engagement / listening will have a strong influence on sales in the future.
- Samuel Vonrüti Vitra is convinced that the pandemic has accelerated the question of how and where we work, keyword home office.
- And Dr. Stefan Fraude von Digitec Galaxus sees lasting effects of the pandemic in the increased use of eCommerce channels.
What remains of the Sales Power 21?
The positive impression that a handshake is not possible at an online conference, but that a lot is learned and experienced: Old-school sales will not simply disappear, but there will be new tools, channels and processes, the salespeople of the future have to integrate into their job description. The Sales Power 21 itself was a good exercise because the online interaction brings technical know-how and routine. The event’s innovative online platform offered a wide range of opportunities to maintain contacts. The professional studio and the presentations, which alternately focused on the speakers and the content of the lectures, were very positive. Experiencing the Sales Power Online was a rewarding experience for the participants with many new insights into the future of sales. The next events of the Swiss Marketing Forum, the Sales Excellence Award in November and the Marketing Tag am 19. August, will take place face-to-face again.
The Swiss Marketing Forum (SMF)
The Swiss Marketing Forum (SMF) is a leading real and digital broker of up-to-date, practical sales and marketing know-how. With its economically relevant events, forums and platforms, the SMF networks marketing specialists and creates sustainable business relationships. Network expansion, concentrated further training for internal sales and marketing specialists, “best practices” for overcoming internal challenges, innovative ideas and new solution approaches are all highly valued by the SMF. The forum is the organizer of the Marketing Day and the Sales Power conference and has more than ten years of experience in conference organization.
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