In consumer goods companies such as paints, building construction, electric equipment, etc. consumers are looking for some advice before making their intent about what products to go for. There is too much technicality involved and consumers don’t feel well-equipped for decision-making. Since these purchases are high ticket items and are planned purchases in nature, companies utilize a network of influencers – we can visualize them as similar to subject matter experts who can match different products to their requirements and provide customers with assurance on their purchase. Some examples of such influencers are painters, masons, carpenters, architects and electricians who massively influence the brand and product choice of the end-customer.
This becomes both challenge and an opportunity for a brand to engage with their influencer network in a way for them to get leads, act on the leads passed to them and convert customers by offering them reward & training programs along with various community events organized for them.
Companies normally handle the first level of leads through their app/website and try to qualify the intention of customers in the initial stages by helping them choose digitally. For example, Asian paints utilize its Design and color app by giving the option of customers to explore different colors, color visualizer & paint budget calculator. They capture customer intent and then pass this lead to their territory team to provide offline assistance in terms of localized consultation. Depending on the size of the lead – Either the sales team / Influencer / Contractor visits the site and consults the customer on product specifications, costing, time, and quantity.
The flow of leads is not only from the company’s end. Leads are brought into the system sometimes from contractors, Influencers such as painters / Electricians themselves or Dealer gets a lead. So to effectively manage these top-down and bottom-up leads – All stakeholders like Dealers, Influencers / Sales teams have to work together for an effective conversion and delivery realization.
This is where technology can help consumer goods companies, let’s have a look at what are the important aspects to lead management:
- Lead Aggregation Mechanism: There needs to be an aggregation of all leads passing through different workflows and transferring to different stakeholders depending on the type of lead, size of the lead, and approvals required to quote prices and delivery timelines. The product deployed for lead management should have configurable transparent approval workflows required for different types of leads based on different field team structures.
- Pin Code-based Routing: A routing mechanism for all leads coming into the system needs to be in place. For every lead depending on territory cuts – someone from the sales team, manager, dealer, and contractor, whichever is required needs to be mapped and notified. This entire process can be automated to work at scale and have full pipeline visibility.
- Zero Drop Nudging Mechanism: Any digital tool that the field sales team is using needs to intelligently nudge the field team to further engage at any stage required from lead inflow to final sales realization.
- Collaboration between Stakeholders: Sales rep has to work with influencers and dealers to close a lead – the product should be collaborative in nature for transparent visibility at each stage. Sales reps should have an option of scheduling influencer & site visits along with their pre-defined schedule of Dealer visits. This helps in keeping influencers and dealers informed sales team’s actions.
- Sellout tracking from Dealer: There needs to be sellout tracking with verification in terms of the authenticity of a reported sellout as there are rewards linked to sellouts both for influencers as well as dealers.
BeatRoute with its workflow on lead management and an integrated approach to influencer management takes care of these important product-side requirements. To know more about how you can increase conversion rate by engaging the sales team, Influencers, and dealers with a fast turnaround, please get in touch for a quick demo.
