B2B eCommerce: Getting Sales on Your Side

This article from Professor U is sponsored by our partners at ProfitOptics.

Let’s talk about the link between eCommerce and business operations and why it’s so critical to look beyond your eCommerce goals when you implement your new solutions. Part V of my eCommerce Operations Series.

So, now we’re traipsing slightly outside of traditional Operations, but I think of this part as a “twofer”–kind of where Sales and Operations meet–so you can hit a real sweet spot with two important constituent groups!

Have you talked to your sales force, or are you avoiding them?

I know when I first jumped into the B2B eCommerce landscape and had a sales force to contend with, I was frankly both frustrated and intimidated. They felt I was encroaching on their territory, and since they got commissions on any sales through my channel, I really didn’t understand why they were so resistant to eCommerce.

I didn’t feel like I should have to run everything by them (I’m an independent sort of human), and they felt like I was messing with their strategy. And I don’t know if you have ever had an interaction with a sales rep that feels like you have “crossed” them (even inadvertently), but it can be a little scary!

It turns out that avoiding Sales never works. I mean, if you think about it, it’s literally their job to keep pushing and pushing until they meet their goal. The best plan is to meet them head on, and figure out how to join forces to fix administrative issues and make their lives better.

This way, they become eCommerce adapters and even supporters rather than detractors. Plus, if you partner with them, you actually bring that whole omni channel concept to real life, and it’s not just a fancy word–it actually works (or add in some other little tag-on at the end of this sentence to balance out the “it’s not just a fancy word” statement–something like “it’s actually great” or whatever reaches that effect).

How do you start?

Read more about how we solved a lot of these problems with our eCommerce solutions by downloading the eBook here.