Digital channels override the physical sales meetings based on the IBM CxO study done during 2013.
I believe this change will also happen in the manufacturing and steel industry within the next 3-5 years. In manufacturing industry, sales process and interactions have been dominated by physical customers meetings. However, I believe role of digital channels will become more evident through:
- Informative and interactive company web pages
- eCommerce – transactions, eFinance, marketing, promotions, training
- Process automation e.g. orders, invoicing
- Social media – companies look for peer-to-peer support
- Channel management
- Industrial design processes
IBM conducted over 4,000 face-to-face C-suite interviews during 2013. “The Customer-activated Enterprise – Insights from the Global C-suite Study.”