Black Friday is around the corner and marks the start of the shopping season. Zahra Jivá, Director of Global Sales Strategy at Pipedrive, gives tips on how businesses should prepare for the most awaited season of the year to build and strengthen relationships with new and existing customers.

All over the world, Black Friday represents an opportunity for businesses to leverage sales at attractive prices and for customers to make that desired purchase without their pockets taking a hit. But how can companies take advantage of this opportunity to retain customers and increase the chances of new purchases beyond the date? Zahra Jivá, Director of Global Sales Strategy at Pipedrive, provides insights on how to benefit from the shopping event long-term.

Build trust ahead of the date

Jivá recommends creating a trustworthy relationship with customers already before Black Friday. To sell successfully, it is necessary to understand the actual needs of customers. Based on existing data, it is possible to determine the appropriate product, optimal sales strategy and digital channels that are most convenient for a particular customer.

“Establishing trust is key to success in the sales process. If a potential customer interested in buying the product has the trust to buy from you, the chance of purchasing during Black Friday increases significantly. So be relevant but not intrusive. Prioritize channels best suited to your audience, keep it updated, and make yourself available. Also, don’t forget about after-sales as this helps build a foundation for fostering trust in the relationship and encourage loyalty,” explains Jivá.

The power of data unlocks new opportunities

As expected, Black Friday increases the volume of sales. The more you know about your customers' behavior, the better you can plan the most appropriate sales tools to support each phase of the process. If you know the people looking at your products well, businesses can solve an actual problem for their customers.

“Choosing and setting up key performance indicators and establishing benchmarks from existing data sources will help you stay focused on metrics that matter. Additionally, collecting qualitative data reveals customers’ motivations, attitudes and pain points beyond hard numbers and demographics, providing relevant insights that marketing and sales teams haven’t considered. Understanding the touchpoints that work for the business and adapting to the changed needs of the customers help leverage the sales success and keep traction beyond any shopping event,” says Jivá.

Adopt the right technology to keep up with the sales

Data from Pipedrive's State of Sales and Marketing report shows that sales professionals who adopted the technology and automated their sales and marketing tasks were 16% more likely to achieve their sales targets. They were also 22% more likely to be satisfied with the available tools.

“From the business perspective, Black Friday is all about managing many tasks within a short period. If a lot of time is spent on administrative tasks, there might not be enough time to sell. Using the right CRM and automation features increase productivity and help avoid jumping from task to ask, creating a more efficient workflow. Additionally, this allows you to organize your day better and concentrate on what matters the most - prioritizing selling activities and building meaningful relationships with customers,” advises Jivá.

Mastering the science of sales communication is key to success

Data and technology are essential to help build customer loyalty and improve communication. Setting up and monitoring key metrics help to understand in which stage of the purchase the customer is, if there are any obstacles hindering the sale and what kind of adjustments should be made to improve the customer journey.

"Communication is a key piece that involves a huge range of possibilities. What are the appropriate channels to serve that customer? What are the best means and times to reach the potential buyer? Social networks, telephones, WhatsApp? The right answer revolves around customer behavior. Events like Black Friday serve as an imaginary sales pitch for the rest of the year. Once the merchant builds a meaningful dialogue with the customer, the higher the chances that people will return to make another purchase,” explains Jivá.

Black Friday is just the beginning

Planning Black Friday holds a huge business opportunity. The goal should not be attracting as many customers as possible for one shopping day but to create a loyal community who will return to make new purchases. This can never happen in a single day. Black Friday should be seen as a kick-off event of the shopping season and beyond, not the grand finale of a single sales journey.

About Pipedrive

Founded in 2010, Pipedrive is the global sales-first CRM and intelligent revenue management platform for small businesses. Today, Pipedrive is used by revenue teams at more than 100,000 companies worldwide. Pipedrive is headquartered in New York and has offices across Europe and the US. The company is backed by a majority holder Vista Equity Partners, and Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Partners, Atomico, DTCP, and Rembrandt Venture Partners. Learn more at www.pipedrive.com.

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