As we welcome in a shiny new year, it’s time to turn our minds to the months ahead, and how our sales strategies can better align with the underlying trends for 2023
Read the full article below or read on page 22 in our January magazine
With the new year upon us, it’s time to solidify sales strategies for the coming months. There’s a lot to think about when planning how to tackle 2023; rising fuel bills, the burden of recession, ongoing supply chain issues…but with all challenges come opportunities for dealers to be ready to meet the needs of their clients.
Analysts are increasingly on the fence about the longevity of remote and hybrid working. Research from Microsoft suggests that the vast majority (85%) of managers are less confident that hybrid workers are being productive when not in the office, but forcing them back to the workplace is not the solution. The office should be a magnet, not a mandate, with strategies in place to get people enthusiastically returning because they want to, not because they must.
Coupled with this is a likelihood that the war for talent will intensify in 2023. The pandemic gave many workers time to pause and reflect, leading to higher numbers of resignations than has been seen for over a decade. Statista counts 442,000 resignations in the UK in the second quarter of 2022 alone, 26% higher than in any previous quarter since 2001, as more people opted for a change of direction.
This leaves many big shoes to fill, and with the cost-of-living crisis strangling businesses as well as households, attracting and retaining talent with salary alone is no longer an option – top talent today demands more from a career than just money. Businesses are beginning to realise this and are aligning investments accordingly.
“We will continue to see a shift towards technology-enabled, sustainable, and wellness-focused home and office environments in 2023 and beyond,” says Andrew Cowling, channel marketing manager at PFU (EMEA) Limited. “We will also see continued growth in the use of technology to support remote and flexible work arrangements, continued focus on wellness and sustainability in the home and office, and an increased emphasis on mental health and well-being in the workplace, with more businesses offering resources and support for their employees’ mental health.”
So what does all that mean for dealers, and how can we prepare 2023 marketing strategies to capitalise on these underlying trends?
The appealing office
Going back to that Microsoft research, it also found that 73% of employees say that they need a better reason to go into the office than just company expectations. Businesses need to embrace the fact that workers go into the office for each other, and put collaboration at the heart of the office design. “The role of the workplace has changed for good,” asserts Russell Brown, head of SOHO sales at Brother UK. “Businesses are reimagining their office spaces to manage costs, encourage collaboration and provide an attractive destination for their people as they shift to permanent hybrid working models.”
Elisabete Wells, regional marketing director for ACCO, agrees. “The days of cold, sterile-looking office spaces are over. Employers are introducing things like soft furnishing, open plan layouts and ergonomic accessories to make the office both inviting and functional – and dealers should be offering these types of products to their customers.”
Over the course of 2022 there was a significant rise in the number of residential-type furnishings appearing in the office. At its most basic, sofas and meeting pods are fast becoming an office staple; at the more eccentric end, beanbags, telephone booths and nap spaces are finding their way into offices too. Simon Howorth, marketing and design manager at DAMS, points out the importance of creating a unique aesthetic in the office, particularly when it comes to attracting and retaining talent.
“Forward-thinking companies are winning at the office game and forging a reputation as an environment people would like to work in. The most successful businesses will alter their workplace strategy to focus on making it somewhere that people want to be, to not just get the best out of their employees, but also to retain and motivate the most talented workers.”
And it’s not just contemporary office furniture that can make our product offerings 2023 ready; there are other employee concerns that can go a long way to being addressed with smart product promotion. From smarter storage solutions to ergonomic improvements for wellbeing, those needs remain with us still today. Elisabete believes a more contemporary concern – and one which should not be overlooked – is health and hygiene.
“Safety still a concern for many. With airborne illnesses such as the ‘flu circulating at this time of year, employers need to ensure that the office is safe for their people. Air purification is playing a major role in that, and resellers should be playing up the benefits of clean air to their clients looking to enhance the safety of their workplaces.”
Sell solutions not products
It can be tempting to embrace future business trends simply by adding more products to the catalogues, but that’s about as relevant as a fax machine today. Clients want to see holistic solutions to the challenges they face. “Selling solutions for the overall experience you’re trying to convey should be the way forward, far from just products, page after page,” says Marc Pinner, marketing director at DataDirect.
Take IKEA as an example. From its showroom to its catalogue, this brand knows that products sell better when they are demonstrated as a package. Its presentation of furnishings, storage solutions and other items within a complete set up of a room helps customers visualise how each product could work for them, and which products complement one another.
While dealers may not have the resources or the flexibility to set up an IKEA-style photoshoot for products, that doesn’t mean they can’t learn from the Swedish furniture giant. Cross-promoting things that work well together (‘Oh, you’re interested in our office sofa? Would you like a coffee table to go with that?’) can help drive revenue while also demonstrating to clients an understanding of what they are trying to achieve.
This demonstration of understanding should be fact-based. Marc notes that dealers should be getting under the skin of what’s best for the businesses they are working with. “Dealers should be consulting on what are the best options for businesses, going forward. They should start with a deep understanding of their business customer, what their plans are for the future of work, how these differ from their competition and how location plays a part in this. Then it comes down to solutions that not only meet these objectives but, importantly, exceed their customer’s expectations.”
Russel from Brother also highlights the benefits of basing sales strategies on solid foundations of customer need. “It might sound simple, but there is no better way of understanding what a customer needs than talking to them about what their challenges are and engaging them in a needs-based assessment. Such an assessment can cover everything from whether people have the right office chair and laptop riser at home, to avoid occupational injury, to efficient printer models that help boost productivity while keeping the company’s network secure.”
Consulting with customers can range from something as simple as an online survey through to an offer of in-person premises visits for the most important clients. Developing sales strategies without ensuring a firm grasp of customers’ needs and objectives won’t work – modern marketing calls for clear consultation and really listening to what the client wants.
Ignore hybrid and home work at your peril
There’s no doubt that businesses would like more workers to be back in the office; figures from LinkedIn show that remote opportunities have fallen on the site’s job listings, from 16% at the start of 2022 to just 12% in December – but that doesn’t mean everyone is back in the office all the time.
Lawrence Savage, UK Marketing Manager for ExaClair, emphasises that there are still a large number of people who are at home for at least part of the week. “Having peaked at 49% during the height of the pandemic, the number of British workers basing themselves from home for at least one day a week sits at around 1-in-5, which remains higher than 2019 levels of 12%.”
Given that dealers are frequently geared to providing products to businesses, it can seem challenging to market to the home-based worker as well – but Marc from DataDirect says that the building blocks are all there; there’s just a need to tweak the offerings to suit this demographic. “With an integrated delivery system it won’t matter where products go, as long as they are fit for purpose. Smaller quantities and smaller formats will be generally required at home, but professionalising the home should be an equal focus.”
Elizabete points outthat not all home workers will have an adequate set up to maintain good ergonomics when working. “Many staff are still working with makeshift setups at dining tables or sofas. The focus for home working needs to be on ergonomics and preventing aches and pains. Poor alignment has been linked to several serious health and bodily issues, so combatting those is a priority for both employers and employees.”
Remember that guidance from HSE states that employers have the same health and safety responsibilities for people working at home as for any other worker. This encompasses not only the use of equipment like computers and laptops safely, but also addressing stress and mental health needs – even if a dealer’s primary market is business-to-business, there is still a place in sales strategies for offering products more tailored to homeworkers.
Without doubt, 2023 is going to come with some unique challenges and will give the dealer community plenty to think about – but with the right mindset, and a willingness to think creatively, we can all look forward to a fruitful year ahead.
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