Introduction

In the ever-increasing connected digital world, it has become more imperative than ever for businesses to transition online to efficiently manage and sell their businesses. This has fundamentally re-positioned one of the 4P’s of marketing, Place. In addition, other aspects of the 4Ps i.e. Promotion or Pricing will inadvertently depend on this strategic shift to online as it now shapes the organization's branding and advertising strategies as well as pricing. 

Whether you are at a stage of deciding to transition to online or perhaps you have done so already but are not fully realizing the benefits of doing so, the following guidelines will aid you in efficiently managing and selling your services online for the betterment of your customers and business

Discover how to manage and sell your services online

Notice some keywords in the title. Manage, Sell, and Online. Every organization's objective is to acquire and retain customers in a cost-efficient manner for profitability. To do so online thus requires the organization to develop strong capabilities in two key areas, digital marketing and operations management. Let’s dig deeper into each one

Digital Marketing

The following initiatives/infrastructure fall under the digital marketing spectrum;

• Website

• Mobile

• Social Media

• Scalable Digital Marketing

1. Website 

Develop a robust visually appealing website showcasing the businesses’s services with highly functional menus, easy navigability, speed/responsiveness, and a full complement of your services. This is to ensure that customers can buy your services online from the comfort of their homes devoid of hassles and timely. Also, a full bouquet of your services should be available for self-service operation by the customers

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2. Mobile capabilities

Following closely to the website is mobile capabilities. A 2024 report by BroadbandSearch revealed that an overwhelming 79.8% of internet searches occur via mobile versus 19.2% for desktop. The younger generation (GenZ) also prefers mobile to desktop. It is expedient to ensure your services are optimized for mobile operability to give your customers more flexibility and access to your services. The mobile is also convenient and meets the needs of impulse buyers

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3. Social Media

Social media has become a powerful tool for organizations in many ways. Firstly, it can be used to curate and disseminate engaging content about your services targeted at your audience (customers and non-customers) to attract them to buy or learn about your services. Secondly, it can be used to collate feedback from your customers about their expectations and perceptions of the company’s services for improvement purposes. Thirdly, it can be used to build a passionate community of customers who regularly engage and exchange ideas about your products and services leading to innovation and reduced cost of operations. Developing a robust social media strategy will enable good brand exposure for your business through personalized communication and attention to your customers in a scalable and efficient way and through their most preferred channels 

4. Scalable Digital Marketing Technologies

While customer target marketing has been exclusive to businesses, customers are also now actively seeking out the right businesses to meet their needs. Investing in Search Engine Optimization techniques to promote your business above the competition, using influencers, email marketing, inbound and outbound marketing, chatbots, AI, and other digital marketing technologies can become a strategic advantage to scaling your business geometrically and in an efficient manner

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Business Operations Management

Now that you have discovered the digital marketing strategies highlighted above to attract customers, how do you serve them efficiently and effectively? Your business must have the right internal operational capabilities and tools to meet the customer’s needs.

6. Service Management Platform

A robust Enterprise Service Management or Customer Relationship Management platform like Prolyncs.com should enable your business to manage order processing, inventories, shipment and order tracking, appointment scheduling, and workforce management at the minimum. Aside from streamlining your operations, it should have application programming interface capabilities to other digital platforms for scalability purposes

7. Secure Online Payment Systems

Managing and selling your services online will not be complete without having a secure payment gateway to handle the financial transactions. Your business will quickly lose its hard-earned reputation if payments are not seamlessly managed and consistently. Seek a reputable platform that will secure customer information (privacy) and can interlink to several other payment platforms

In Conclusion

Adhering to the above guidelines should guarantee successful outcomes for any business venturing into managing and selling their services online. While the identified strategies may be costly, especially for a small/medium business enterprise, the benefits must be considered. It may be advisable to commence the online journey sequentially since it is capital-intensive and requires deep technological know-how. However, you may review your current capabilities and net worth and decide to start with the easier steps first, capitalize on the consequent positive results before delving into others while keeping an eye on your cash flow.

The best time to manage and sell your services online was yesterday. The next best time is today. Tomorrow may be too late!  

Why not visit our website at Prolyncs.com and start a free trial of our customer-centric business management software today to begin your exciting journey into managing and selling services online

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