Dan Galante

I recently covered Voice Summit the largest voice tech conference that brings the conversational design ecosystem together in one place.

The conference was hosted at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

I was amazed about the impact voice technology will have on our lives. According to comscore.com, Voice search will account for 50 % of all search results by 2020.

sources designmatic https://www.jeffbullas.com/small-business-trends/

Voice technology is already in use in many home devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google home. Voice applications are already available in many smartphones as we can use our voice to dictate messages along with smartphone assistants Siri, Google and Bixby.

Home owners can use voice to operate things in their home.

Voice is at the very infancy of its capabilities. People will be able to use their Alexa or Google Home to start their cars and adjust the temperature as well as other commands. Mercedes Benz is implementing a digital assistant in their newer vehicles.

People will be able to dictate a search as opposed to having to open google and type what they are looking for. Voice provides brands and businesses with an opportunity to improve customer experience. However, brands are not currently equipped to serve up content and engagement using voice.

Voice is at the beginning of the technology life cycle. Many believe that voice will be another channel added to the omnichannel experience. Others think that it will overtake existing channel. Bret Kinsella of voicebot.ai discussed the data behind the companies in voice, the technology, its adoption and market growth prospects in his talk Voice Platform wars.

In terms of how Voice is changing marketing, it is on marketers to find new ways to engage their customers using voice. Rob Bennett CEO of rehab agency discusses the impact of Voice technology in Marketing.

CMOs need to incorporate voice into the marketing mix along with the other channels.

Jeff Rhores, Mike Darne, Wilson Tang and Chris Vennard share how they use Voice in their business and its potential for brands.

In terms of SEO and buyer personas, they also need to be built for Voice. Duane Forrester discusses how brands can create a voice optimization strategy and brand personas.

The debate is still out on whether voice will replace social media. Brandon Kaplan of Skilled Creative discusses how voice will replace Social Media and ways Brands can create Voice experiences for their customers.

Voice is an exciting technology and it will be interesting to see how it changes Marketing and how we interact with our world.

How are you using Voice technology? Comment and share below.

I surveyed my audience on LinkedIn about their holiday spending intent, method of purchase, types of purchase, and sentiment in the U.S. Consumer spending is always top of mind for marketers, sellers, and retailers. With inflation on the rise, consumers spend differently than when inflation is low.

I asked my audience four questions.

1. How has inflation impacted your holiday spending?
2. Which types of holiday gifts are you buying?
3. How did you buy your holiday gifts this season?
4. Did you use shoppable ads to make a purchase?

Below you can find the results of each survey question.

1.How has inflation impacted your holiday spending?

As you can see, 60% percent said they spent less during this holiday season. Consumers must see value in what they are buying. Brands need to create memorable experiences for consumers with their offerings.

2. Which types of holiday gifts are you buying?

This survey was split across different categories. Gift cards were top at 33 % percent of those surveyed saying they were buying gift cards and giving cash as a gift. Experiences and electronics were tied at 25 %. Media was in the lowest category at 17%. Across all of these categories, there are opportunities for brands to sell to consumers.

3. How did you buy your holiday gifts this season?

Based on the survey, 56% percent of consumers said they started their customer journey online; including purchases on a mobile device. Brands need to make an e-commerce experience seamless for customers. Most big box stores are creating an omnichannel buying experience; 31% percent of those surveyed stated that they made purchases online and in-store. Small businesses only received 11 %, followed by only in-store buying at 2%.

These findings suggest that small businesses need to create an e-commerce store to create an omnichannel experience for consumers, catering not just to what they want to buy but how they purchase. Small businesses need to show up where consumers make purchases.

4. Did you use shoppable ads to make a purchase?

75% of those surveyed said that they did not use a shoppable ad to make a purchase. Since late 2019, shoppable increased. Consumers can buy products directly from ads on search engines and many social media sites. This will shorten the customer journey.

Based on my research, my finding suggests:

1. Inflation has dampened consumer spending during the holiday season.

2. Brands need to provide value to consumers creating memorable experiences.

3. Businesses should serve consumers on the channels where they make purchases.

4. How consumers buy will continue to evolve.

5. With Shoppable Ads on the rise, the customer journey will be shorter. More purchases will occur during the time consumers search for products.

It will be interesting to see the consumer sentiment and the price of goods with the release of the CPI and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey due to be released this week.

How did inflation impact your spending during the holiday season? Share your thoughts.

If you want to share your opinion but didn’t get the chance to vote, answer these questions in the comments.

1. How has inflation impacted your holiday spending?
2. Which types of holiday gifts are you buying?
3. How did you buy your holiday gifts this season?
4. Did you use shoppable ads to make a purchase?

Additional places to find my content and blog

WordPress: https://dangalante.me/

Tumblr: http://www.askdangalante.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/DanGalante

Medium https://medium.com/@DanGalante

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/trendsettingsm

Anchor https://anchor.fm/dangalante

About Me

I’m a Strategic Marketer with Field Sales, Sales Enablement, Content Creation, and, Classroom Teacher/Trainer skill sets using Marketing to drive Sales/Growth.

As a Marketer, I’ve worked with Start-Ups, a Political Campaign, and a Digital Marketing Conference.

I’m certified in Inbound Marketing with classes in Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, SEO, and SEM.

Before teaching, I was an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep. selling and marketing dental products to Dentists using consultative selling, trade show marketing, field marketing, and market research.

I publish Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today a blog covering industry events and trends.

I’m seeking a full-time role in

Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, Product Marketing, CI, Demand Generation, Social Media Marketing,

Sales Enablement, Enablement, Sales Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Employer Branding, and Recruitment Marketing.

Open on title, industry, company, location, and level. Reach out on LinkedIn or at dan@dangalante.com to start a conversation.

Building relationships with customers and closing deals is critical for sales success. In business, customer acquisition and customer retention are crucial to generating revenue. It is cheaper to keep existing customers than to acquire new ones.

Once a sale is made, it is tempting for sales reps to move on to the next customer.

However, the sale is not complete when the customer signs the contract. Customers should pay their invoices on time to ensure the business has enough cash to operate and potentially turn a profit.

What on time means is dependent on a company payment policy. Customers can have payment terms raining from C.O.D, net 30, net 60, net 90, net 120, or longer. Some cycles can run for a year or longer. Certain companies offer financing options. Payment structures are structured based on the length of the sales cycle.

How can we make sure customers pay their invoices on time?

Here are six ways to keep customers and get them to pay their invoices on time.

1. Build and nurture customer relationships.
2. When the sale is complete, put all details in writing.
3. Follow through with the implementation product or service post-sale.
4. Check-in with your customer to make sure they are happy with their purchase. This can present an opportunity for upselling, cross-selling, repeat business, referrals, and testimonials.
5. If the customer voices concerns or has an issue with a product or service, address it immediately.
6. Make sure to honor any promises and warranties extended during the sales cycle.

If you follow these steps, you will get most customers to pay their invoices on time.

What do I do if a customer will not pay their invoice?

In large organizations, the accounts receivable manager will handle the customer by sending past-due notices and charging penalties. However, if Sales Reps work for a small company as I did, this will be the Sales Rep’s responsibility. Ideally, the Sales Rep should be able to handle customer issues because they have a relationship with the customer.

Sales Reps should call and  visit the customer. During the visit, Sales Reps need to try to solve the issue. Be polite. Never raise your voice or swear at a customer. The goal is to get paid while keeping the customer whenever.

As a result of implementing the strategies above, my receivables (open invoices) were the lowest in the company! This allowed me to earn more commissions, make more sales and develop great relationships with my customers.

It is important to note that Sales and Service across acquisition and retention are subdivided in larger organizations.

How have you improved customer retention and gotten your customers to pay on time?

Please share your thoughts with me.

Additional places to find my content and blog

WordPress: https://dangalante.me/

Tumblr: http://www.askdangalante.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/DanGalante

Medium https://medium.com/@DanGalante

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/trendsettingsm

Anchor https://anchor.fm/dangalante

About Me

I’m a Strategic Marketer with Field Sales, Sales Enablement, Content Creation, and, Classroom Teacher/Trainer skill sets using Marketing to drive Sales/Growth.

As a Marketer, I’ve worked with Start-Ups, a Political Campaign, and a Digital Marketing Conference.

I’m certified in Inbound Marketing with classes in Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, SEO, and SEM.

Before teaching, I was an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep. selling and marketing dental products to Dentists using consultative selling, trade show marketing, field marketing, and market research.

I publish Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today; a blog that covers industry events and trends.

I’m seeking a full-time role in

Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, Product Marketing, Competitive Intelligence, Demand Generation, Social Media Marketing,

Sales Enablement, Enablement, Sales, Account Management, Customer Success, Sales Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Employer Branding, and Recruitment Marketing.

Open on the title, industry, company, location, and level. Reach out on LinkedIn or at dan@dangalante.com to start a conversation.