Multichannel Selling Strategies

The disconnect between sales managers and reps in 2025 is wild. Manager: "Just pick up the phone!" Rep: *sends 47 emails, 12 texts, 3 LinkedIn messages, and a carrier pigeon* Sound familiar? 😅 After 20+ years in sales, I've watched this communication gap grow wider every year. But here's what both sides are missing: It's not about choosing ONE channel. It's about understanding WHICH channel works WHEN. The most successful reps I've seen? They've cracked the code: **First 24 hours:** • Email → Sets professional tone • LinkedIn → Shows you've done homework • Text → Only if they've given permission **Days 2-5:** • Phone call → NOW it's time (they know who you are) • Voice note → Personal touch that stands out • Video message → Shows real effort **The truth?** Your manager's right - calls DO convert better. You're also right - cold calling blind is dead. The magic happens when you warm them up FIRST. Think of it like dating: You wouldn't propose on the first date. So why are we calling strangers without context? **My top 3 strategies that actually work:** 1. The "Permission Play" End every email with: "Would a quick call tomorrow at 2pm work to discuss?" (They expect it now = higher answer rate) 2. The "Multi-Touch Warm-Up" Email → LinkedIn view → Call within 48 hours (They recognize your name = 3x more likely to answer) 3. The "Context Creator" Reference their LinkedIn post before calling "Saw your post about X, had a thought..." (You're not a stranger = conversation not pitch) Here's the brutal truth: Managers: Your reps aren't lazy. They're adapting to how buyers ACTUALLY buy in 2025. Reps: Your manager isn't wrong. The phone still closes more deals than any other channel. Bridge the gap. Use both. Win more. What's your take - Team Phone or Team Omnichannel? P.S I'm running a FREE 6-week LinkedIn Social Selling Bootcamp starting Monday 15th Sept, grab a free spot here https://lnkd.in/eVmxsMbM

Having a dominating share on e-commerce marketplaces has been one of the pillars of our growth. 10 pointers for founders to keep in mind while scaling e-com: 1. The fundamental equation of e-com is “Sales= Traffic*Conversion”. Not meeting sales numbers is either a traffic problem or a conversion problem. For every SKU, figure out whether it is a traffic problem or a conversion problem. Do not try to solve traffic problems with conversion levers. And vice versa. 2. Like all performance marketing, e-com media also has diminishing returns. Beyond a point, increasing spends will not increase sales at the same speed. Stop at that point 3. If you want to increase profitability, you need to increase your organic discoverability in the platform. Amazon is a search led platform with search contributing to 60-70% views in most categories. For Flipkart, along with search, merch and reco are equally important. But the fundamentals of organic discoverability is same. Both platforms have an algorithm where SKUs with the best reviews, highest listing quality score, lowest time to delivery and highest conversion rates get pushed. Optimize for these parameters and see organic discoverability skyrocket 4. The other way to reduce dependency on platform ads( and hence increase profitability) is to ensure your branded searches increase. This is directly a function of your off platform marketing activities, word of mouth and repeat customers. So, work on those parameters 5. Category Relationships matter a lot. Understand what the number 1 objective of your category manager is for the year. And help them achieve it. Eg: If they are looking to improve ASP, help them with your premium assortment. If you help them achieve their number 1 KPI, they will ensure you do well on the platform 6. Whatever the ads team tell you, take it with a pinch of salt. Most times they are very helpful. But their number 1 KPI is to sell ads. Not your success. So, sometimes what is good for them might not be good for you 7. All SKUs will not do well. All sub-categories won’t do well. If there is no PPCMF, no amount of good execution will cut it. So, important to cut your losses and stop investing more money on losers. Instead, allocate to your winners in the portfolio 8. Have a E-Commerce dashboard which goes beyond the L0 metrics. Look at your L1 and L2 metrics daily and hold teams accountable for these metrics. Ads driven sales, share of search, organic visits, conversion rates etc are all examples of L1 metrics 9. Sometimes there will be irrational competition and they will bid crazily for keywords. Do not compete with them. They are burning cash and because blind venture money is running out quickly in consumer brands, they will fizzle out. 10. Do not overdo discounts. Discounts are like antibiotics. You use it 2-3 times a year, you see huge spikes. Use it every alternate day, and that becomes your market operating price.

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to GTM. Maja Voje and I studied 12 leading B2B SaaS companies. (including interviews with their teams) Here’s what we learned: 1. PLG is eating the world >80% of the companies in our study employ PLG in some fashion. Even enterprise companies like Snowflake and Salesforce are adding free trials & freemium. It’s the new normal. Why is this working for them? In 2024, the best marketing is often your product. Users rarely want to lock in a $500K+ contract without trying the product first. But you do need to layer on a strong product-led sales motion to make enterprise work. 2. Dominate one at first, then layer on many Every company we studied got one GTM motion massively right. And, in each case, they still use that GTM motion in some form today. But, they layer on other motions over time. The ideal way to layer is symbiotically: • ABM couples nicely with outbound • Inbound supports outbound • Partnerships amplify PLG For instance: Dropbox grew at first massively on referrals. Now, other channels are much more important. 3. ABM and Outbound are pillars of enterprise For 5- and 6-figure deals, it’s difficult to rely on inbound or PLG alone. The buyer is used to a different process. They want to be hand-held. This is where motions like ABM and outbound shine. That’s why you still see the Snowflake’s and Salesforce’s of the world focusing on them. They’re the bread and butter of enterprise. So… bringing it all together, here’s where to start based on your buyer. If you’re selling to consumers or prosumers: • Lean into PLG, community, and partnerships early on • Layer in paid marketing as you find product-market fit and have budget to scale If you're selling to SMBs: • Blend inbound and outbound motions to build awareness and relationships • Paid digital can accelerate pipeline generation as you dial in your ICP If you're selling to enterprises: • Focus on targeted ABM and partner ecosystems • Inbound is great for air cover, but outbound is crucial for landing large accounts If you have a complex or technical product: • Make sure you have developer docs, free tooling, and community support from day one • Don’t underrate channels like partnerships & paid digital; they can still be crucial support And above all: 1. Remember what works at one stage may not work another 2. Remember the law of diminishing returns 3. Be willing to pivot when necessary

Not every marketing channel does the same thing. Let me explain 👇🏻 Many premium brands thing that they just need to be on every marketing channel possible, and shout as loud as possible on there. Over communicating the same message that doesn't even really resonate. The worst bit - likely wasting resource, capital and energy in the process. But there is a better way to think about all of these channels. 👇🏻 It’s about awareness that feels earned, not forced. Consideration that builds credibility, not clutter. And loyalty that outlasts a single transaction. Here’s how premium brands turn attention into affinity: ✅ Awareness ↳ Make people aware you exist in the right spaces. 👉🏻Platforms: Organic social (IG, TikTok, LinkedIn) Paid social (brand films, awareness) Press & influencer seeding Strategy: Lead with values Cinematic craft stories Aspirational creators / PR Right-place visibility ✅ Consideration ↳ Educate and inspire with proof and craft. 👉🏻 Platforms: Organic: carousels, storytelling Paid retargeting (video/static) YouTube/blog (BTS, materials) Email: Welcome & Education ♟️Strategy: Educate: materials / process Calm, confident tone Proof early (press/reviews) ✅ Action ↳ Turn trust into confident purchase decisions. 👉🏻 Platforms: Google Search & Shopping Paid: conversion/retargeting On-site UX/checkout Email: Cart & Browse ♟️ Strategy: Proof above the fold Align Search–Paid–PDP Frictionless UX & service Gentle scarcity Personalise ✅ Loyalty ↳ Retain and reward beyond the transaction. 👉🏻 Platforms: Email: replen, VIP Community & UGC (ambassadors) Customer service touch points ♟️ Strategy: Rituals & care content Access, previews, community Reward attention, not spend This is how premium brands grow without shouting. Structure before scale. Emotion before metrics. Are you building a funnel that earns attention... or demands it?

Despite all the promise of AI, we're settling into an "FAQ bot" equilibrium. The best the biggest vendors on the market can do is bots that summarize FAQs and maybe call an API or two. Unfortunately, not all (and often not many) customer problems can be solved with this approach. It's often the case that resolution requires engaging with the real world - placing calls, sending messages and Slacks. When we launched our solution to this - Team of Agents - last month, I think even we underestimated just how many more customer problems can be solved when multiple different Lorikeet agents can work together. As a result, we're sharing more about how this works and the types of problems it can solve, in the hope it inspires other CX leaders to aspire to do more for their customers. When a customer has an issue that requires a multi-party resolution, the Lorikeet agent engaging with the customer spawns a secondary agent to contact third parties via voice/text. Each agent gets clear outcomes, deadlines, and decisions to confirm and works independently in real time. The secondary agent reports its results back to the primary agent, who can then resolve the customer's issue. For example, if a customer reaches out about a missing delivery and Lorikeet determines the package's status needs to be investigated by the logistics company, it can spawn another agent to call the logistics provider. Once that agent has escalated and received the package status from the logistics provider, it reports back and the original agent shares the update and next steps with the customer. Not only does this cut out a manual, human process, it also enables an end-to-end resolution in minutes, not hours or days. This means we're not deflecting complex problems and are instead closing the loop, completely solving them. Read more on how independent third-party collaboration works in our guide.

Too many brands still treat digital marketing as separate departments. Paid search runs its own campaigns. Social content is handled separately. SEO operates on a different track. But your audience doesn’t think in channels. They experience everything as one journey. People move across platforms every day. They might click on a search ad in the morning, watch a social video during lunch, and read a blog post in the evening before deciding. If your messaging and landing pages aren’t connected across these touchpoints, you risk losing them along the way. A streamlined marketing system in which every channel has a clear purpose and contributes to the same outcome works better. For example: - Paid search can focus on direct messages like “Buy now, free delivery,” and lead users straight to a product page. - Social ads can run during high-engagement hours, showing real customer testimonials and linking to a trust-building testimonial page. - Display ads can reinforce credibility by highlighting awards or recognitions, pointing to a brand-focused landing page. - Native ads can deliver deeper storytelling, such as sharing your product origin or values, and direct traffic to an expanded product page. - Content and SEO should cover search topics your audience is actively exploring, bringing them to blog articles that meet their intent and introduce your brand. Each channel plays a different role, but when everything is planned with one unified strategy, the result is much stronger. Your messaging becomes more consistent, your conversions improve, and your entire marketing engine works more efficiently.

Instead of Justifying Your Prices, Try This Approach. "That's too expensive!" Every one of us has heard this line, hasn’t it? Justifying your prices is a losing game. Instead, try this smart approach: 1. 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬. ⏭️ Customers are comfortable when they understand benefits. ⏭️ As one of my ex-bosses used to say, even a Rolex buyer thinks he is getting value! 2. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. ⏭️ Personal care brands and luxury food brands (think wine, cheese, and chocolates) do this very well. ⏭️ The sampling of body lotions done with a gentle massage on the back of your hand leaves a pleasing sensorial effect, inducing purchase. ⏭️ Or sampling exotic cheeses and chocolates leaves you wanting more. 3. 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬. ⏭️ Privileges that are for a select few are also a big draw. 4. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲. ⏭️ A great salesperson can convert resisting customers into appreciative ones. 5. 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞. ⏭️ Ambience plays a big role in enhancing the brand story. 6. 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬. ⏭️ Value is about price at a base level. ⏭️ Start with that and build the aura with other hooks. 7. 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟. ⏭️ What others approve of is always appealing to the rest. ⏭️ Humans are conditioned to go with people like them; it lowers the risk associated with purchasing new brands. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫: You're not just selling products. You're fulfilling needs and desires. The customers who get this are your gold mine. What's your go-to strategy for price objections? Share in the comments below! #retailstrategy #pricingpsychology #customerexperience

Grateful to be featured in the "Shoptalk Hot Takes" interview by Blenheim Chalcot and ClickZ.com alongside George Looker to unpack omnichannel commerce. 5 key takeaways and tactics from my conversation: 1. Design for Customer Continuity, Not Just Channel Expansion 💡 71% of customers expect brands to personalize interactions across every touchpoint. Tactical: Map out customer journey across channels, then design experiences that recognize and reward continuity—cart persistence, loyalty rewards, browsing history sync, etc. 2. Build the Infrastructure: Unify Data Streams Across All Touchpoints 🧠 Data fragmentation = missed opportunity Tactical: Integrate POS, e-commerce, mobile, social, and marketplace data into a centralized data lake or unified commerce platform. 3. Establish a Single Source of Truth for Customer Profiles 🔍 Brands with unified profiles see up to 2x better campaign performance. Tactical: Implement Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) to consolidate behavioral, transactional, and engagement data into unified customer profiles. 4. Partner Strategically for Scale, Not Just Stack ⚙️ A bloated tech stack doesn’t equal agility As I noted, Retailers are getting sharper about which partners can scale with them. Ecosystem efficiency matters more than ever. Tactical Step: Audit your tech stack and partnerships consistently. Prioritize partners that offer extensibility, future-proofing, and proven omnichannel success. 5. Measure What Matters: Unified KPIs Across Commerce 📈 You can’t optimize what you don’t measure holistically Tactical: Align your analytics stack to report holistically across channels—tie marketing to merchandising, CX to LTV, and inventory to revenue. 🧠 Bottom line: think holistically, move strategically, and build ecosystems that scale experience with agility, not just transactions. Complete list in comment 👇 #ecommerce #omnichannel #unifiedcommerce

Beauty DROPS refer to limited, often surprise product. +52% consumers are willing to pay more for limited-edition products. Borrowed from streetwear culture, drops create urgency, exclusivity, and hype. Unlike traditional product launches, drops are: +Time-bound +Quantity-limited +Highly anticipated or teased in advance +Designed to sell out quickly Psychology behavioral triggers such as scarcity (limited availability increases perceived value), FOMO (driving urgency to act quickly), exclusivity (making ownership feel status-driven), and reward (creating a “win” effect when securing a product). These dynamics can drive up to a +45% sales boost in the first month of launch, transforming shopping from a transaction into an experience. +45% shoppers say FOMO directly drives purchases +Creative challenges+ Beauty brands use drops as a creative canvas, combining innovation, collaborations, storytelling, and packaging to create unique experiences. This includes developing hybrid skincare-makeup formulas, experimenting with textures and finishes, and launching limited-edition shades or scents. +60% Gen Z and Millennials are influenced by scarcity-based ads Brands collaborate with influencers, celebrities, and designers to boost reach and relevance, while building narratives around seasons, culture, or social trends. They enhance the experience with collectible, sustainable, or visually striking packaging designed to stand out and be shared. +41% consumers admit they have bought something they didn’t need because it was “limited-time” +Create a drop strategy+ Starts with clear objectives (awareness, testing, or revenue), then builds hype through teasers, countdowns, and influencer seeding, timed around trends and audience data. Urgency tactics like “limited stock” or countdowns can boost conversions by up to +200%. Brands must balance scarcity with customer satisfaction, ensure a seamless purchase experience, and reward community with early access or VIP perks. Post-drop engagement through content, UGC, and feedback helps sustain momentum and improve future launches. 1-Define objectives (awareness, testing, revenue) 2-Build hype (teasers, countdowns, influencers) 3-Time strategically (trends, seasons, audience data) 4-Balance scarcity with satisfaction 5-Ensure a smooth purchase experience 6-Reward community (early access, VIP perks) 7-Maintain momentum (content, feedback) Conclusion. Drops are more than a trend, they represent a shift in how beauty brands engage with consumers. By blending scarcity, storytelling, and strategy, drops transform products into moments. However, success depends on balance: creating excitement without sacrificing trust. Find curated search of examples and get inspired for success. Featured Brands: Charles & Keith Cymbiotika Colorgram Glossier Miu Miu Omm Blat Rhode Tamburins #beautybusiness #beautyprofessionals #beautymarketing #dropstrategy #fomo