Yes, you can also sell services online, the key is to have a sales funnel that allows that person who showed interest in your content to be a final customer through an e-commerce service.
It is very normal that we always associate an e-commerce with a sale of products like the greats of electronic commerce do. However, it is important that we understand the concept of what e-commerce means for clarity.
Electronic commerce is a transaction of goods and services between the buyer on one side and the seller on the other side.
This is how any deal made through the internet where this figure intervenes that involves a seller and a buyer with the purpose of acquiring a good or a service, could be called e-commerce.
Therefore, and making a specific reference, services are also part of electronic commerce.
Consultancies, therapies, coaching, design, education, among other services, could have an entire internet payment system set up and supported by a payment gateway in addition to having a sales funnel that allows you to take your potential client to the final purchase.
How does a sales funnel work?
- You fill your funnel with a segmented audience, whether it comes from social networks, advertising, a list of contacts that you already had, etc.
- You do a data exchange for something that your potential client may be interested in (we will see later)
- You nurture your potential customers with valuable content before selling to them.
- You turn them into your customers and don’t forget them: you make them loyal
This is how an e-commerce service should work, taking into account a step by step and building a relationship with your potential customer before selling.
Some examples of e-commerce services
The method of selling services over the internet is not yet as developed as it is for the electronic commerce of products. However, it is possible to find digital accounting platforms that allow you to keep company numbers up to date.
Its service packages are fixed, scalable, and transactions are done digitally.
You will also find services for the sale of events, courses, memberships and coaches through well-developed digital strategies.
Finally, some educational institutions have highlighted the importance of e-commerce services to offer, through their payment gateway, the purchase of courses for their community and the general public.
Although all these examples have a payment gateway, not all have a defined sales funnel that allows them to convince the potential customer to make the purchase. And this is precisely the function of the sales funnel: having a virtual assistant 24/7/365 days a year that allows you to engage and lead the potential customer by the hand to make your purchase.
But be careful! It is not about seeing your end customer as an ATM willing to supply how much money you ask for, it is about creating a relationship before selling, it is about showing them that you are the expert, especially when a service and not a tangible product is at stake.
What then should a sales funnel look like for e-commerce services?
- You must have a data capture source, that is, a form that allows you to deliver valuable and relevant content to your potential customer. Something worth giving the data to a company or person that you do not know.
Some companies have as a hook, FREE packages that allow the potential client to access the experience of trying part of their services without having to pay a single dollar.
Others deliver free videos or books in pdf, ready to download, in order to direct you towards the future purchase of courses or memberships, be it the case.
Both modalities are evidently delivering value before selling and are obtaining in exchange data from interested people, who could become potential buyers of their services. - Have an automated sequence of emails or chat bots that allow you to deliver more value to your potential customer and heat it up within the entire sales funnel. This will allow you to identify who is ready or not to sell your services.
Do not make the mistakes that many make when it comes to attracting potential customers, which are mostly related to trying to sell on the first try. - Retarget through online advertising on social networks. Remember that we are full of advertising and offers everywhere and surely, if that potential client just met you, they will not remember you unless you are present throughout their purchase process (discovery, consideration and decision).
Be smart by configuring and using the pixels of these social networks so that, in this way, you can do a well-organized retargeting. - Make calls to action throughout the process and after capturing the data so that they visit your sales page or appointment scheduling.
The payment gateway plays a very important role because the shopping cart must be well optimized so that your potential customer does not leave and / or buy additional elements that allow you to increase the average ticket of your purchase. - Have a multi-channel strategy. It changes the chip a bit in how companies are basing their digital marketing strategy only on social networks and are leaving aside the most important thing: the data or database and above all having a well-formulated sales funnel.
As you can see, selling services through a payment gateway is not about offering and disregarding the rest, it is about creating a relationship with your potential customer through sales funnels that allow them to warm up and lead them to make a purchase decision. .
Much more, when it comes to the sale of services, which obey to satisfy a more specific need than simply the purchase of a product. If you need an ally for your e-commerce services, Evertec can help you.
