Digital Sales Has Changed: The New Playbook for Manufacturers

​Digital sales has changed. For manufacturers, it is no longer just about having a website, online catalog, or customer portal.

Today, buyers expect faster ways to find suppliers, request quotes, place repeat orders, compare options, and get answers before they talk to sales. At the same time, quoting tools, sourcing platforms, marketplaces, ERP data, customer portals, and changing buyer expectations are creating new decisions for manufacturing leaders.

This will not be a lecture about putting a shopping cart on a website.

In this interactive session, attendees will step into the role of a leadership team for a fictional manufacturer facing a familiar challenge: the company wants to grow, but leadership is not sure whether to invest in a new website, customer portal, quoting tool, marketplace presence, digital sales hire, or clearer internal ownership first.

Through a practical business scenario and live audience polling, attendees will work through questions like:

-  What problem is this company really trying to solve?
-  Where should digital sales fit in the business?
-  What should sales, operations, ERP, and customer service own?
-  Is the company ready to invest, or does it need clearer ownership first?
-  How does digital sales become measurable revenue instead of another disconnected project?

Attendees will leave with a simple framework for thinking through digital sales before spending more money:

- Customer: What do buyers actually need to do digitally?
- Channel: Where should digital sales fit?
- Operations: Are quoting, ERP, product data, inventory, and fulfillment ready?
- Ownership: Who is responsible for making this work and turning it into revenue?

This session is best for manufacturers that want to grow but need a clearer way to think through websites, customer portals, quoting tools, marketplaces, ecommerce ownership, and revenue accountability before making the next investment.