Many SMEs have a website, social media and maybe even an online shop, but sell very little through those channels. It isn't a tools problem: it's a digital sales strategy problem. Who do you want to sell to? Through which channel? How do you turn a visit into a customer, and a customer into someone who comes back? Answering those questions well is what the Digital Sales category of Kit Consulting funded.
Kit Consulting is a public programme run by Red.es, set within Component 13 of the Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia (Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, PRTR) and funded through NextGenerationEU. Its logic is to pay for expert advisory — the "what to do and how" — rather than the tool itself. For the full picture of the programme, see my guide on what Kit Consulting is.
Within the programme, digital sales was one of the most in-demand categories, especially among SMEs with a good product but an improvised digital sales process. According to the programme's regulatory basis, the advisory service helped establish the investment needed and the digital marketing techniques — including the use of AI — to improve online sales performance. This is where my experience in B2B sales and sales process connects directly with what this category pursued.
What is the Digital Sales category of Kit Consulting?
Every SME's situation is different, but the pattern above — traffic without conversion, an improvised process, tools bought without a plan — repeats often enough that Red.es built a dedicated category around it. It sits alongside AI, cybersecurity, data analytics, business processes and 360º digital transformation as one of the programme's advisory categories, and it's specifically aimed at the commercial side of a company's digital presence.
What does digital sales advisory cover?
Digital sales advisory goes beyond "just run a campaign". It covers the whole commercial process in its digital form. In practice it covers four areas:
1. Online sales strategy. Defines who you're selling to (your ideal customer), what value proposition you're offering them, through which channels (owned website, marketplaces, social media, email) and with what measurable goals. It's the foundation everything else is built on.
2. Acquisition and conversion funnel. Designs the customer journey from discovery to purchase: how you attract visits, how you capture contacts (leads), how you nurture them and how you close the sale. This is where digital marketing, content and advertising come in.
3. CRM and sales process. Helps you choose and implement a CRM that organises contacts, opportunities and follow-up, and design the sales process step by step so no opportunity is lost. I cover this in more detail in my guide to choosing and implementing a CRM.
4. Measurement and continuous improvement. Defines the KPIs that matter, sets up a dashboard and establishes a plan to keep optimising what works and dropping what doesn't. Without measurement, selling online is flying blind.
Deliverables: what do you walk away with?
The value of an advisory service is measured by what you walk away with once it's finished. In digital sales, these are the deliverables an SME should expect — useful too as a checklist for judging any commercial consulting proposal:
| Deliverable | What it includes | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Digital sales strategy | Ideal customer, value proposition, channels and goals | Selling with direction, not haphazardly |
| Funnel design | Customer journey, acquisition and conversion | Turning visits into customers |
| CRM selection and implementation | Selection criteria and sales process design | Making sure no opportunity is lost |
| Digital marketing plan | Channels, content and advertising to attract | Attracting the right people |
| Sales dashboard | KPIs, tracking panel and improvement plan | Knowing what works and improving it |
As with the other categories, the advisory service plans: it defines the strategy, chooses the CRM and designs the process. Building the online shop or running the campaigns is implementation, which is better suited to the Kit Digital programme. Kit Consulting gives you the commercial blueprint; executing it comes afterwards.
Does it include a CRM and sales funnels?
Yes, and they're two of the central pieces. The CRM is the tool that organises your entire relationship with customers and opportunities; without it, information lives scattered across people's heads and spreadsheets, and sales slip through the cracks. The advisory service helps you choose the CRM that fits your SME's size and sector — not the most expensive or the most complex, but the one your team will actually use — and configure it around your real process.
The sales funnel is the map of how a stranger becomes a customer: attraction, interest, consideration, purchase and loyalty. The advisory service designs that funnel for your business, defines which action moves a customer from one stage to the next, and pinpoints where people are being lost. There are almost always a couple of obvious leaks that, once plugged, lift sales without needing more traffic.
One detail I always stress: the funnel doesn't end at the first purchase. The loyalty stage — getting a customer to come back and recommend you — is the most profitable, because selling to someone who already knows you costs far less than acquiring someone new. A good advisory service pays attention to that final stage, which many SMEs neglect by focusing only on acquisition. The CRM, again, is the tool that sustains that relationship over the long term.
What type of SME is this for?
Based on my experience with companies in Castilla y León and the Canary Islands, digital sales advisory fits especially well when:
You have traffic but few sales. If you receive visits or contacts but convert few of them, the problem is in the funnel or the sales process — exactly what this category puts in order.
You sell B2B with long cycles. When every sale requires several conversations and follow-up, a well-designed CRM and process make the difference between closing a deal and letting opportunities go cold.
You depend on a single channel. If your entire business comes through one route — word of mouth, a marketplace, a salesperson — diversifying into digital channels reduces risk and opens up growth.
You improvise your marketing. If you post "whenever there's time" and without measuring, a structured plan turns that scattered effort into consistent results.
On the other hand, if your company doesn't yet have a minimum digital presence — a working website, visibility in search engines, a way of receiving contacts online — my honest recommendation is to build those foundations first, before optimising conversion. There's no point fine-tuning a funnel if there's nowhere for visits to come in through yet. For that groundwork, Kit Digital is the better fit, which I compare with Kit Consulting in my article on Kit Digital versus Kit Consulting.
What deliverables do you get, and how are they used afterwards?
The most common mistake is filing away the advisory report and carrying on as before. Digital sales deliverables are designed to be used every day: the strategy guides decisions, the funnel is monitored, the CRM is fed with every contact, and the dashboard is reviewed every month. A good advisor doesn't just hand over documents; they leave the team equipped to run them.
That's why, when evaluating a proposal, you should always ask what happens after the report: is there support during rollout? Is the sales team trained? Are results reviewed? Digital sales is a living system, not a project that gets closed and forgotten. If you want to go deeper into the sales process behind all this, I cover it in B2B sales consulting.
Which digital channels should you choose? Website, marketplaces, social media and email
An important part of the advisory service is deciding where to sell, because not every channel suits every business. These are the main ones, and when each makes sense:
Owned website and online shop. This is the channel where you have the most control over your brand, your data and your margin, with no intermediary commissions. In exchange, it requires you to generate your own traffic. It's the foundation for almost any SME that wants to build a lasting digital asset.
Marketplaces. Selling on high-traffic platforms gives you quick volume, but at the cost of commissions and competing on price alongside many others. They work well as a complementary channel or for fast-moving products, not as your only bet.
Social media. Useful for building awareness, generating community and, in some sectors, selling directly. Their strength lies at the top of the funnel: attracting attention and sparking interest. They require consistency and content.
Email marketing. Usually the most profitable channel, and the most underrated. It lets you talk to people who already know you, nurture the relationship and close sales at very low cost. A good advisory service almost always rescues this neglected channel.
The key isn't to be everywhere, but to choose the two or three channels that best fit your customer and your product, and work them well. The advisory service helps you make that decision with judgement instead of scattering your efforts.
Common mistakes in SME digital sales
Done well, the advisory service avoids the mistakes SMEs make most often:
Trying to sell to everyone. Without a defined ideal customer, messages are generic and connect with no one. Narrowing down your audience is what gives your communication its strength.
Focusing only on attracting traffic. Bringing visits to a website that doesn't convert is throwing money away. Before spending on advertising, it's worth fixing the funnel.
Not using a CRM (or not having one). When contacts live scattered across emails and spreadsheets, follow-up fails and opportunities go cold. A well-used CRM is one of the things that moves the needle most.
Not measuring anything. Without KPIs or a dashboard, you don't know which campaign is working or where to improve. Decisions get made on gut feeling and mistakes repeat.
Confusing activity with results. Posting a lot on social media isn't selling. The advisory service redirects effort towards the actions that genuinely generate business.
How much did the digital sales voucher fund?
Kit Consulting worked with a voucher whose total amount depended on company size, capped at €6,000 per service. These were the three segments:
| Segment | Company size | Total voucher amount | Services (cap €6,000/service) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Segment A | 10 to under 50 employees | €12,000 | Up to 2 services |
| Segment B | 50 to under 100 employees | €18,000 | Up to 3 services |
| Segment C | 100 to under 250 employees | €24,000 | Up to 4 services |
A very logical combination was to devote one service to digital sales and another to the AI category — to automate part of the marketing and lead qualification — or to processes. The grant was awarded on a non-competitive basis (concurrencia no competitiva), in order of arrival until funds ran out.
Current status of Kit Consulting and remaining funds
So as not to create false expectations: the standard Kit Consulting application period ended on 31 March 2025, and the call is listed as closed on the Acelera Pyme portal. SMEs with a voucher are now in the implementation and justification phase.
The news for 2026 is the Orden TDF/38/2026, de 26 de enero (BOE-A-2026-2069), which amended the programme's regulatory basis to allow the remaining budget to be redistributed and to address applications excluded for lack of funds. The order has not yet set specific deadlines or procedure, so the rigorous way to describe this is a "remaining-funds route", not a confirmed reopening. I keep this updated in the current status of Kit Consulting.
My recommendation: get your digital sales in order whether it gets funded or not. A clear strategy, a leak-free funnel and a well-used CRM improve your results from month one. And if the remaining-funds route materialises, you'll arrive with the groundwork already done. If you'd like help putting your online sales process in order, I'd be glad to help.
Frequently asked questions
- What does digital sales advisory cover?
- Digital sales advisory goes beyond "just run a campaign". It covers the whole commercial process in its digital form: strategy, funnel, CRM and measurement.
- Does it include a CRM and sales funnels?
- Yes. The CRM organises your relationship with customers and opportunities, and the advisory service helps you choose and configure the right one for your process.
- What type of SME is this for?
- Especially SMEs with traffic but few sales, long B2B sales cycles, a single sales channel, or improvised marketing efforts.
- What deliverables do you get, and how are they used afterwards?
- A strategy, a funnel design, a CRM in use and a sales dashboard, meant to be used daily rather than filed away after the report.
- How much did the digital sales voucher fund?
- Up to €6,000 per service, within a total voucher of €12,000 to €24,000 depending on company size.
Looking for straightforward help putting your digital sales in order? Let's talk for a free diagnostic of your online sales process. Presence across Castilla y León and the Canary Islands.