How Alipay’s Field Sales Team Builds Trust and Boosts Efficiency Through Design

Alipay’s presence is everywhere—from subway QR‑code travel to supermarket facial‑payment—thanks to a dedicated field‑sales team that connects merchants with the platform. This article, based on a SEE Conf 2022 talk, shares the design journey of that team over more than a year.

Facing Merchants: How to Build Trust

Merchants are skeptical, asking "Are you a scam? Will you steal my money? What can you offer?" The core challenge is establishing trust. Multiple touchpoints—appearance, ID badges, scripts, and materials—were explored. A key breakthrough was an electronic business card that lets merchants scan a QR code to verify the field agent’s official Alipay identity, becoming the second‑most used feature in the product.

Conversation scripts were refined to address merchant pain points first, then propose solutions, using a "surname + pain point + solution" format, which increased engagement in pilot tests.

When merchants hesitated at the final "confirm" step, a voice prompt was added to the confirmation page, reminding them that an Alipay staff member was initiating the service, which noticeably reduced drop‑off.

Facing Field Agents ("Xiao Er"): Making Tools Easier to Use

Field agents work long hours, visiting around 100 merchants daily. Design focused on three layers: cognitive (positive encouragement), operational (simplified actions), and perceptual (readability in outdoor settings).

Positive Cognitive Guidance

Dashboard layouts were tested: showing targets, most‑used functions, or achievement counts. The team chose the achievement view, giving agents a clear sense of progress and boosting morale. Motivational messages like "Sunshine follows the rain, keep going!" were added to toast notifications.

Operational Simplification

Complex four‑step filtering was reduced to a one‑click preset, cutting daily clicks from 400 to zero for high‑frequency filters. Form design also moved frequently used actions (e.g., photo upload) to the top and avoided sticky bottom buttons that confused agents.

Perceptual Readability

In outdoor environments, red asterisks were chosen over text to mark required fields, ensuring quick visual identification.

Facing Managers: Visualizing Management Connections

Managers struggled to track agents’ locations, progress, and issues. A visual grid was built where managers could draw and split zones, assign agents, and instantly see allocations. Interactive panels displayed real‑time data for each zone.

Progress bubbles and scatter plots let managers drill down into slow‑moving areas, identify root causes, and provide timely assistance to agents.

Conclusion

The design story covered three roles: merchants (trust building), field agents (tool usability), and managers (visual management). By addressing each role’s specific needs—through identity verification, streamlined workflows, clear visual cues, and interactive dashboards—Alipay’s field‑sales operation became more trustworthy, efficient, and connected.