Closing more deals at higher margins

A well structured Training and Coaching intervention backed by Senior Management and supported by the whole business is key to sustainable behavioural change. Here is what happened when I worked with a sales team……….

One day in the not too distant past I met a senior sales leader who presented me with a great question:

‘How can I get my professional sales team stop selling on price, yet make more sales at higher margins instead’?’

We discussed our options at length including incentives, bonus schemes, performance management, attracting new sales team members with ‘example’ skills and even activity management measures. Included in the discussion was the MD and members of the executive management team including operations.

In the end we agreed on a combination of

classic lecture style training, on the job sales coaching and work shops.

The lectures focused on sales processes, negotiation, probing questions, emotional engagement and personality profiling

The coaching covered prospecting, planning initial meetings, fact finding and sales techniques

The workshop delivered product and service presentations skills, pre-closing techniques, recapping techniques and follow up strategies to close deals.

Besides the learning we had fun too with plenty of in jokes and laughs.

Prospecting, selling based on value and deal margins are up now. I sense that this team only just started to reach for the skies.

If you have a question related to sales productivity or effectiveness, drop me a line. I would be very happy to assist with a solution for your business.

#salesperformance #salestraining #salesenablement #sellingtechniques #salesprocess

Like pilots, sales people can learn using simulators

This Training and Development insight is aimed at senior Sales Leaders and Sales Training Directors who are seeking new effective ways to develop their sales teams.

The Sky was darkening, the wind and rain was growing much stronger and the crew were feeling anxious as the situation became more severe. A flight manual was shaken violently and feel to the floor with a terrible thud – but nobody was brave enough to loosen their grip on the controls to even think about picking it up. The crew knew that the decisions that they had to make in the next few minutes would bring safety or disaster to everybody on board. The pressure was on..

Luckily, this was a training exercise – although it felt real enough for the crew to raise their blood pressure. It was carried out in a flight simulator. Pilots all over the world use simulators to learn about flying and the controls before they eventually fly a real plane full of people just like you and me.

Pilots have benefited from flight simulations for years because:

  • Simulations provide a safe environment to practice, to test what if scenarios without ending in costly mistakes
  • The lessons are indelibly imprinted in the pilot’s mind because training is dynamic and emotionally engaging
  • The context and content is relevant, realistic and directly applicable to the job
  • Simulation shorten training time as a few days of simulation can replace weeks of classroom activity.

Most of us would not dare board an aircraft if the pilot has not first gained sufficient experience in a flight simulator. Yet, it seems acceptable to allow sales people to represent their company in ever more complex situations interacting with senior decision makers without giving them the experience, skills and business acumen that is necessary to ensure sales success.

Training and development departments have had the desire to take a more sophisticated approach to sales training, similar to what the average pilot experiences, yet technology and training budget has not made it possible.

But now with the latest sales simulations more and more organisations have the opportunity to provide such a rich learning experience. They are adopting to this new approach in greater numbers. For more information about sales simulations and how these can be made specific to your organisation feel free to contact us

#selling #salestraining #roleplay #traininginnovation

Sales process for dummies

This idea for sales leaders and sales people explains why having a sales process makes sense, how it benefits sales people, their leaders and what the key steps in the sales process are.

Why a sales process?

Process is a concept advocated by many leaders, from sports coaches and commanders to teachers and CEOs. Underlying this is a rock-steady belief in processes over a results-oriented only approach.

Results will follow as long as the process is sound and the steps are completed with great commitment and passion.

An additional benefit is that knowing there is a road and steps towards success, inspires a team and carry them through the inevitable tough times. This is why implementing a formal, stringent and well-defined sales process is central to effective sales management.

And when this process is captured and measured each step of the way, ideally through robust CRM, managers can support their sales teams and make better business decisions.

What is a sales process?

A sales process is a proven and documented approach to sales undertaken by a team of sales people. The messaging is consistent and there are sales aids – such as sales tools and key sales metrics. It is the ideal blueprint for success built by, and for the users.

There are two critical elements to a good sales process:

Logical steps that start with finding prospective customers, engaging them, presenting your products/services and end once a new deal has been agreed, gone live. In some companies the sales teams have latitude to be more creative and perhaps engage with a product demonstration and using this as a start for fact finding needs. In other organisations, sellers are required to strict scripting and follow each step. It is a matter of what works best.

Sales metrics – A data set that shows quality and quantity of all sales activity. It helps sellers and their leadership to understand what is (not) working well enough in each of the sales steps. Whether they are used to track sales activities, forecast more accurately or manage the sales pipeline, a team’s sales metrics should be available to all.

How customers benefit.

It saves time and adds value to the buying process through a structured approach. Buying has become an ever more difficult process. Gartner research demonstrates the complexity of stakeholder management and how meeting sales people occupies 17% of buyer’s time. A supplier who adds value to the buyer’s experience is more likely to win the business.

How sales people benefit.

Closing more deals – The sales process works and sales metrics aren’t lying. It delivers consistent results. As a seller I remember all my great sales and more importantly how I got them by understanding my numbers and closing ratios. Are your sales people resisting a regimented approach? Simply show them the undeniable and unbeatable proof in your sales metrics.

Improving efficiency – routine improves efficiency. No different to a performing artist singing the same songs many times over. They become better and better at it with less effort, leaving room for more. Sales people will find additional sales opportunity with the same customer if they apply the logic of the sales process. That means more revenues for their company and more satisfied customers.

Confidence – Having a track to run on and knowing that the track leads to success, build confidence in the sales person. This helps getting more sales.

Developing stronger skills through repetition – The more one practices, the better one gets at the job. Fact-finding skills, presentation and negotiation skills all improve dramatically as the velocity following the same steps goes up. The improved closing ratios mean more revenues.

No need to reinvent the wheel with every new opportunity – This comes down to a comfort level and confidence executing time and again. No need of having to come up with new unrehearsed approaches for every opportunity, the team can rely on the tried-and-tested nature of their sales process. Selling is about execution.

Structure – When a sales person gets stuck on a tricky aspect of a particularly difficult sales opportunity, they don’t have to revert to their manager for advice. They can simply review their sales process and often go back to an earlier step to re-start the opportunity.

How sales leaders and their organisations gain from a sales process.

In short, a measured sales process liberates a sales leader to support their team in the right areas and helps making better sales management decisions.

Better sales forecasts – A good sales process will allocate standard time frames to each sales stage. This combined with success ratios at each stage will help to predict sales outcomes.

It sets activity and results expectations – Each sales person is expected to adhere to the sales process at every level. If a he/she isn’t sticking to the sales process, they are not meeting their expectations.

Accountability – The transparency of the measured sales process creates accountability with sales people. They, and the rest of the team, see how well they are achieving.

Up to date information to manage the sales funnel – The sales process should outline between 5 and 8 crystal-clear steps to take at each level. Sales managers can effectively manage the sales funnel knowing each sales team member is keeping their sales funnel up to date.

Training needs analysis- The sales manager is responsible for training and motivating their sales team. By identifying strengths and weaknesses in each sales person’s sales funnel, the manager has an excellent starting point to train and motivate the sales team.

Having a sales process makes sense. It creates good sales habits. If you have no formalised sales process yet or believe a more structured approach will help your revenues, feel free to contact me.

#sellingtechniques#salesm#salesmotivation#salesprocess#CRM

No farmers in Start-ups

This sales idea is a short-read reference for business leaders who are thinking about employing a sales team.

When businesses are in start-up mode, processes related to hiring and firing a sales team may not be firmly established. Often business owners do the selling themselves. Maybe they decided having some independent sales people as the next stage.

Yet, further down the line the following encouraging signs indicate the need to build a company sales team:

  • Customers or prospects are giving positive product feedback
  • More and more leads are coming in
  • Revenue are growing enough to afford hiring sales people
  • Product demand is visibly going up

More, worrying, signals are:

  • Reducing lead to sale conversion
  • Lack of lead follow up
  • New sales/revenues slowing down
  • Reduced new leads flow

Timing is crucial. Hire the team too early and your cash burn rate will increase. The less positive signals above could mean you have some catching up to do.

The best sales people are hard wired to make sales. They are not strategists or product developers. Give them a ready-made product to sell that has at least proof of concept and demand.

Before starting to recruit ask yourself what kind of sales team your business needs most. Here are key considerations other than defining who your customers are and how they want to buy:

Hunters and farmers. The sales hunter is best suited to a business where finding new customers is the priority. An additional benefit of the hunter is that they are not lead dependent. They create their sales leads.

Farmer sales people focus on the longer-term customer relationship to maximise sales from existing customers. They are experts in developing existing relationships and retaining them against the competition. Most start-ups need sales hunters much more before they need sales farmers.

Field sales. Some products and services need face to face selling and relationship management. Product complexity, uniqueness and deal values are drivers for this. Field sales people should spend most of their time doing one of the following: finding new customers, quoting and signing new deals.

Inside sales. When your product is simple to explain use and lower in value, an inside sales team may be all you need. The job is very similar to Field sales yet, sales are made from the office and face to face meetings are very rare.

– A combined field and inside sales team can be useful where the initial sale is made by a Field seller. The ongoing relationship is with an in-house sales person or team. The in-house sales team can also qualify sales leads before the field sales team gets involved.

Partner sales. If selling to partners, who sell your product on your behalf, is your strategy, your sales will develop more slowly. Sales farmer qualities in a sales hunter are useful here as this is a relationship-based sale.

Once you know what your sales team structure looks like, the next step is to devise a reward system that encourages each team member to overachieve in their role. Compensation schemes can be tricky to design so here are two tips:

– keep them close to your company strategy,

– make them as simple as possible to understand.

Now it is time to hire your top team. A simple hiring process will pay off as you are likely to have to interview a good number of candidates to find the very best. The following guide will help designing it.

– Use an agency to do pre-selection or do it yourself. The main advantage of using an agency is time savings. You may well have to go through 100 cv s or more so let the agency do the job and it will save you a lot of precious time. The advantage of doing it yourself is that you know everything there is to know about your business. (Hiring the best means you will have to sell the job role to the candidate you want)

– Have a clear role description. You can share a role description with candidates/agencies. Include key responsibilities (use numbers where possible), role scope, location, benefits, why your company exists, how it works and what is sells. It is good to state what experience you seek in candidates’ track record.

– Define the hiring steps and time frames such as: 1) CV review, 2) Telephone/Skype interview, 3) F2F interview with CEO, 4) Decision.

– Have a set of similar questions for each candidate to avoid going by gut feel only. Stay with role specific questions like: “Tell me about your best sale to date. How did you go about it?”

– Ask for proof of previous sales successes. Commission statements are a great way to validate a candidate’s past successes.

Once you have made successful job offers, there are three strategies to keep your team fired up and motivated:

Knowledge: Keep building the team’s product and market knowledge. Your customers see them as experts in their field

Skills: Whilst the best sales people have a very special talent, most must learn and develop their sales skills in prospecting, engaging prospects, needs discovery, product presentation and closing skills.

Attitude: Personal motivation, passion and drive are just three elements of what creates the right attitude for successful sales people. Keep feeding their passion for the company cause.

There are a lot of considerations as you move forward with building a sales team from the ground up, but it’s worth taking the time to develop a plan that will take you forward. Following the above steps and honestly evaluating whether you’re ready to start building your sales team, will help to ensure that your is positioned for maximum growth.

I have built successful sales teams in the past and am very happy to share my experience whether you sell traditional goods or state of the art service solutions.

Gert Scholts +4438010170

#hiringasalesteam #motivatingsalespeople #farnershunters

Buying CRM was like a wedding. Now we are considering a divorce….

This sales management tip is for sales leaders who consider buying a CRM application to better manage sales team activity. The majority of companies I work with have some form of Customer Relationship Management system. Most of the people in those companies say it is useless or that nobody really uses it. Sales people wanted it in the first place, yet are the worst offenders not using the system. As a result CRM is seen as a white elephant and a waste of money. Sales opportunities are not taken advantage of or missed altogether.

It is a very different story when designed well by the people who use it day in, day out. They thrive and seek improvements all the time. They deliver great sales, better customer experiences and more profit. Believe it or not, they love their CRM and could not do without it.

If you are in a position where CRM is not being used or perhaps are considering to buy a new CRM application, it makes sense to have a clear idea why you need it, how it fits in the company and what it should do.

When asked, I get stuck in with a simple specification process involving all potential users (or representation). This will achieve two objectives:

  1. Buy in from all
  2. Have a CRM that has the right functionality and future proofing for your company

I ask them why they might need CRM, how it should work and what it should do for them.

Here is an example of how to specify CRM requirements. Feel free to use it. It is simple and effective. DOWNLOAD CRM SPEC

Once you have all requirements, prioritise them so you have your initial shopping list ready

Now it is time to meet the CRM sales teams and for them to show why their system is the one for you. The wedding and the marriage will be so much better.

If you would like practical advice on how to get the best CRM for your business or make better use of the current set up, feel free and drop me a line

#salesforceco #ACT #Pipedrivecom #whatcrm #collaboration #procurement

4 sales fundamentals for non-sales people

This sales idea covers the 4 essential sales process steps for non-sales people.
When you have a great product ready to launch, you most likely will have to go out and sell it to prospective customers. That can be a scary thought. Meeting people you have not met before who will ask questions your may not have answers to.
It can feel like being in the Dragons’ den…..
Here are 4 steps helping your sales pitch to be effective and successful.
As a process, selling a product or service when talking to a potential buyer, is quite simple:
  1. Open the conversation in such a way trust is established and permission is created for the sales person to ask relevant questions.
  2. Guide the conversation through questions that reveal the prospect’s needs and motivation.
  3. Present your solution and demonstrate how it meets your customer’s needs
  4. Agree next steps (which could be the order).

If you want to find out more about how selling works feel free to call for a chat on 07738010170 or mail me

Happy selling!

#howtosell #salesmotivation #sellingyourproduct #freesalesadvice #askingquestions

4 proven tactics unlocking your best pipeline opportunities today.

This sales tip covers 4 tactics to get sales opportunities moving again after they got stuck.

Every good sales person has great sales opportunities lined up.

However, some opportunities seem to be locked in their pipeline far too long. They are stuck in there for weeks, months and sometimes, years….

Yet, we need progress and urgency to close deals. I can help you with this today.

Invariably the reasons for these blockages lie in one or more of just 4 areas:

  • The customer’s decision making processes are unclear,
  • Customer’s requirements are not fully known,
  • The product’s cost outweighs perceived value to the customer,
  • A time line to next steps has not been clearly agreed between all parties

Here are 4 tips to unlock sales opportunities fast:

  1. Confirm the decision makers and decision making processes with your prospect
  2. Agree with your customer the problem your are resolving
  3. Ask you customer what they seek from a solution/product other than lowest possible cost
  4. Establish the time line the customer wants to follow with regard to purchase.

With the festive season around the corner, unlocking these opportunities will help making December a bumper sales month for your company improving revenue, profit and company morale. It will also help starting 2019 with a highly motivated sales team.

Feel free to read more of my posts aimed to make life easier for sales people.

If you need a bit more help, I can be of assistance at short notice. Sessions are available on site and online.

Get in touch on 07738010170 or mail gert.scholts@thebestsalescoach.co.uk

#sellingvalue #salestechniques #salesskills #salescoaching #buyingsignals #motivationallettertoteam #Training #Motivation #success #salesteammotivation

Easy guide for 2019 Sales Strategy

This sales tip is aimed at sales leaders who are planning sales for the period ahead. With the new year around the corner many sales leaders will be working their sales strategy for 2019. Here is a helpful template. Feel free to use it and pick what your want from it.

The Sales Strategy outlines the sales teams strategic plan of attack to penetrate the marketplace and generate revenue, focusing on the long-term framework of the sales approach. The Sales Strategy provides a foundation from which the Sales Plan can be produced, which covers the short-term tactical plan for engaging the customers and making the sales process more efficient. Both are heavily influenced by the company’s Growth Strategy and Market so have a copy on the ready.

Analysis and should be supported by a Marketing Plan that delivers qualified leads on a consistent basis. Where there is no lead generation, the Sales Strategy should fill this gap by through pro-active prospecting by the sales team.

Sales Strategy Components Include:

• Target Customer Profile

• Prospect Segmentation

• Sales / Distribution Model

• Sales Process Definition (i.e. Sales Cycle)

• Pricing Strategy

• Up-Sell Strategy

• Customer Training / Support Policy

Target Customer Profile.

The first step in a successful sales strategy and plan is to develop a clear understanding of who you are selling to and to communicate this to the entire sales team. The Target Customer Profile identifies the typical person (or persons) in the core market(s) the product / service is being sold. Often the person in the target organisation feeling the pain of not having your product / service (and therefore generating interest in the product) will not be the same person who has the decision-making power to approve the purchase, and this chain of key personnel should be identified in the Target Customer Profile. Going through this exercise will enable a sales team to tailor sales materials, sales processes, and overall sales strategy so they can be streamlined to more efficiently get “buy off” inside an organisation. Key components to be defined in a Target Customer Profile include target markets, market segments, and roles / position titles of all those likely to be involved in a purchase decision. Sales Strategy (continued)

Prospect Segmentation

Once the target customers have been identified and described, the next step is to segment the prospects so that they can most efficiently be approached by the sales team. Typically, this will involve market research in various industry directories to identify the top prospects in each market. Although it will vary from industry to industry, in general the prospects can be segmented on two criteria: Region and Quality. Generally, a regional territory will be assigned to a specific sales rep who may or may not be in that region. Prospects are further broken down into quality based on size of the company or the potential business opportunity the customer represents, which will allow sales reps to prioritise more lucrative prospects. As a rule of thumb, good sales plan should start with at least 100 prospects in each region (1000ʼs if possible), and the prospect lists will continue to grow as more market research is done.

Quality groupings for each prospect can vary considerably depending on the industry, but a simple and effective system is to designate three grading levels (A, B, C) with an

“A” prospect representing the most lucrative prospect,

“B” representing a mid-level prospect, and

“C” presenting all other prospects that are big enough to devote a significant sales effort. There should be a specific parameter that determines what quality grouping a prospect goes in such as annual revenue, marketing budget, number of employees, or some other industry standard ranking system but again, this will vary based on the industry and type of product / service offering. Designating quality will help the sales team prioritise resources, and to set sales goals such as a target number of A level prospects per quarter.

Sales / Distribution Model

The key to selecting and building an effective distribution channel is selecting a distribution model than best enables your sales team to and sustain a relationship with the target customer. The right choice of distribution model will be a function of Solution Complexity (how difficult the product is to install / deploy / use) and Marketing Complexity (how difficult the product is to source / buy / support). In general, this involves a decision about whether to use intermediaries to the sell the product, and how much “hand holding” a typical customer will need to make a purchase. Most industries already have prevailing distribution models, which will usually be the right choice from which to start. The chart to the right maps out different distribution model options based on the marketing and solution complexity criteria.

Sales process (a.k.a. “The Sales Funnel”)

The steps the sales team takes with each lead — from the initial contact with the prospect to the close of the sale and payment for goods. The goal of breaking down and defining the steps is to provide a framework for tracking sales and understanding the status of every sales prospect at any given point in time. It also helps to identify inefficiencies in the system so that sales managers can act to improve the conversion rates for each stage, resulting in a quicker Sales Cycle, more total sales and increased revenue. The Sales Process / Sales Cycle will be different for every industry, but typically will break down as follows:

Sales Funnel Calculation

The Sales Funnel Calculation is a mathematical model for estimating the number of “unqualified leads” that will be required to be brought into the sales cycle and converted into sales in order to reach a sales team’s revenue targets. It’s also a valuable tool for providing a benchmark for sales managers to gauge the success of their team’s performance. An unqualified lead is a cold lead — that is, a prospective customer that should reasonably be interested in the product but has not yet been contacted or otherwise indicated interest in the product. These leads become more “qualified” as they pass through each stage of the sales cycle until they finally turn into closed sales.

However, there will naturally be some percentage of attrition of these leads at each stage of the cycle. The trick is to estimate a reasonable amount of attrition at each stage, track the sales team performance, and then adjust these estimates for accuracy as more data on sales conversions become available. The ongoing objective is to take steps to continually improve the conversion rates for each stage of the sales cycle by continually refining the sales process.

Pricing Strategy

Pricing is one of the major elements of the “Marketing Mix” (along with Product, Place, and Promotion), and it is critical to positioning the product / service — both in minds of potential customers, and relative to the competition.

Determining the right price, a company’s range of products / services is an inexact science, and while there are several standard pricing models to consider, there are several factors related to any company’s specific situation that should be considered when formulating Pricing Strategy. See common factors affecting pricing strategy, and list of standard pricing models below:

Factors Affecting Pricing: In general, the goal for pricing products / services should be to price them as high as the market will bear, however this is not always a clear-cut decision, and there are several factors to consider that may make strategic adjustments to this theory critical to long-term success. Consider the following…

• Positioning: Does the company have enough perceivable product differentiation / competitive advantage to price higher than the competition, or will slightly under-cutting them in price be a faster way to build market share?

• Demand / Price Sensitivity: Are the target market customers price conscious enough to pick one competitor over the other based solely on price, or are they willing to pay a higher price for a product they like a little more than a lower priced alternative?

• Cost: Calculate an estimated “cost per customer” based on all fixed and variable costs (cost of goods, overhead, etc.) that go into delivering the product / service. In order to turn a profit, you must price high enough to cover your “cost per customer”.

• Competitive / Environmental Factors: What does the market expect your pricing to be? That is, what is “average” and how will pricing higher or lower than the competition affects marketplace perception?

• Revenue / Profit Maximisation: Based on revenue and expense projections, does your pricing “pencil out”.

Up-Sell Strategy

Up-Sell Strategy refers to a systematic plan for increasing the average sales revenue per customer by employing a variety of techniques to get the customer to buy more than they had originally intended. This can be in the form of selling more expensive items, upgrades or add-on products and services. Up-selling is one of the easiest ways to increase total sales revenue, however there must be a plan in place to maximise up-selling opportunities, and it will be different for every industry and every kind of product / service. The following are standard up-selling techniques, most of which can be customised and refined for most selling environments:

• Offer complimentary products at point of sale

• Offer additional services at a discount

• Offer bundled products at a discount

• Offer a chance to purchase upgraded version of the product

• Offer extended service contract

• Offer “premium support” option

• Quote optional products / add on modules in final proposal which can be purchased at a discounted rate for

a limited time

• Offer a free analysis of different areas of their business and recommend additional products/ services to

Customer Training / Support Policy

The training and support of a company’s product / service offering should be a vital component of a company’s sales strategy. The number one goal of an effective training and support system is to provide outstanding training and support. This is not only a way to make customers happy, but also a way to differentiate from the competition and generate new business through referrals. The flip side is that poor training and support will quickly damage a company’s reputation and have the opposite effect. In addition, an effective training and support system will reduce internal work load by cutting down on redundancies and providing self-help mechanisms for customers.

Finally, a company should strive to make support and training a source of revenue by charging a fair price for excellent service. The following are common elements of an effective support and training system:

• Knowledgeable support / training personnel

• 24 hour service

• Quick response time

• Effective support ticketing system

• Comprehensive Product Documentation

• Online Knowledge Base website

• Video tutorials

• FAQs and best practices information

• Customer Forum

Every business is unique and special considerations. If you want to know more or perhaps assistance with your sales strategy 2019, feel free to contact me

#salesstrategy #motivatingasalesteam #salesplan

Dear Sales Professional,

This sales tip is aimed at sales leaders who seek a new way of motivating their sales teams.

Thank you for the tremendous efforts you are making this month. Nothing is a problem and everything is an opportunity. You are fearless, committed and completely aware that in sales it is down to efforts to get results.

I am confident your attitude and actions will pay off handsomely this month.

Here are the reasons why:

  • You have enough new suspects going in the top of the funnel every day
  • You are constantly qualifying suspects into prospects
  • You are always qualifying prospects and arranging meetings/calls
  • You qualify prospects during discovery meetings through questions
  • You use questions to gain commitment
  • You present our products with passion, knowledge and true customer focus
  • You are closing business every day
  • You put customer and company first

We are exactly half way through the month today. With the above in mind I know bonuses will be payable this month, once again. That is fantastic and you deserve every penny. I will be very happy to write the cheque.

I am excited with you and look forward to another record.

Best wishes

If you like to know more about sales team motivation feel free to contact me on 07738010170

#motivationallettertoteam #salesresults #salesteammanagement

Up against the clock: responsive sales skills for the digital age

This sales tip is aimed at sales leaders discussing how sales people continue to play an value-adding role in a digital sales world.

There is an old adage that ‘people buy from people’. But, in the digital age, is that really still the case – especially for businesses who deal with short sales cycles?

According to CEB, 57% of a B2B purchase decision is complete before a customer even contacts a company – and research from SiriusDecisions indicates that around 67% of the B2B buyer’s journey is now done digitally.

These statistics certainly show that the relationships between companies and their customers is becoming more remote – affecting the sales team role significantly. But, the ability for customers to determine so much about a company before engaging with them doesn’t mean that traditional sales processes and skills are dead. And, even if a lot of the decision-making process is already done, it doesn’t automatically mean that the sales job is easy – or a simple case of getting a purchase order from a customer.

It does, however, mean that the customer entry point and buying journey in the digital world are very different – and salespeople need to adapt their approach in response to that change.

Firstly, sales processes and customer data need to be connected so that sales people can quickly access and/or record information about the customer. In the case of an inbound enquiry, the ability to see that customer’s journey so far – through web analytics, marketing campaign response tracking and CRM data – can be invaluable in helping sales teams quickly tailor their style, questions and responses to address the individual customer’s needs.

Secondly, in the fast-moving digital age, where everyone is highly connected and living life on the go, speed, convenience and relevancy are now an expected part of every interaction. This means that, whether the mode of communication is physical or digital, quickly establishing a personal connection with your customer is now vital.

But building a rapport isn’t about rolling out the smooth-talking sales patter. In an inbound sales situation, it’s about understanding what has brought them to you. With outbound sales – whether in person or via telephone – it’s important to discover what the customer’s needs are, before you talk about what your company can offer. In these information and reputation-driven times, the chances are that they already know something about your company and what products or services you provide. Equally, they probably already know, or deal with, your competitors. The key skill that sales people can develop is to learn how to ‘catch up’ with that customer’s journey so far – to understand what they already know, what their expectations are and how your business can meet their needs. Closing the sale is undoubtedly contingent on the ability to do this quickly and efficiently, in a way that leaves the customer satisfied and confident in their decision.

Connecting with the customer in this way not only helps to close the loop on the immediate sale – it’s an equally important part of securing loyalty and future business. Being ‘easy to do business with’ is also key to gaining new business through referrals and recommendations – something which is increasingly important, not only because of the spread of reputation through online channels, but also as a way to tap into the almost boundless digital networks of today’s buyers.

In summary, the digital age has transformed the front end of the typical customer journey, which often now involves a much shorter (and arguably more challenging) period of direct interaction with sales teams. But it’s also still true that ‘people buy from people’ in that forming a relationship with a customer can make the difference between closing the sale and losing it, between completing a single sale and securing ongoing business and between causing customer apathy and driving customer recommendations.

If you want to know more about how to adapt your sales approach for the digital age, get in touch!

#sellingvalue #salestraining #askingquestions #salesteammanagement #salesteammotivation #attitudes #salesforcecom #salesteamorganisation