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There’s been a dynamic shift in our industry the last five years.
It’s resulted in a power exchange from salespeople to buyers.
It used to be that salespeople were the source of all information relating to products or services.
Buyers relied on us solely to implement solutions and make purchases.
Those days are over and it’s high time we get our heads out of the clouds.
The new way of doing business is weeding out the sales force.
And although change is a good, if you can’t adapt, you’ve got it bad.
No consolation prize or thank you for your service.
Simply: Sayonara!
Just the Facts Mam
- Only 29% of people want to talk to a salesperson to learn more about a product, while 62% will consult a search engine. (HubSpot)
- 57% of salespeople believe buyers are less dependent on salespeople during the buying process. (HubSpot)
- 40% of salespeople say getting a response from prospects is getting harder. (HubSpot)
But, what does this actually mean for the future of salespeople?
Does it suggest obsolescence?
Not at all.
It shows we must embrace a new style of selling where our customers’ needs always come before ours.
Vision
The salesperson of the future provides solutions to problems prospects didn’t know they had.
We’ve been surface selling for years and have gotten away with it.
We were taught by asking a series of open-ended questions, we’d easily get to the root of a prospect’s issues.
And by massaging that line of questioning, our buyers would willingly conclude that we were the fix.
This doesn’t jibe anymore.
Companies are more complex and one size fits all salesmanship is tone-deaf.
While it’s still important for us to ask discovery questions, we must go beyond the surface.
We have to first understand their business and then decide how our solution fits within its ecosystem.
Their financials, marketplace positioning, competition, goals and initiatives must be included in our preparation and presentation.
We’ve been trained to ask what problems they face and what they struggle with the most.
Nowadays, we need to ask for more:
- Where do they see themselves 3, 5, 10 years from now?
- What are they’re currently doing that runs counter to reaching those long-term goals?
- What experiences (good and bad) have they been through before our arrival?
- How do we fit in as a partner or do we even fit in at all?
The Current State of Play
Salespeople have been with selling without a baseline for years.
We’ve gone in guns blazing, feature-flaunting selling machines with little knowledge of our target’s goals.
Without a fundamental understanding of what we’re up against, we’ve sprayed and prayed.
This luxury no longer exists.
Our numbers are down and commissions are suffering.
In today’s sales game, there are no more lay ups.
The stats don’t lie.
Our prospects have grown frustrated by our lack of preparation.
And understandably, they’ve lost respect in our ability to grasp what they’re going through.
Consequently – prospecting, connecting and closing are tougher because we’ve been unable to admit the hard truth.
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A grave miscalculation was also made by some internet sales leaders.
They thought they could reinvent the sales industry and its tried and proven methods with two words.
Social Selling;
And a mantra – “meet your customers where they’re at.”
The thing is, enterprise-level Sales is complex by nature.
It’s unlike SMB or B2C where transactions happen fast, furiously and frequently.
The high-ticket, high-dollar, high-value sale can take months or years to close.
During that time, you’re building trust and establishing credibility.
You’re making inroads and getting buy-in, one executive at a time, across multiple business units.
And since multi-million and billion dollar companies don’t change or engage vendors easily.
Meeting them where they’re at isn’t a strategy for success.
If we want to earn our audience’s respect – we need to kick it up a notch!
“Show them where they’ll be”, once your solution’s in place, instead of “meeting them where they’re at.”
Buying In or Selling Out
People on all levels are still buying into social selling as the flagship for the future of sales.
They think old-school methods of making calls and targeted email are for has-beens.
By following, liking, posting, sharing articles and videos, they believe they’re adding value.
This approach when executed properly may work in transactional sales.
But relying strictly on social selling doesn’t work for the enterprise.
Social selling has its place.
It’s ideal for gathering intel which can then be leveraged into ‘traditional’ sales channels.
But it isn’t a replacement for: Cold-calling, targeted email, setting meetings/ conference calls, adding value, presenting and follow up.
Conversation is still key to sales.
“Don’t let the human touch get lost in the tech trap.”
Planning for the Future
Moving forward, salespeople need to focus on long-term solutions for customers.
Let’s pay closer attention to identifying problems and offering services based on data and metrics.
- What will it take to get our customers from A to B?
- How do we implement our solution to get them there?
- Why are we telling them what we do when we can show them?
Sales Enablement vs Sales Unablement
30% of salespeople say closing deals is getting harder. (HubSpot)
Sales enablement tools are everywhere yet, salespeople are closing less.
The tech designed to facilitate the process isn’t helping to close more deals.
In fact, it may even be slowing us down.
Tech is an integral part of sales.
But we can’t depend on it one hundred percent.
We still need to disrupt and engage prospects through repeated outbound activity using the basics.
In today’s sales economy, we’ve become rich in data but poor in execution.
And execution, is what moves deals from contact to contract.
“You can’t automate empathy and chat bot your way to authenticity.” – Saleslane
8 Attributes for Successful Sales that Haven’t Changed
- Attitude: “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” – Ziglar
- Quality: Don’t spend time chasing accounts that don’t fit the profile of your ideal client.
- Research: Understand your target organization’s [influencers, decision makers and stakeholders] as well as their past issues/ events, present situation and future goals so you can sell with purpose.
- Mental: Focus on customer-centric sales strategies and not yourself.
- Discovery: Sell with curiosity and intent. Drill-down and ask questions that move the needle.
- Motivation: Do the work. Pick up the phone!
- Follow Up: Persistence pays off. It’s not unheard of for élite B2B sales reps to chase the same account for years before winning it.
- Confidence: Believe in yourself and your products.
It’s true, the sales industry isn’t what it used to be.
Maybe we were too busy getting high on our own supply to realize just how good we had it.
But, there’s still plenty of room for us to make a difference and thrive – if we trust the process and work smarter.
“Nothing happens until someone sells something.” – Henry Ford