Month: July 2019

Sales – It’s Not About You.

Blog 2 of 7 in a series

Last week we discussed the increasing number of sales technologies and the importance of your role as a sales person, despite that. Over the course of the next few weeks we will discuss 6 sales imperatives–things in sales that are so customer-serving that they have withstood the test of time and lasted through many eras of how people buy and sell. When incorporated into the way people sell, these 6 sales imperatives are indispensable in driving success.

Here is the first one:

It’s not about you. 

In the movie Beaches, Bette Midler’s character throws out one of my favorite quotes: “Anyway, that’s enough about me, let’s talk about you. What do YOU think about ME?”

We all know that one person…no matter the topic, no matter the severity of the news, no matter what is intended, they can make it about themselves. It’s super annoying. We know it as soon as we see it or hear it. Generally, when I see someone do that it makes me uncomfortable and makes me question their emotional maturity. 

A huge part of building trust with clients and prospects is building credibility. To build credibility, I use the following model: 

 

Propriety: Behaving appropriately for your customer’s business and calibrating your behavior to meet their expectations. 

Competence: Demonstrating you can work in your customer’s business with the same care and results that they do. 

Commonality: Sharing ideals, hopes, goals, or history with your customer or prospect. 

Intent: Stating that you are there for a win-win relationship. 

Each of these things should be defined by the customer’s perspective, not ours. The reason for that is simple; at this stage of the game, we haven’t earned the right to make it about us. Showing up to a sales call and immediately launching into who we are, what our company does, and the details of our offer will damage our credibility in the eyes of the person we’re speaking to. Best case, it will make them a little annoyed or uncomfortable. Worst case, they won’t trust you. In either case, it is unlikely they will buy from you. 

Once we begin to realize that at the initial stages of a selling relationship it isn’t about us, it begins to change how we think about call preparation, how we engage, and what we say or do when we arrive. Taking a step back and ensuring that propriety, competence, commonality, and intent are all viewed from the customer’s perspective will ultimately make our prospects more comfortable. It will go a long way in building trust and will increase the odds of making a sale. 

All of the sales training WinSource provides takes a customer-first approach. Doing so leads to more closes, satisfied customers, and longer lasting relationships. If we can help you or your teams with the transformation to a customer-centric sales approach, feel free to reach out to us. 

Stay tuned for the other 5 sales imperatives. 

If you’d like to see the rest of the series or read more blog posts from The WinSource, you can find them here.

Please subscribe to receive future posts directly to email.

Ideas, comments, and questions are always welcomed! Happy Selling!

Is Tech the Big Sales Trend?

Blog 1 of 7 in a series.

In a world where everything in sales seems to be changing so rapidly, I thought it would be good to put some perspective on what it really means for those of us in this rewarding profession. This is the first of a series of blogs that focus on 6 sales imperatives—attitudes and approaches that put you in a position to help your customers succeed in a super challenging, rapidly changing sales environment.

Curious about the latest trends in sales? Me too. It seems there are thousands of online articles (usually published by sales technology companies) that tout the benefits of all the latest advancements in sales tech.

  • CRM. 
  • Plug-ins to help with researching prospects, who to sell to and when. 
  • Email automation with sequences and scheduling. 
  • Apps to serve up collateral material at the right time. 
  • Tracking of what’s been opened, shared, or deleted. 
  • Buyer portals. 
  • eCommerce enablement. 
  • Seller support. 

There are now more than 3,400 sales apps available! It feels like every part of the sales process is being optimized and computerized. 

Could the latest trend be that technology is rendering salespeople obsolete?

Hard no. 

For as much good can come of using technology, it has done nothing to displace sellers. The Occupational Employment Statistics program of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics semiannual report states that one out of every nine American workers are in a sales role, and they project that the US will add nearly two million new sales jobs by 2020.

The need for salespeople continues to rise because only people (not technology) have the ability to provide buyers what they really need; a trusted advisor. 

You can’t be good at sales if you aren’t good at people; technology can only take you so far.

Buyers today are under a lot of pressure. They are tasked with judiciously spending company money on only the investments that will garner the greatest return. As a result, 45% of buyers are doing more pre-sale research, and 45% are consulting more sources than just one year ago. They must cull through more information, sort past best-foot-forward marketing and sales pitches, and hope they’ve found the solution they really need. 

The best way to sort through sterile information about products is to get advice from someone you trust. The best way to solve complex problems is with help from a person that “gets it.” 

The best way for a company to succeed in sales is to teach their sellers how to create trust and give good advice. They need to know how to listen, ask questions, curate information, and solve hard problems. 

Not one of the 3,400 sales apps out there can do that. Only people can. And the need for that kind of help is trending upward.

Do you need help teaching your sales team how to become a trusted advisor? We can help with that. www.winsourcegroup.com

Stay tuned for the 6 sales imperatives.

If you’d like to see the rest of the series or read more blog posts from The Win Source, you can find them here.

Please subscribe to receive future posts directly to email.

Ideas, comments, and questions are always welcomed! Happy Selling!