The world of Sales has been transformed in the past five years by three significant changes. First, the economic turmoil that started in 2008 which has put the focus on the cost of sales instead of the opportunity cost of not making the sale. The second is technology, caller id, voice mail, on-line meetings, ad blockers and a thousand other changes. Thirdly cultural changes that have four generation of people working together each with their values and styles that often conflict with each other.
We are in the perfect storm of sales and selling. So what will it to be successful in sales today and in the future? That is the question I ask my guest on my PodCast The Brutal Truth about Sales & Selling. Recently I ask Steve Woods the Co-Founder and CTO of Nudge.aiwhat he felt the top 3 things salespeople need to focus on?
1) View the world through the buyer's eyes: This would seem obvious by we rarely see. We are all under so much pressure to get meetings to build a pipeline and close deals we are overwhelmed with what WE need and what WE want that we overlook how our clients view the world. We are told to come up with a more compelling pitch or a great insight but is that how the client views the world? Would it not make more sense to learn what their day is like and what they care about? Do we really think we know their job or business better than they do? Who outside your company knows your job or business better than you?
2) Be Curious: Sales is becoming more and more like detective work, meaning we have to determine who is most likely be interested? What are they going to care about? How do I keep the deal moving? Who's buy-in will be needed? How can I justify the purchase? Why would they do it now? These are just a few questions that we should be asking ourselves every day. We all need to get out of our head and get into our clients head.
3) Embrace Technology: In Sales, we used to have to buy information and intelligence. Today we are overwhelmed with information and noise. We need to automate our process and systems while at the same time be human and personal. This paradox will be challenging for all of us. It will be the salespeople who embrace technology and how to apply it wisely that will be successful in this new world. Last week I wrote a post on mysales stack and how I use it to triple my business.
If you would like to listen to the complete interview, you can click here.
Please let me know what you feel salespeople need to do today to prepare for this changing world?
Thanks for stopping by,
Brian
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