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Many people have since asked me to expand on exactly what they should be doing to lift the game of their salespeople. Does it mean sending staff on more sales and customer service training courses? Spending more money on customer research? Should they pay higher salaries to attract more professional salespeople?
While all these things would be useful, the real antidote is actually much simpler and much more important.
More than anything else, what we require is a fundamental shift in how we view the role of the salesperson in the modern economy.
We need to shift from simply seeing salespeople as a high maintenance yet necessary evil – the middle men and women connecting our customers and our products – to seeing them as an integral component of the value we offer to our customers, and their decision making and business processes.
As traditional “price” and “quality” competitive advantages are squeezed to the limit, businesses – especially those in “B2B” sectors - will need to find additional ways of providing value to their customers. And like it or not, their salespeople will be one of the primary means for doing so.
Now make no mistake about it, the responsibility is equally shared. Our salespeople themselves need to lift their game significantly, as it will require a much higher level of skill and understanding to be able to provide the value their employers will be calling upon them to deliver.
Specifically there are four key shifts occurring in the role of the salesperson, which need to be understood.
1) From “Door Opening” to “Problem Diagnosing”
In the past, old fashioned cold calling, either door-to-door or by telephone, served a useful and welcome purpose – to let potential customers know about a company’s new and interesting products. In less crowded times, when businesses had fewer ways of getting their message to market, customers were fairly receptive to this approach.
Today however, customers are bombarded by salespeople and advertisers like never before. As a result they are far less receptive to cold calling – the traditional realm of the salesperson.
So as marketing strategies are forced to become more sophisticated, our salespeople will require a new focus. Rather than banging down doors, they will be called upon when the doors are already open, as experts whose primary role is to secure relationships and build trust in a manner similar to a trusted doctor or specialist.
To do this they must focus on developing first class diagnostic skills and demonstrate a sincere and thorough understanding of their client’s objectives before they prescribe a solution.
2) Losing the “Us” versus “Them” Mentality
Selling is often viewed by those in sales as a battle of wits and resilience between the salesperson and the customer. Sales managers encourage staff to “Always Be Closing” and to “not take no for an answer”. With most businesses seeing selling as a “numbers game” is it any wonder so many customers experience buyer’s remorse and feel like just another number?
But for sometime now there has been a new dynamic in sales, one which despite all the lip service just doesn’t seem to be sinking in. Today’s customers want to buy, not be sold to. In fact thanks to the high pressure, sometimes underhanded, sales tactics of our predecessors, customers are now incredibly wary of salespeople - even if what they’re selling might genuinely be right for them.
Today’s salespeople need to lose the “Us versus Them” mentality and adopt the “Us” mentality, “Us” being the salesperson and their client, working together in the same team to achieve a common goal.
Those who continue to seek “victory” at the expense of their clients will lose out in the long term, to suppliers who are genuinely focused on playing team.
3) From “Information Providers” to “Information Interpreters”
Thanks mainly to the internet it is rare for a customer to call on a company without first doing some research of their own. Many customers complain that they knew more about the salesperson’s company, products and competitors than the salesperson them self!
Today getting the information is no longer a problem. The problem we have instead is interpreting it all so we can make good decisions. How do we know what’s relevant and what’s not?
Rather than needing more information on all the products, services, and innovations that might be able to help us, we require knowledgeable professionals who can help us cut through and interpret all the information available.
Sure, there is always the underlying question of whether or not salespeople can give unbiased advice to their customers, but those who genuinely try to add value in this way, will go a long way towards differentiating themselves from the competition.
4) From “Suppliers” to “Advisors”
Ultimately, the goal of the modern sales person is to become part of their client’s decision making team. The question for the client then becomes not so much, “Who should we use?” but, “What should we do?”
To achieve this, businesses and their salespeople need to focus on becoming advisors to their clients rather than just suppliers.
They need to become helpful experts, helping their clients assess the issues, determine their objectives and even help develop their decision making criteria.
Those who do this will be far more successful than those simply pitching a range of options and hoping for their clients to choose one, and far less likely to have to compete on price alone.
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Filed under Sales & Marketing and posted on 12 October 2009
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Raewyn Weller is the founder and director of Wealth in Knowledge - an organisation dedicated to helping people who want to grow in all aspects of their lives.
