Musts for Sales Success in 2010
Editor’s note: Stu Schlackman is a frequent contributor to this blog.
"Shorten your sales cycle & increase your win rate through competitive excellence"
Sales is a competitive sport. In 2010, the successful sales pro must view the economy as an opportunity. It doesn’t matter if we are or were in a recession and it doesn’t matter if the forecast is iffy or bleak. Successful sales people always find a way to win despite a very competitive market where customers have many options to consider. Today, customers are more aware of solutions than ever before, thanks in part to the Internet. In today’s economy companies want immediate results and response to their needs. The definition of P & L has now become “profit or leave.” The terms customer service or satisfaction have been thrown around like a commodity, yet if we don’t take care of customers to their satisfaction they’re gone in a nanosecond.
Whether we are looking to win new business with new companies or build our existing customer base there are three musts for sales success in the future.
1—–The mindset of building long term business relationships must come first. To develop a customer for the future, your strategy must concentrate on the customer’s long term needs and not our interest in the immediate sale. The first sale should be the start to gaining credibility, trust and respect as we move forward and prove ourselves over time. Proving ourselves starts with the customer’s needs, not ours. We must understand that even though a customer is asking for a specific solution it is based on two needs, business and personal. When more than two decision makers are involved we must understand that their individual personal needs can be quite different. So how do we find them out?
Stu's Four People You Should Know
2—–Learning all the needs of the decision makers is the second must which means asking critical questions. Presenting a solution in the beginning of a sales cycle is sales suicide. You don’t know what they need until you get all the information. You must ask strategic questions and expose the customer’s interests. Your plan must show the customer that we are more concerned in understanding their needs than selling our products and services. If you want better answers from the customer, then ask better questions!
3—–Differentiate or die! If we don’t differentiate ourselves from all the options the customer has, we’ll lose every time. If we can differentiate our solutions based on asking the right questions, we can propose a solution that will more closely meet the needs of the customer. Each time we obtain a critical piece of information it can put us a step ahead of our competitors and earn us the right to come back and ask more. Decision makers respect sales professionals that ask the tough questions. Proposing the right solution is directly proportional to better performance thus leading to repeat business. Products don’t develop relationships, people do. Sales pros make the difference in a world in which customers have many options.
To achieve your personal best, own the mindset of building long term relationships, prepare and ask the critical questions and remember we must differentiate or die! Sales is an exhilarating profession. The sales person makes all the difference to the customer. We are the first person the customer always calls when there is a need. What a privilege we have to nurture and help our customers to improve their business environment!