What do you do if your Outside Sales techniques are no longer effective in the future?

1 Assess your strengths and weaknesses

The first step to improving your outside sales techniques is to honestly evaluate your current performance and identify your areas of improvement. You can use various tools and methods to assess your strengths and weaknesses, such as feedback surveys, sales metrics, self-reflection, or coaching sessions. By knowing where you excel and where you need to work on, you can focus your efforts on the most impactful actions and avoid wasting time and resources on ineffective or outdated practices.

2 Learn new skills and technologies

The next step to future-proofing your outside sales skills is to invest in your professional development and learn new skills and technologies that can enhance your sales process and results. For example, you can learn how to use social media, video, or chatbots to generate leads, nurture relationships, and close deals. You can also learn how to leverage data, analytics, and artificial intelligence to optimize your sales strategy, personalize your offers, and predict customer behavior. By staying updated on the latest trends and innovations, you can gain a competitive edge and offer more value to your prospects and clients.

3 Experiment with different approaches

The third step to future-proofing your outside sales skills is to experiment with different approaches and test what works best for your target market, industry, and product. You can try different ways of prospecting, qualifying, presenting, negotiating, and closing, and measure the outcomes and feedback. You can also try different channels, formats, and messages, and see how they affect your engagement and conversion rates. By experimenting with different approaches, you can discover new opportunities, avoid stagnation, and improve your sales performance.

4 Build trust and rapport

The fourth step to future-proofing your outside sales skills is to build trust and rapport with your prospects and clients. Trust and rapport are essential for any successful sales relationship, especially in a complex and uncertain environment. You can build trust and rapport by showing genuine interest, empathy, and respect, by listening actively and asking relevant questions, by providing value and solving problems, and by following up and delivering on your promises. By building trust and rapport, you can create loyal and satisfied customers, increase referrals and repeat business, and reduce churn and complaints.

5 Seek feedback and improvement

The fifth step to future-proofing your outside sales skills is to seek feedback and improvement on a regular basis. Feedback is a valuable source of information and insight that can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, learn from your mistakes, and celebrate your achievements. You can seek feedback from various sources, such as your prospects, clients, managers, peers, mentors, or coaches. You can also use feedback to set goals, create action plans, track progress, and measure results. By seeking feedback and improvement, you can continuously grow and develop your outside sales skills and adapt to changing needs and expectations.

6 Embrace change and uncertainty

The sixth and final step to future-proofing your outside sales skills is to embrace change and uncertainty as inevitable and positive aspects of your sales career. Change and uncertainty can bring challenges and risks, but also opportunities and rewards. You can embrace change and uncertainty by being flexible, resilient, and proactive, by anticipating and preparing for different scenarios, by learning from your experiences, and by seeking new and creative solutions. By embracing change and uncertainty, you can overcome obstacles, seize opportunities, and achieve your sales goals.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?