5 Key Challenges For Salespeople to Survive And Thrive

In my experience consulting with business teams, large and small, I have become more and more convinced that nothing happens without sales. In this context, the classic image of the focused and hard-driving sales quota buster has changed to be totally team collaborative, internally and externally, in this age of high technology, rapid change, and total customer personalization.

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As I perused a copy of the new book, HBR Sales Management Handbook, by Prabhakant Sinha, Arun Shastri, and Sally Lorimer, I realized the extent of change that has occurred for sales organizations around the world, that many organizations are still ignoring. It is increasingly challenging to balance near-term tactics with adaptations to keep you competitive long-term.

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Here is the authors summary and mine of the top five sales competencies required of today’s superstar salespeople, to make great things happen and stay successful in this digital age of complexity and innovation:

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1.???? Market knowledge to anticipate the customer’s tomorrow. Across industries, the nuanced task of projecting customer future needs is a key source of your salespeople’s power. This is especially true with today’s complex digital solutions, where you and your customers look to your salespeople to communicate new and deeper business insights.

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2.???? Collaborating inside and outside your business as a team. The classic image of a salesperson as a self-sufficient individual is giving way in this competitive world to a new view of team players as part of a collective effort to design and deliver a customized solution. This effort requires diverse skills, in the customer as well as your domain.

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3.???? Need to leverage virtual channels and digital tools. Smart competitors have now adopted by demand a hybrid sales model, engaging customers through a judicious blend of digital, virtual, and in-person interactions. To keep up, salespeople need proficiency with collaboration tools, such as LinkedIn and Slack, to facilitate engagement at all levels.

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4.???? Getting customer power from data and analytics. ?Increasingly the source of value to customers is your sales representatives ability to bring data-based insights to them. This now must include AI-based suggestions about renewals and competitive threats. Help your customers make strategic and tactical decisions to maximize their growth and yours.

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5.???? Able to quickly adapt to constant market change. Accelerating innovation is increasing the frequency with which sales roles need to evolve, new channels emerge, channel partners come on board, and changes to systems disrupt the daily cadence of sales. Salespeople who can’t respond to this fluidity will lose out to nimbler competitors.

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Of course, these competencies don’t come without an enlightened team sales mindset, as well as the right training and hiring discipline. In my experience, a mindset change is a fundamental that is slow to happen, so I recommend that you start now and concentrate on hiring salespeople with the right attributes, as well as broadening your training and support programs.

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The same mindset and skills are critical for you as a sales leader or business executive. We all need an enhanced “digital quotient” to anticipate customer needs and collaborate with channels and partners to grow the business. As the number of players increases, it becomes more challenging to synchronize the players and channels, and optimize them for maximum impact.

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Sales is also an area where digital assistants can make a big difference today, in the form of powerful analytics software and artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Partner with your technical team to ensure that the technology works seamlessly with the tools and platforms your salespeople already use daily, such as CRM systems, email software, and other communications apps.

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Every business like yours dreams of keeping their customers forever. Your salespeople and sales leaders are the custodians of these customer relationships, and they need to continually bring value as customers are adapting to this new age. Now is the time to make sure they still meet the challenges their customers are already presenting.

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*** First published on Forbes on 10-25-2024 ***