In my over 2 decades in sales, I've noticed four distinct types of salespeople:
- The Hard Seller: They're pushy, annoying to prospects and customers and are no where to be found after the sales. They chase endlessly and there is not much substance to their process other than just closing a deal. No consistency, all about closing the deal, no matter the cost to their company or the customers, bending the truth, a pressure cooker, often leaving a massive hake of support tickets and customer churn.?
- The Order Taker: These are the sales people that often cite that "Cold-Calling is dead" What's really dead is their prospecting discipline and ability to engage with customers on a deep level to uncover real challenges to solve and prove value for their customers. They're happy to help, but they won't go the extra mile. They wait for customers to come to them and don't actively seek out new opportunities. A massive bog of internal resources.?
- The Desperate Deal-Seeker: This is the The "Please Buy From Me" Type. They're always chasing the next lead, following up relentlessly, and practically begging for the business. There is no substance to their discovery calls and they easily lose control of their deals, and their manager often steps in to run their business, and manage their funnel, pipeline and forecast. Their desperation is obvious and off-putting. So the customer often goes around them to get real answers to otherwise easy questions.?
- The Confident Advisor: This is the salesperson you want to be and need in your organization. The true leader type, leading with expertise, confidence, empathy and a true curious heart and mind that can prove out true value for their customers. They're self-assured, they genuinely believe in their product or service, and they prioritize building value and challenging the status quo. They ask the right questions, the difficult questions, and are not afraid to talk about money with prospects and are great at following a great sales process. They are problem solver, relationship builders and true decision makers. Their company and their customers trusts them with important decisions and they're not afraid to walk away if it's not the right fit, and they are confident - always. This is who you want! The good news is, your low performers are Confident Advisors, they just have not had the opportunity to grow, and your company can help! This can be trained for!
Your Sales People/Teams can Become the Confident Advisor, Heres how to start:
- Know Your Worth: ?If you don't believe in what you're selling, why should anyone else? Regardless of where your product or service is, you have to find a way to be obsessed with the problems it solve for your customers. You have to think and act like n entrepreneur obsessed with your product and the value it brings. Take the time to truly understand your product or service and its value. Your passion will be contagious.
- Lead with expertise: Your customers are inundated with endless data and they are for the most part fairly educated, they may have a similar solution to what you are proposing. The last thing they need is for you to waste their time with a lackluster and redundant Q&A traditional discover call that leaves them bored and viewing you as just another person trying to sell them something. Bring the heat! Bring your expertise, educate them on the unique problems they are solving and BE CREATIVE in your discovery calls. You have to educate and lead with out of the box expertise that leave them concerned and wanting. This will have them begging for more, and They will be chasing you for a change.
- Build Relationships: Stop seeing customers as dollar signs and start seeing them as people. Build genuine connections throughout the organization. Being a relationship builder means that you are truly a connection maker of other people, not just you and a single contact at the company. Thik in terms of full organizational alignment. Connect their legal team to yours, tehir IT team to yours, There Procurement, HR, Product teams to yours. Be a real relationship builder, not just a friend. This is critical in Enterprise + Selling that if your AE's are not doing, they are leaving massive Moola on the table.?
- Say No and be willing to walk away: Do not be a yes man, learn how to turn the tables on the prospect and be a true partner. "No" is one of the most powerful answers you can say in sales. This will build trust and be a huge differentiator in a saturated field where trust is probably the #1 factor in the decision making process. When you're willing to walk away, you show that you're not desperate. It also demonstrates that you value finding the right fit for both sides.
- Follow Up with Purpose: ALWAYS have a scheduled event with targeted purpose. Continue with the education and expertise theme and provide valuable insights, share relevant resources, or send personalized notes that show you're invested in their success between meetings. Always have next steps with action items for both sides. As the Leader of the sales process on these deals, it is very important that you hold both sides accountable to completing the action items by the due date. You may use a MAP for this and it will increase your win rate. Contact us for a demo on our MAP Process and how you can leverage Mapping to increase your win rate
When it comes to smb, mid-market, enterprise or strategic sales and partnerships, being the confident advisor is critical Decision-makers at this level want to work with people they trust, who have expertise, and who aren't afraid to challenge the status quo.
You can train for this, and by championing this approach, your prospects will immediately notice your differentiation and it will set your company apart from the saturated, lackluster field of desperate companies buying deals and losing money on process and discounts. You will no longer have to sell on price. You'll attract and align closely with your customers, revenue will drastically increase, churn will decline, deal values will increase, sales cycles will shorten, your AE's will hit quota and be able to command premium prices, and build long-lasting partnerships based on alignment and continued value.
- Share this article with your sales team and encourage discussion about the different types of salespeople.
- Conduct a training workshop focused on developing the skills of a Confident Advisor.
- Implement a mentorship program where experienced Confident Advisors can coach and guide newer team members.
- Track and measure the impact of these changes on your sales performance and customer satisfaction.
Are you ready to level up your team by embracing a continuous learning and growth mindset approach to exceed your revenue and growth goals??
Innovative Selling Partners? offers customized training programs to equip your sales team with the process, planning, strategy and differentiation to stand out and deliver consistent, sustainable and impactful value.?
We've got a ton of resources to help your sales team. Head over to Innovative Selling Partners www.innovativesellingpartners.com
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Chief Creative Officer / Freelance Senior Copywriter
3 个月great article, so true!
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3 个月Building trust and demonstrating expertise are crucial, don’t shy away from challenging norms to stand out.?? Great reminder to stay bold and authentic in our sales and partnerships approach!??