Are sales plays only for juniors ?

In the world of sales, the spotlight often shines on charismatic individuals closing deals with apparent ease. These sales superstars exude confidence and an innate ability to connect with customers. They have conversations with power sponsors while average sales reps make presentations and gravitate towards users. They empower customers to see solutions while average reps focus on product features and functions.

Some may say they have charisma and stamina. They don’t need sales plays, game plans or even a sales process. Our view is that we must dispel immediately the misconception that sales superstars???? rely on apparent inborn abilities. They may not live by the sales playbook, but they use them as tactical weapons to serve their ultimate goal: winning more and faster.

The Myth of the sales genius.

Let’s put it bluntly: we have never met a sales eagle who was relying on his or her so called instinct to make it consistently to the top. Well, we did in specific industries, including software, where the challenge boiled down to positioning a simple product and addressing a limited number of personas through a pretty straightforward sales choreography. ??

From customer engagement to closing, the sales play could be summarized by basic components: identifying the need, connecting with a champion, understanding customer buying process and differentiating through obvious unique selling points. No need for strategizing but rather one simple imperative: monitoring ??a simple, well-crafted game plan fueled by objections handling techniques and competitive landmines. Not surprisingly, success here hinges on basic ingredients: getting the most valuable accounts, building a decent pipeline, and completing predefined activities.

However, when analyzing data and factoring out accounts propensity to buy to measure real performance, we come to the following conclusion for this kind of uncomplicated sales environment : more junior reps actually win more: more deals, namely competitive ones, and more net new revenue. ??Furthermore, the deeper the product portfolios and the more complex the offers, the more sales superstars admit they rely on sales plays to craft and adjust their sales tactics.

Inner drive and sales landscape

Sales superstars leverage sales play for two main reasons.

The first reason is internal and relates to superstars’ growth mindset. ??They acknowledge that, whatever their experience and expertise, there is always something new to learn and improve. Some of them are meticulous. Others are more scattered. They all rely though on sales plays to check they leave no stone unturned and don’t miss the detail that will make a difference. Please note they don’t rely on sales plays. They learn them, implement them, digest them, question them till they create a better version.

The second reason is external. The complexity mentioned above does not relate only to the depth and breadth of product portfolios. Well, to be accurate, this complexity generates various sales opportunities, various sales situations, various problems to solve, diverse stakeholders to address at different phases of their sales journeys. No “one-size-fits all’ competitive strategy. No simple and repeatable use cases. And ever-changing customer expectations.??

Even sales superstars may struggle. While adaptability and foresight are needed more than ever, well-crafted sales plays help them navigate these complexities, make sound decisions, and anticipate future developments.

Sales plays are not their north star, they are rather a roadmap??? they check to make sure they are heading in the right direction.

Effective sales plays:

Sales plays are not a sales process unless you always sell the same product to the same person in the same industry. Even if you have implemented multiple sales processes to address distinct types of business opportunities, simple or strategic ones for example, you simply can’t create as many sales processes as there are possible sales plays. ??

Sales plays are neither sale strategies. They are more tactical reminders posted at specific stages of your sales process depending on specific situations encountered in your day-to-day business life. These reminders incorporate data and insights, allowing sales reps to pivot strategies swiftly and stay ahead of the curve. ???

Ideally, In the era of big data, sales plays should be triggered by real time data analysis including the identification of customer needs, personas, steps completed, competitors involved, customer objections to deliver real time insights, pivot strategies swiftly and stay ahead of the curve. This connection of AI and human touch??, the symbiotic relationship between sales and technology, is one of the most promising and game changing combinations that will impact sales effectiveness.

To come back to sales plays, we are not covering here all the possible scenarios. Let’s take a very simple example: the launch of the new product to displace a competitor from strategic customers. Please note we are not including the stages or activities of the sales process, even if some of our customers may recognize some key elements of our W10 qualification process??. A simple and effective sales play would be to list the following information:

• Where : list of targeted accounts and the criteria used to target them.
• Who : personas including role, missions, concerns, and business metrics.
• Why: business pains to solve including measures and expected outcome
• Why us: unique selling points and alignment with decision criteria.
• Why now? Metrics and personal value drivers to drive urgency.
• What: any content from sales insight, silver bullets, to sales messaging.
• What if: most likely scenarios and objection handling.

Top football players do not rely on innate skills to make it to the top. Their contribution to collective success depends on their ability to absorb game tactics. Sales superstars dof not rely on charm, charisma, or elusive inborn skills. They. acknowledge the increasing sales complexity and thrive by integrating sales plays to their hard work, strategic thinking, and execution. Sales plays are not only for juniors. Investing time in developing and refining game plans is key to sustained success, for aspiring and established sales professionals alike, from onboarding to competing to President’s Club.????

Find out more on www.boldandsharp.com

Follow us on LinkedIn .

Think. Good Selling.