Part 1 of 3 Trends in Selling

Part 1 of 3

Last week I spoke to a group of Small Business owners, regarding 3 trends in selling that I’d like to share out. Although the audience was primarily B2B sellers, it does have some applications for the B2C sales leadership. Trend One: Digital Transformation. As a working definition, let’s say:  Digital Transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business that fundamentally changes how one operates and delivers value to customers.   The topic started showing up as serious discussion point around 2017ish. It aggressively accelerated throughout the pandemic. So how does this impact sales leadership? First, we must acknowledge, marketing is king. In the tug of war of between sales and marketing value discussion, marketing wins. You’ve undoubtably heard the adage that a customer is 57-67% through a decision cycle by the time they contact a sales rep. (I first heard this came from research done for the Challenger Sale, but have been unable to verify, should anyone know, please share the source). This is a significant distance in the customer’s journey. Messages and material are everywhere, and the buyer today is overloaded and overwhelmed trying to make decisions. This means, your marketing messaging has to be tight, tested and on target. Your ‘7-11 impressions to action’ need to consistently build the story. They must be omni-channel. Secondly, you’ve got to make it easy for customers to buy from you. Customers are buried in data and conflicting messages. Be an aggregator of data to inform your prospects. BOOM! Value creation. The more they are asked to think, the less likely they are going to continue the purchase journey with you.   So, do you know, really know, your customer? What drives them to seek you out? Can they see a demo online, or have one offered up on their timetable? If they must schedule, are you customizing the demo to their desired outcomes? Is your rep, fluent in your offering, or do they need to speak with someone else? Do your hyper-links work? How often does prospect have to provide redundant information? Can they pay online? While basic questions, leaders need to ask themselves regularly, “How can I help my customer more easily buy from me?” Several years ago, I was working in a technology firm that did really cool things with data and analytics. They had a good footprint in the financial services sector. They discovered that 85% of Millennials would rather have a root canal than go into a bank. Prior to 2017, how many banks knew that? The study suggested around 5%. Banks are notorious for being customer-relationship driven. Their business model is person to person rapport. Think there might be a problem attracting new customers with that model? The digital universe is fundamentally changing the way customers buy, and therefore, the way we must sell. Next week: Talent and the Law of Averages.  #sales #Leadership #ceo