How Sales Jobs Will Change Over the Next Decade
After the internet took off properly around 20 years ago – and B2B buyers realised they didn’t need “educating” as to what was on offer anymore – they started to become less accessible to prospectors, the people who sold things had two choices
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Carry on selling like they always had done
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Or – recognise that the world had changed and embrace that change
Trouble is most salespeople who tried to embrace it were taken down the wrong path.
They thought that what they had to change was the way that they embraced the new technology when they were prospecting or selling to their new enlightened customer base.
And there was some truth in that.
But what they should have been reacting to was the way that customers now made their buying decisions – how they found what they were looking for – and how they now approached and felt about salespeople.
Buying motives and behaviours had changed forever – and although the internet and everything that came with it could be used as a tool for the sales industry – it was also enabling all the customers and prospects to find exactly what they wanted – and then cocoon themselves away from those troublesome sales types.
True selling – successful selling – has always had a small number of foundation stones – genuine principles.
A successful salespersons job has always been to work out what those foundations were and then follow those principles.
But understanding them and following them is a bit of a lost art.
So let me ask you:
Do you want to be the person who writes out the paperwork for the orders that were already coming, or do you want to be the person that builds a portfolio so impressive the business couldn’t live without you?
To be honest, I don’t think you have much of a choice.
One day soon a robot will be doing the former and genuine sales people will be paid to do the latter.
I’m not pretending it’s easy. I’m not painting unicorns on the front of your rose coloured glasses here.
There are a number principles that you simply must understand if you’re going to find success over the next decade. Even more so as we all pull ourselves out of the economic rut that recent events have unleashed.
I don’t see what other choice you have.
And relationships aren’t going to save you.
Relationship selling only works with customers who haven’t noticed the competition have something just as good as your product or service – for less money.
Once they discover that – they’re sitting on someone else’s table at the industry awards dinner and they won’t be coming back.
What you need are appointments with the big opportunities, higher conversion rates once you’ve met them and the success-limiting head trash that’s been accumulating for months to be cleared out so you get going on your own success.
You must be asking, “And how do I do that?”
Well, one of our regular clients wrote to me recently to tell me the effect our sales training had had on his business.
“The most immediate effect was a renewed energy in the team which quickly translated to more appointments – up 5% year on year – better conversion rates – a 15% improvement – and more profits….”
Now, you might read that and think, “Chris, that’s just not possible in our industry” or “I don’t have the time to do that with my other responsibilities.”
OK, fine.
How about half or a third of what his team did? How about you convert 5% more business than you’re doing now?
A good goal for you might be: “This time next year I’ll have grown this business an extra 5% more than anybody else.”
That can be done. That’s doable.
But only if you sharpen the foundation stones and true principles at every single opportunity.
When it comes to growing your business or building a successful career in sales there is no more valuable work you can do than this.
And I’ll show you how at the next 2 Day Business Development Masterclasses in London & Manchester.