Let's be completely honest and agree upon the fact that nowadays most of us are talking about aligning sales and marketing. However, it's one thing to talk about it and quite another to implement it. Theory is all well and good but the real results are shown when things are implemented and acted upon.
A workforce in decay Today most sales reps are selling in the same way as they have always done. This includes calling and booking meetings and conducting meeting with customers. Usually without having any idea at all about where the customer is in their buying process or which problem they are looking to solve.
A standard sales meeting begins with a presentation of the vendors products solutions and customer references. This goes on in the same way, except for the one thing that somewhere going down this path the sales rep heard that he was supposed to ask questions during the meeting. This then leads to the seller boring the heck out of the customer with questions that could have been answered by doing a google search before the meeting.
Not only that - the seller has heard of a new sales technique based on challenging the customer. The only problem is that the sales rep lacks the basic trust necessary for the customer to listen and accept to be questioned. The meeting is going overboard and the customer becomes irritated. It all ends up with the seller leaving the meeting with his tail between his legs after trying to sell the products as a last way out and by lowering the price of the same in a last effort in trying to close a deal.
Adapt or die As a sellers, it's more important than ever to position ourselves as experts in order to stay relevant now and in the future. Working smarter not harder is one of the things that successful sellers do. To understand the digital playfield is another.
Have you ever thought about the fact that the millennials in a few years time will be your customers. How are you preparing for this? Do you use LinkedIn or do you think it's irrelevant and not applicable on your business?
Robots and automated processes - and your marketing department Today, clients go through the buying funnel on their own in mostly without talking to a sales representative at all. How will you differentiate yourself from the competition when the customer eventually calls you (if he ever calls)? The buying process is basically completed in this phase and the only thing you have left to negotiate about is your price. And as we all know, this is not where we want to be. Did you know that in several countries automated processes and robots are starting to replace sales reps? Did you also know that they are doing this successfully?
So is everything lost for you as a seller in the future? Absolutely not. But to be able to stand out and to deliver value in the future, you have to team up with your colleagues in the marketing department and develop a plan on how you can reach customers before they get too far in their buying process, because as I've mentioned before, the customer usually has no idea what he needs.
By starting to work with processes, automated workflows and ROI on marketing and sales, you can reach the customer at an earlier stage and start selling insights. The vendors who still will be relevant in the future, are the ones who not only adds value but who actually are the vale! Decide now that you will be the value so that you won't be out of a job in the near future.
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