Woman on Phone by Sebastiaan ter Burg | CC BY 2.0
It is no secret that salespeople are seeing a dramatic shift in their role due to the advancement of technology. Some have even gone so far as to say that sales jobs will eventually become irrelevant. In fact, a recent study by Forrester concluded that by the year 2020, one million B2B sales jobs will vanish. But as we mentioned in a previous blog, there’s no need to panic. You just need to prepare yourself for sales in the digital age.
A Forbes article, The “New” Role Of Sales In A Social-Media World, by Teresa Meek says that in order to build a sales team for your organization that is ready for the digital age, you should follow these 6 steps:
Realize the New Sales Role
As the saying goes, the first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one. The same applies to sales. The first step to surviving sales in the digital age is letting go of the traditional ways of sales. Salespeople who just present products and features instead of taking on a more consulting role will not survive the digital era. Sales reps who sell solutions that solve complex problems are going to be the ones to evolve in their roles and survive.
Further, it’s not just how you sell to the customer that is changing—the whole process of obtaining those customers is evolving. While technology ultimately solves many of our problems, it also creates new ones. The market is saturated with information, and Sales reps need to develop new strategies to get in front of customers that are willing to listen to what they have to say.
Build an Online Presence
Consumers are getting the majority of their information online. In fact, 60-70% of the information acquired during the buyer’s journey is done online. Therefore, sales reps must act now in order to build their online presence. Social media, publications, and online forums are great places to start. Building an online presence means building up your reputation and being seen as a thought-leader by your potential customers. No one is going to believe you’re an expert in your field unless you create content that proves you know what you are talking about. Publishing blogs and articles, and sharing them through social media channels are all effective ways to build credibility in your industry.
Engage with Your Customers
In order to see your sales dramatically increase, it is unfortunately not enough to just open a Twitter account or publish a blog. It is vital that you take the time to research and engage with your customers.
In her article, Meek provides an example which explains the steps one man took when he wanted to gain more business customers instead of residential. First, he had to pinpoint which sites his target customers were spending time on, as well as what topics they were interested in. He listened to his customers by reading their blog posts and comments. He then published his own articles on those same topics. Sure enough, he established himself as an expert in his field and was eventually quoted by both NBC and Fox. His online presence helped him gain the business customers he was after. The key here is understanding how to approach your customers in order to gain their trust online.
Coach Your Team
No sales team can make this digital transformation alone. It takes encouragement from the executive team in order for the sales team to successfully adapt. An important component is creating a team of sales reps that are seen as experts in their field. Marketing can give sales the tools they need to become experts by sharing relevant content that they can leverage. This way, salespeople are constantly in-the-know about what is happening in their field.
Differentiate Yourself
In today’s hyper-informed, hyper-competitive environment, sales teams need to constantly ask themselves, “How am I going to stand out from everybody else?” Challenging the buyer’s thinking will be key to winning trust and making a good impression. During a sales pitch, the sales rep needs to come prepared to share new information with their prospects. Information and content is everywhere now. Sales reps can differentiate themselves by building value through content that supports their solutions.
Additionally, sales reps can differentiate themselves by approaching the sales pitch in a non-linear way. They can use technology to their advantage to present their pitch in a way that a prospect has never seen before. Presenting slide-by-slide is no longer the only way to engage with customers. Tools such as Mediafly’s SalesKit allows sales reps to present to customers in a truly unique way.
Always Remember the Bottom Line
With so much information available to consumers, many sales functions are no longer relevant and are being eliminated from the sales role. That’s why it is important to remember your main job: Building value through your product or service. In order to obtain those critical meetings with your customers, sales reps must give into the new digital age and begin to build an online presence. If sales reps can bring new and valuable information to their sales pitch, they can be assured that they will stand out from the rest of the crowd.
How is your company supporting sales in adapting to the digital age?
Comments are closed.