Many years prior to joining Mediafly as the Director of Sales and Marketing, I was a technology officer in the U.S. Army. On paper, the world of sales and the military couldn’t appear more different. But even in the military, I learned a great deal about selling, persuasion and connecting with people.
With the recent passing of Veteran’s Day, I was reminded of my positive journey in the Armed Forces which prompted me to reflect on how those experiences shaped me as a sales rep and instilled the flexibility to adapt to constant changes in technology, expectations and the road ahead.
Parallels to the Military
No matter what your role (in the military or business), there is likely some selling to be done; some level of persuasion involved in your daily activities. Whether you’re interacting with soldiers, officers, prospects or customers, there are a basic set of principles that apply and a similar set of obstacles you may encounter.
Generals and officers demand access to the information they need regardless of their location. Because of their interaction with consumer grade technologies, the officers were often disappointed with the outdated communication equipment we had available to use. Even if we were in the middle of a desert, tools must be provided that would make the team more effective and efficient.
Similarly, there are many times where field sales reps might feel as if they are in “the desert” as they prepare for interactions with customers and prospects – not happy with the technologies offered to them from their organization. As a technology officer, I had to work with the equipment that was provided to me to support our team and I had to sell them on the benefits of these lackluster tools. I was struck by the parallels that I experienced when I first entered the business world! Now that I work for a company that provides a fantastic platform to impact sales productivity, we have thankfully avoided these problems, and are committed to helping other organizations avoid them as well.
Changing Expectations
As a Sales Manager, I have noticed that while executive teams often have very clear expectations for how to present their product, their message can become distorted by the time it reaches the customer. What a business needs is the ability to connect the role of marketing to the priorities of the sales team, giving them the collateral they need with all the expectations of a modern digital solution: a clean user-interface that drives ease of access.
Expectations are high when it comes to technology; it’s just supposed to work and work the way we expect it to. It may sound like a basic point but it bears mentioning: tech solutions are merely tools, and when a tool somehow hinders instead of enhances, limits performance or doesn’t deliver on expectations, the user will quickly abandon the tool.
It is crucial for managers to ensure they select and implement the right tools in the first place. In the military, it was not always possible to have the right tools on hand for any number of reasons, which required a lot of internal selling (and triage) when expectations could not be met. Just a few years ago, this was the case in many business as well. But now, business leaders have better options and access to technology that truly enables their employees/business to perform more effectively.
The Future of Sales
Prospects have greater access to information than ever before, making them savvier and more knowledgeable as they approach the sales conversation. Selling as it is traditionally understood has undergone a dramatic revision. Sales people have become considerably more focused in their approach but they need to continue evolving. From seller to teacher. From persuader to trusted advisor.
This is one of the things that drew me to Mediafly a year ago. Mediafly’s solutions allow sales reps to be more efficient, provide real value at each and every client interaction and to keep improving the sales journey for our partners and customers.
Is your organization’s approach to selling evolving to reflect the changing expectations of your target buyers?
John Burns is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Mediafly, Inc. His next post will be published sometime next month. Please have a look at some of the products and solutions John has had a hand in selling: SalesKit and ProReview.
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