Are You Ready for the New World of Sales?

Earlier this year, I interviewed over 10 Sales Leaders to uncover their biggest challenges with their sales teams. The results of these interviews have confirmed that the sales world is rapidly changing and that as sales professionals we must adapt and invest in improving our skills to stay ahead and thrive in the new sales world.

The overwhelming theme that appeared throughout my interviews was that sales teams have gone through the traditional sales training, but there seems to be a huge gap between what they know and what they are actually doing in the marketplace.

As sales professionals, we are so busy ‘reacting’ to our demanding customers, that we don’t have time to look at the big picture and develop a sales strategy to pro-actively grow our accounts, especially with each individual account. One sales leader described it as “All the plates are spinning – just waiting for the crash to happen.”

Detailed below are 5 of the Top 10 Issues identified by the sales leaders interviewed. To read the next 5 issues click here.

TOP 5 Issues Identified:

1. Commoditization of products has made it difficult for each salesperson to effectively articulate the value of what they bring to the client’s business and how their products are different from the competition.
   
2. The inability of today’s average salespeople to complete a needs analysis, (informally – by asking the right questions) to fully understand their client’s business challenges.
   
3. Increasing sales productivity with more engaged F2F selling time. We are all busy, but are we truly productive?
   
4. Sales Process is changing. It’s more complex and longer than ever before. More structure, business acumen and discipline are required to navigate through the complex selling cycle.
   
5. Salespeople can no longer wing-it in front of their clients. They have to develop their consultative selling skills to co-create solutions with their clients.

There is a fundamental shift happening in the sales and marketing worlds today. This shift has made identifying a customer’s needs a true art form for marketers and salespeople. In order to survive and thrive in the Sales Revolution and the tough economy, salespeople must adapt their time management skills and sales methodologies.

Is it time for you to transition from an average salesperson or order taker, to the ultimate Sales Expert so you can gain a competitive EDGE in today’s crowded and demanding marketplace?