Entrepreneurship is essential for the development of your sales force.
Companies that are doing well right now have a winning scenario, a code, a mind, a precise way of working with their customers.
Entrepreneurship is above all, including when choosing your salespeople. A lack of definition of your codes and your commercial approaches is tantamount to failures in recruitment.
A commercial approach can not be improvised.
To sell, you need a mix of selling techniques and commercial qualities of the seller: enthusiasm, situational intelligence, persuasion, etc.
The fact remains that the ecommerce developmentor Magento developmentis better placed to get recommendations and advices.
Have you prospected and targeted your potential customers upstream?
Most companies face the same issues in the field of sales.
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Sales growth is sluggish
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Most sales and margin are based on a small number of sales people
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Not enough new business
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Difficulty selling value against aggressive competition
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Longer sales cycles,
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Concretion rate at half-mast, etc.
These topics are universal and companies fall into four categories.
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They identify the cause and correct it:
“Yes, sales and margins are on the rise!”
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They do not identify the cause, but try to find a solution by trial and error.
“Well, it did not work, we lost another year …”
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They identify the cause, but do not correct it.
“We can do it ourselves.” Of course, you can.
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They do not identify the cause and do not correct it.
“Pfff, everyone has these problems!”
While most companies have similar problems, the causes are usually different.
There may be a number of difficulties that contribute to observable problems.
Here are 6 reasons why you do not face commercial sales
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All customers do not like the same style of commercial
40% of buyers surveyed want a priority commercial that listens to them, understands their problems and offers them a solution that addresses their specific problems.
30% expect a salesperson to earn their trust by putting them at ease and meeting their needs over the long term. Finally, the remaining 30% want to be jostled: the salesperson must be able to change their ideas and present a solution they did not think.
The seller must be able to play the chameleon and adapt his personality to the expectations of his customers.
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Do not convince a decision committee, but only one person
In complex sales, the purchase decision is made by a team. But their relations, the tensions, the strategies of each one will influence the result.
“Tension, drama and conflict are an integral part of group dynamics, as purchasing decisions are rarely made unanimously,” notes Steve W Martin.
However, his study confirms that in 90% of the cases, only one person of the committee influences the other members so that the decision meets his own expectations.
Knowing this, the commercial therefore has every interest in identifying this person capable of influencing the rest of the team to convince him of the merits of his solution.
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Market leaders are not all-powerful
In most industries, a company is in a dominant position, whether in terms of market share, quality of products, marketing budget or attractiveness to consumers.
Businesses from competing companies are therefore a priori with a handicap, but the Harvard Business Review study reveals that not all customers are hypnotized by the market leader: only one-third prefer the most famous brand with better features.
63% of the people questioned are ready to choose a little less known product with a few less features, the price of which would be 80% of the leader.
However, only 5% would choose an unknown brand offering only three quarters of the features of the leader, even for 60% of its price.
In fashion and finance, customers choose the most reputable company more often, while in industry and health this criterion is much more anecdotal.
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Some buyers are insensitive to the price
The cost of a solution is a frequent subject in customer appointments, and the commercial can become obsessed with it and believe that it must offer the lowest price at all costs. In reality, buyers fall into three categories:
– For some, price is an essential criterion of decision. This profile is found in manufacturing, human resources or accounting departments, and in government enterprises.
– Others are price sensitive, but this is secondary to criteria such as the functionality and capabilities of the seller. This is the case of marketing and sales departments, banking and new technologies.
– Finally, some buyers are downright insensitive to price, which becomes a problem only when it is well above that of competitors. The engineering department is often insensitive to price, as are public administrations.
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It is possible to override the bureaucracy
One of the worst enemies of today’s commercial is the inability of the buyer to make a decision.
Indeed, all the expenses are in competition, and the potential buyer must face the bureaucratic procedures of his company which slow down the purchases.
The good news of the study for salespeople is that some departments have more weight in front of the administration to carry out their purchase project: sales, IT, engineering.
It is therefore more interesting for a salesperson to sell solutions to these services in particular.
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In some industries, the sale is done thanks to the charisma
The qualities of a salesperson expected during a demonstration differ from one industry to another.
In most cases, buyers are looking for a kind and knowledgeable salesperson on their product, but the manufacturing industry and health prefer a salesman who knows his product at his fingertips, even if he is not very friendly.
As for the media and fashion sector, they turn to charismatic personalities, even if their knowledge of the product is not perfect.
Conclusion
We can now ask ourselves some questions about whether members are able to train and / or coach.
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Are sales managers able to coach sales people and hold them accountable for change?
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How can the sales culture be improved to become a sales coaching culture?
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Is management able to separate from hermetic salespeople?
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What skills and skills need to be developed?
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How do you deal with weaknesses in the sales DNA of sales people?
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How can recruitment be improved?
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How do you integrate the best sales practices into a fuzzy process and a poor methodology?
The problem with improving sales performance is that the more you know, the more questions there are.
That’s why so many leaders ignore the problem, claim they know what to do about it and do not appeal outside…
Until time and money run out…
It is easy to blame the sales force but it is not recruited alone, it is not formed alone and does not set unreasonable goals alone.
Blame is to be worn higher where a false sense of hope and optimism lives.
