Article by Jeanmarie Tenuto
The driving force behind any successful business is sales. The history of selling techniques has evolved over time and today we are facing a whole new set of rules. Wherever you may be selling on the planet, the process has changed because the vast amounts of data available to the buyer is at their fingertips. From 48% to 79% of buyers have already made a purchase decision because of their access via technology to these products and services. If this is true, then that effectively means that half of the sales conversations that are happening out there right now are redundant.
Selling today is moving in a new direction meeting a new level of buyer expectations. Most buyers won’t work with the “hunter or the farmer-type” salesperson. The new breed of success in the sales professional has three key attributes:
- Conviction in what they stand for, how and why.
- Context through which they are able to have knowledgeable conversations that are industry / vertical empathetic and complete with relevant business acumen.
- Contribution (with conviction and intention) to make the customer/buyer/client the hero in the story and contribute to their business growth.
For further sales education, your local NJSBDC will be able to assist you with training your sales organization in areas like: Professional Sales Training, Sales Leadership and Management Training as well as Sales Performance Consulting and Research Services. As the definition of value in business has multiple meanings, for our purposes, we refer to the principles or standards of behavior, one’s judgement of what is important in life. This type of value is the foundation to today’s sales execution. The theory of like minded values between buyers and sellers for long, sustainable relationships is beginning to blossom beyond theory. Shared values between people (buyer and seller), departments, supply chain networks, and organizations that form synergistically are strategic moves but only effective if the commonality of that gut-feeling trust compounded by familiarity and credibility are in place.
To learn more about Values as Strategy, download the white paper.
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