Fuel Growth for Sales – What It Takes to Amp Up Your Sales
We live in a dynamic world, and as you guessed, the business landscape is also equally dynamic. Recently, we have witnessed many changes in the sales space too. Everything is new, from buyer preferences to new methodologies, software (yes, we are talking about CRM tools), and selling remotely and almost entirely digitally. Since we are dealing with so much change, we discussed with Brian Burns, podcast host and CEO of B2B Revenue, to discover what it takes to thrive in today’s dynamic B2B sales environment and fuel growth for sales. Curious about his take on this topic? Below are the top five pieces of advice Brian has for when it comes to thriving in a competitive field like sales.
1. Become Client-Centric, Not CRM-Centric
To keep up with this new sales landscape, Burns says that sales reps must start thinking from their customer’s perspectives and start to account for the customer experience across the buying process. After all, they come at you with a problem they hope you can fix. Sales reps must think beyond that. They must find the management’s primary motivators to close a transaction. Buyer behavior has changed tremendously over the past few years, so becoming customer-centric will help sales reps find that motivator.
2. Be a Guide Through the Unnatural Act of Buying
Buying doesn’t come as a natural act. Instead of focusing on selling a product or service, salespeople should change their mindset and become the prospects’ guiding hand in this process. By changing this mindset, you also ensure that you help them justify the purchase based on their needs as well as their cultural and organizational mindset.
Great sales reps will also be able to help upper management understand the greater benefits of said purchase with quantifiable goals and objectives. They optimize the discovery process by pretending their prospect doesn’t know what they want. Let them discover what they truly want with you during your conversation. They need to come to the realization that they need to change and take action on their own.
“A good rep is servicing; they’re a clerk, reacting
and supporting but not guiding. Great reps know
what that gauntlet looks like and guide the client
through it, arming them with the materials they will
need at each step.”
—BRIAN BURNS, HOST, BRUTAL TRUTH PODCAST
3. Build Empathy-Based Interactions
Curiosity sparks empathy, and being empathetic will help you become a better sales rep. Doing so will make prospects want to talk to you about their business’s needs and expectations and will help you better deliver your ideas and your products or services’ best selling points in a fashion that appeals to them. Instead of approaching the selling process with solid statements, Brain advises sales reps to start asking questions. This will drive a better understanding of their customers and business needs.
“To be empathetic, you need to be curious.
And to be curious you need to not talk. You
need to think in terms of questions, not
statements.”
—BRIAN BURNS, HOST, BRUTAL TRUTH PODCAST
4. Make You CRM Work for You and Your Customers
As a sales rep, you must first map a clear and detailed customer journey. This is where your CRM will come to your help. A good CRM will help both you and your customers. It will give you meal piece information you can use at the right time in their journey. Although it’s difficult to remember every interaction with each account in your portfolio, a CRM will help you with specific and insightful data that will enable you to become a more compassionate seller and guide for your prospects and customers.
“You can’t memorize the details of the 15-30
deals each account executive is working on in a
quarter. And your head is the worst place for it!
It should all be there in your CRM.”
—BRIAN BURNS, HOST, BRUTAL TRUTH PODCAST
5. Never Stop Learning
Brian thinks that although many sales reps are natural-born sellers and base their actions purely on instinct, this is precisely where they should improve. Instead of doing so, he advises them to use logic and reason in the selling process.
Ask the right questions: Does this company fit our ideal customer
profile or is it a stretch? Is the timing right? Do they have a problem
we can solve as a good match instead of them just experimenting and
hoping it’s a good match.
Download Our Guide For More Hot Tips
With sales becoming more and more competitive as technology advances, having the best tools, resources, and advice available to you is crucial in an ever-changing field. Learn more tips, tricks and best practices on how you can become or create great sales reps in this hyper-dynamic environment in our guide, Fuel Growth for Sales.
