Napoleon Bonaparte
To state the obvious, we live in challenging times. Today’s business people have rarely, if ever, faced similar circumstances. Every facet of the business environment has changed. Being at the ‘pointy end’ of the businesses, Sales Professionals face a very different environment now than they did at the start of 2020.
It is time to ‘re-think selling’ but first, let us consider the question “Do these new circumstances mean that the art of selling must be radically changed or are the selling fundamentals still valid with the need being to revisit the basics and innovatively apply them to adapt to the circumstances?”
No matter whether it is business to business (B2B) or business to consumer (B2C) sales, business is transacted based on the buyers’ human requirements that relate to their ‘hierarchy of needs’ (Ref. Maslow, Psychological Review. 1943). In general terms, Maslow’s theory is that people have a hierarchy of needs that must be satisfied before they can progress to the next level of need. The levels begin with their physiological needs (e.g. food, water, shelter) then progressively move upward through safety, belonging (intimate relationships, friends, esteem (social standing, need to succeed) and finally self-actualisation (artistic pursuits, fulfilling one’s destiny). Whilst the current circumstances have changed, these basic human needs have not. The buyers in both B2C and B2B will buy at some stage to address their needs, which may be on hold but will eventually return albeit in a different form. As a consequence, the selling fundamentals are sound and have not changed.
It is time to ‘re-think selling’ in your circumstances by revisiting the sales fundamentals and devising innovative ways of addressing them.
In my book Top Secrets of Sales $uccess (visit https://www.intertype.com.au/top-secrets-for-sales-success/ to purchase either a hard copy or e-book) I outline sales “secrets” (the thoughts successful sales people use but rarely express) that fall under four major categories of selling.
- Personal Development
- Sales Technique
- Strategy
- Execution
It is now time for every sales person and business leader, whether starting out or a seasoned campaigner, to ‘re-think’ their mode of selling in each of these areas.
For example,
- Has the method of engagement changed such that you and your organisation now need new skills/methods/systems to take advantage of virtual prospecting/meetings/presentations/closing?
- How do the ‘tried and trusted’ sales techniques that have been used in the past translate into this changed sales environment. How can they be adapted or replaced with new, innovative methods?
- Do I/we have a clear strategy, taking into account the external and internal analysis, to outpace the competition (even if that is for when the situation settles, which it will)? If the products/services we were selling are now less relevant, where will we now focus our resources?
- How do we best execute our strategy using the new methods that the circumstances dictate?
I recall the story about two explorers in the jungle that come to a clearing and are spotted by a leopard on the other side. Unarmed, they turn and run with the leopard in rapid pursuit. One explorer turns to the other and says “How will we outrun the leopard”?! The other replies, “I don’t have to run faster than the leopard, I just have to run faster than you!” So it is with selling in any circumstances. Whilst things may be bad, buyers will need to purchase at some stage to satisfy their own ‘hierarchy of needs’. What are you going to do to be the ‘fastest explorer’ ahead of your competition that will be devoured by the ‘circumstances leopard’?
It is time to re-think selling by:
- revisiting the basics;
- looking in the mirror to adjust ourselves (and our organisations) – skills, attitude and methods;
- identifying which sales techniques can be used and looking/innovating for new methods;
- developing a clear, written strategy that takes into account the external and internal aspects using a ‘SWOT’ analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats;
- then executing the strategy relentlessly
It’s not easy, but if it’s not easy for you, consider your competition who are in the same circumstances but may be taking a ‘woe is me’ attitude. As I point out in “Top Secrets”: The best days to visit customers (whether in person or virtual) are bad weather/down days because most often your competition won’t. Consider these circumstances as ‘Bad Weather/Down Days’ and go for it.
It’s up to you. Are you going to blame the ‘circumstances’ or will you take Napoleon’s attitude and innovate to ‘create your own circumstances’?
