Understanding Sales in the New Century
Well, let’s look at sales today. Has it really changed? Is sales in the ‘new century’ really so different that the concept of pioneering a territory and then servicing the customer for life. The answer to this question is yes. So, now what do we do to prepare ourselves to pass through this time warp and become ‘A’ players in the ‘New Century’?
Focus must now be on planning for the development of new customers and increased penetration of current high-potential customers. The main responsibility of the salesman is not only to increase sales, but to systematically and consistently increase the number of customers that call you, instead of you pounding the phones and trying to reach them.
If you truly practice “solution medicine” for your customers, if you find their pain and make it go away, you will become their salesperson of choice. That means you will always get the first call and the last look. If you are an ‘A’ player, you will know your top 10 clients inside out. You will know the sources of pain in their lives. You will understand their key profit and growth drivers. It is also very important for an ‘A’ player to develop achievement competency. Achievement competencies focus on results. They help you understand the concept of planning and creating strategies with effective action plans that support corporate objectives. They help you target high-potential customers and lock onto that customer’s growth objectives with clarity. They promote creativity, empowerment and initiative.
So to summarize, take the time to really understand your top clients. Focus on offering solutions and find a way to make their pain go away. Recognize the power of value-added selling and how it helps generate more volume. The key here is to completely separate selling goals from being genuinely helpful and understanding your customer’s business. Real value-added selling focuses on helping customers solve their problems, without trying to make a sale. Remember that ‘value-added’ is defined by the customer, its goals and its business. Call us today for a free quote. We are here to fulfill all your translation needs.