Sales Excellence re-defined: How selling tech products has changed
By Raoul Monks
The way that buyers buy technology has fundamentally changed and what works in tech sales will never be the same again. Sales excellence has been re-defined.
Today’s clients have seen their workloads increase while their budgets have shrunk. Their decisions are being scrutinized by senior colleagues who consistently demand measurable ROI. It’s harder than ever for your client to say ‘yes’ to your solution and its harder than ever for them to gain sign-off internally. It takes a very brave buyer to go to the board and ask them to invest in new technology right now. All of this has made them averse to both change and risk. All of this at a time when competition is fierce.
The experience that tech salespeople offer clients has always been the difference between closing and losing opportunities – however, now it is vital that they get it right.
Today’s sales experience must consist of four distinct stages designed to mirror the buying process that our clients go through:
- Identifying the right person and getting the right conversation started
Clients are busier than ever before and will avoid talking with salespeople if they can. Today’s strongest salespeople plan and tailor their approach for a specific client to stand out and get the right conversation started.
- Running a two-way conversation
Many businesses are under huge pressure and any spend is being scrutinized at a more senior level. Tech solutions are often relatively ‘big ticket’ so this makes the buying process especially challenging and risky for clients. Their default position is to stick with what they know- their status quo has become the biggest competitor. Today’s strongest salespeople give clients compelling reasons for change before providing criteria for safe decision making. Only then do they discuss their own solutions.
- Pitching your brand and solution
Due to the risk involved in making a bad decision, it’s crucial that the client trusts your brand and is confident that your solution is going to deliver results. Today’s strongest salespeople focus first on gaining buy-in to their brand and approach, before co-creating the recommendation with the client.
- Collaborating with your client to sell-on within their business
Decision making groups are getting larger and more senior. This makes it tougher for your client to drive a decision through their business. Today’s strongest salespeople don’t just leave the process to their client, instead they collaborate and proactively seek to help them drive change and build consensus for the recommendation within their business.
To learn more about how technology sales is being redefined, download Flume’s ‘Sales Excellence for a changed world benchmark’
Flume Sales Training are committed to leading the charge on helping re-define sales excellence for a changed world.