Value, Volume And Velocity: Maximizing Sales Amid A Contracting Economy

 

The past year was a complicated one for sales teams. From a business standpoint, 2022 was the first somewhat “normal” year in a while where the pandemic was not the main focus, but in its place, we faced economic uncertainty. Inflation and a looming recession are of immense concern to the C-suite, but another big question is: How do you sell in an economic downturn?

Being the CEO of a sales enablement platform, I’m finding that many of today’s salespeople seem to feel disadvantaged and uninspired. In the midst of a digital transformation that has taken place over the past two years, a number of salespeople still rely on antiquated strategies that can’t keep up with today’s modern, time-poor buyer.

Sellers need strategies that drive value, volume and velocity in order to remain afloat during this difficult adjustment period. Here are several ways to stay ahead of the curve and prepare for a successful year ahead.

Value

Learning in sales is an ongoing process, and it is not one-size-fits-all. Everyone learns differently, especially when it comes to selling in today’s hybrid world. Salespeople can’t use traditional sales approaches in these situations, so they have to be taught how to sell in a hybrid world.

Digital selling is quite nuanced and requires salespeople to be adept in certain techniques to efficiently close deals. As such, organizations should ensure they have a learning and coaching system in place that is personalized to the products and services it sells. In doing so, onboarding new team members can be much more streamlined and help you drive better performance.

Sellers should also be empowered to act as trusted advisors across the sales journey, and this kind of training should never stop at onboarding. Instead, sales teams should embrace the practice of “everboarding,” where sellers are constantly learning on the job as buyer priorities shift. Practicing and role-playing real-life selling scenarios can help with this. This can help salespeople expand their knowledge base and start interacting with buyers to help impact the bottom line.

Of course, sellers must have a way to ensure their coaching and learning methods are effective. Otherwise, they will gain no value from it. In fact, if implemented incorrectly and without clear performance indicators outlined, they might even lose value. That is why sellers should test their team’s system in a simulated environment so they can see which products and services lessons worked and which need to be retooled, especially in a hybrid world. Some of the lessons might be more antiquated or “too traditional” and need to be fine-tuned for the modern buyer. By doing this, sellers can be confident that their coaching approach is personalized and working as effectively as possible.

Volume

In a contracting economy, salespeople will have to think outside the box on ways to generate leads and turn every conversation into an opportunity. One approach salespeople can take is to look at areas where leads came from before and see what else can be leveraged from there. Salespeople might be surprised at what new opportunities they uncover for reaching new prospects.

For example, events are a great way to generate leads. Perhaps there was a conference or trade show a salesperson attended where they made meaningful connections. When the prospect well dries up, former connections can be used to create leads and find prospects salespeople might have ignored. Teams can also use their company’s website analytics to create more compelling lead-generation opportunities along the buyer journey.

It is also important to look at where the most successful leads are coming from and re-create those successes. Some ways to do this include looking internally at top sales performers. When the best practices of top performers are implemented as companywide practices for success, everyone benefits. But just as wins showcase value, so can the losses. Evaluating what can be learned from the losses provides more effective coaching scenarios and, ultimately, improves conversion rates for sales teams. With a strong sales playbook, salespeople can drive more consistency and improve outcomes.

Velocity

Being quick is the name of the game in sales, and not closing a deal fast enough can lead to buyer frustration and them opting for a competitor’s product or service instead. Sales teams need to have velocity in a sales process, but in a way that doesn’t lose the buyer along the way.

Gartner reported that 77% of B2B buyers found their recent purchasing journeys to be very complex. A more complex sales cycle means that sellers need to be more prepared and agile than ever before. As such, sellers need to be tracking, generating and analyzing insights in order to really gain an understanding of what’s working and what’s not along the buyer journey. For this to be effective, salespeople should consider using a buyer-led sales approach that puts buyers at the center of their journey.

I believe the future will be buyer-led, as power has shifted from the seller to the buyer. The more buyers feel empowered along the sales cycle, salespeople can deliver more dynamic content in a more impactful way.

To foster this empowerment, sellers need to be attuned to the needs of buyers and listen carefully to their pain points and what they are looking to achieve with a new solution. Sellers need to remember that they are selling to people at the end of the day, so creating a personal connection and personalized experience will prompt buyers to continue along the buyer journey and eventually make a purchase if the product or service helps them meet their goals.

In times of economic uncertainty, a strong enablement strategy can help salespeople weather the storm. Using the “three V’s,” salespeople can navigate prospects, effectively sell in the digital era and use the power of data to their advantage. With this approach, salespeople will be able to continue doing what they love, with minimal impact from the current headwinds.

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This article is written by Forbes and originally published here.

 

 

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