Whether you are an established professional salesperson or a newcomer to the field, it’s important to keep an eye on how your industry is changing. A business that fails to adapt to the changes will be left behind. The good news is that there are many ways to improve your approach. The key is to take a holistic view of the customer journey.
In the past, salespeople were largely responsible for driving the buying process to fit their own needs. Reps were compensated based on a combination of the number of new deals they closed and how well their existing accounts performed. This created a culture that was focused on short-term movement towards the close of the deal. Reps would not want to spend time on a potential opportunity that may not close this year and probably won’t close next year either.
Over the years, sales techniques have evolved from snake oil and pyramid schemes to a more ethical and effective methodology. Trust-based selling, popularized by Dale Carnegie’s classic tome How to Win Friends and Influence People, was an early adopter of this more ethical selling model. But, even this is starting to look outdated in the current buyer landscape.
When buyers are able to find all of the information they need about a product or service through online research, they have little motivation to interact with salespeople who can’t add value. Moreover, when purchasing decisions are made by cross-functional groups rather than by individuals, it can be challenging to align sales and marketing around the same goals.
This has led to a major shift in the buyer’s journey from linear, transactional approaches to something that more closely resembles a roller coaster ride with lots of twists, turns, and circular movements. As a result, traditional sales methodologies struggle to keep up with the shifting landscape.
Despite these challenges, it is critical for the modern salesperson to be aware of changes in how customers are purchasing and what that means for their own approach. The earlier that a salesperson recognizes that the status quo isn’t working, the sooner they can make necessary adjustments.
One of the most useful changes to consider is embracing the sales funnel. Funnels are designed to optimize and measure a specific conversion step in the customer journey. This could be a subscription funnel, a free-to-paid sales funnel, or even a team-invite funnel to drive virality and growth.
While the traditional funnel still has its place in the context of small business sales, it is becoming increasingly obsolete for larger enterprise purchases.
Moreover, this outdated sales model doesn’t capture all of the touch points in the customer journey. This is why it’s crucial to determine the best-fit sales strategy for each sales channel. Ideally, these strategies should be developed in collaboration with the marketing department to ensure consistent alignment. Ultimately, the future of professional sales will be all about value creation and away from more transactional approaches.
Learn how To build sales funnels
Check out my recent post on all-in-one sales and marketing tools and what I think of it.
Check out my recent post on sales funnels and what I think about them. Are they still worth it?
Nicholas Cafarelli is a truck driver with 10 years experience.
With a desire to break into the online space, he ventured out to find what the best options were.
It was important to align himself within a path of honesty and integrity.
Having spent plenty of time investing into things that didn’t align with these values, he’s learned a lot along the way.
Here, you’ll find the tools you need to start to build on that journey.
Nicholas Cafarelli
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