A fact that we can all agree on? Without sales, a company cannot exist. It doesn’t matter what industry sector you work in, the fundamentals for generating and sustaining strong sales remain the same.
Growth for a company can be linked to trust, product value, reliability and a solid product offering. The biggest challenge? There are a lot of great products out there so where does that leave a sales person? If you are doing something well and show signs of growth, it’s to be expected that someone else will try to jump in on your American dream of success to take a piece of your pie. How do we stay ahead of the curve or does your sales process need resuscitation? In a time where automation is king, and competition is all around, it still remains that personal relationships are the key to strong sales and for sales that continue to grow. With low level relationships, you will be relying on your product differentiation, or price and I think we’d all agree no one wants to win the race to the bottom with razor thin margins.
One of Iron Core’s strengths is helping our clients with their sales messaging and the entire sales process from A to Z. We’ve seen many trends over the years and one thing has always been the same, that sales still involve psychology and relationships. The relationship will carry weight and influence when differentiating from the masses but understand that this also takes time and patience. We also see the same struggles. Impatience in the process, not following through with what you said you’d do (no accountability), and improper planning. We also see very few salespeople taking a chance to ask for the next meeting, extending your conversation beyond just the nature of your The list can go on and on. One of the most powerful aspects of consulting for us has been ride alongs with the sales people. We spend some time letting you teach us about you and what’s critical to your success before we give our thoughts on improvement. Each industry has a slightly different nuance and customer so learning more about your environment and embedding into your culture aids us in identifying ways to strengthen and streamline. What are time wasters and what are relationship builders? What are your hurdles to getting a yes? I like to ask sales people on these ride alongs what do you think went well or could’ve been done better? We get a lot of blank stares and that’s a normal human response. Feedback is hard…for all of us, but it’s vital to learn and to grow. During our ride alongs the sales experience is fresh so it’s a great time to download how to improve. Time is valuable, how do we help you make the time with your clients count? Let’s work together to identify how to move you further along the relationship lifecycle? How to get that next meeting? How do we get that customer to pick up the phone to call you for their next bid or project?
Relationships can be built in a multitude of ways. In the corporate world, most of us tackle from the inside of the business walls. We like to see relationships being built outside the office if permitted. Can you get your prospect out for coffee or lunch? Psychology matters and getting to know someone outside the office helps to form connections. Find a common interest. Conversations can extend beyond the nature of the product. You become trusted and it’s a 2-way street. You connect with this person and you want to serve them well all while they are feeling more confident you will indeed serve them well.
business or simply not asking for the sale. We are not referring to "buying the business” through their stomachs but in our experience conversation over a meal is progress and if it is only for a quick cup of coffee in the morning then set your alarm clock early and make it happen. Catching someone first in the morning before they have had time to say "No" twenty times is a psychological advantage!
Sales people all begin feeling inspired and fired up often ending up experiencing a steady decline in their enthusiasm. Management may become bogged down by the wrong things. It’s easy to fall into traps of repetition of ineffective efforts, burn out or just churning through the day trying to get something to stick. Let us help you pull apart your sales relationship cycle and put it back together on track for continued growth! Let’s identify why you are set apart!