With 2020 ticking down, it is time to look forward to 2021 and year most people have been wishing for since March. Well, with that said, our sales game needs to shift into high gear to make 2021 your best ever.
Dan covers 5 areas of focus:
1) Pre Call Research - we often talk about the power of doing the homework prior to a call. But are we doing the right research and enough of it? What major initiative is the company undertaking? Cloud? Digital Transformation? AI? How are they going to grow next year? What has COVID done to their business and what do they need to do to succeed in 2021? Has their customer base changed? Should it? How do their customers make money and how have they been impacted? What new methods of distribution can be leveraged? In short, the research needs to be conducted with these types of questions in mind. The financial reports, the recent interviews with the company CEO, the industry publications are all key.
2) Having a Point Of View- while we are all on new ground in the Zoom Economy, we need to formulate a POV on the state of affairs in our industry. What do you see happening in the short and long term? What are the trends and how are successful companies tackling these key issues? What do you recommend based on what you have seen? There has never been a better time to bring ideas and insights to the table. The status quo is weaker than it has been in a long time. And while your prospects like to hold onto comfort, they know now that change is the key to not only success but basic survival.
3) Selling Change - By posing the questions around the prospect's current state and leading them to discuss the consequences are staying the course, we open the door to change. We need to be able to then connect our offering to that large initiative(but only 33% of reps can effectively make this leap according to Objective Management Group). How does what we bring to the table help our prospect lead that paradigm shift? Not just how it works, but what it will do for the company strategically. The impact it will have long term. Why vs How.
4) Selling Urgency- There is no time to waste in the Zoom economy. Not only do we need to sell change, but we need to sell urgency, action, execution. The reps that can demonstrate conviction, and highlight the cost of standing still and the benefits of swift action are succeeding, but according to OMG, only 12% can do this effectively. Thinking Big means turning on these skills.
5)Finding the Money -How do you tap into the largest buckets of dollars that your prospect has set aside for immediate action vs. the nice to have, "we'll come back to you" solutions? There are only a handful of these initiatives at your prospect's organization. Tap into them, discuss your ideas to help. What initiatives are being funded aggressively and how does your solution fit? Companies are spending billions on change, on reinvention, on new business models, on paradigm shifts. Be there.