As mentioned, previously, I was referred and introduced to an industry leading UK and Europe SME via a business individual I had developed a relationship with over the past few months.
This industry sector of this new business and geographical location was new to me, as well as before the initial video conferencing meet with the CEO, I was only given short notice.
⚙ ⚙ ⚙
What did I do?
I cleared my desk and spent the whole evening researching this company’s background, social media channels, website, marketing material, etc.
The following day and from an energetic and diligent introduction, I demonstrated to the CEO how I will be agile and adapt to their business requirements to fulfill a sales strategy project.
Throughout the initial prospecting stage and this customer’s buying experience, I made sure I was efficient, swift in my follow-up, questioned, and actively listened to this company’s needs.
⚙ ⚙ ⚙
A few weeks later, after a 2-hour+ journey and overnight stay, I worked with this company and their team on a sales strategy and training project which took serval weeks. I was delighted to receive this wonderful feedback below:
“Jamie spent a significant amount of time with me to further understand the business and the tolerances and willingness we had towards change. His approach with my team was open, friendly, and gently probing. His enthusiasm was infectious, making my organisation comfortable and willing to take on board any recommendation he made.
His report was generated very rapidly and again his requests for additional information highlighted his desire to ensure the recommendations made were realistic and fully considered our existing processes. The final report was thorough and provided our organisation with an excellent external review of our sales strategy and processes.”
Remember– In a sales environment: customer needs always first.
I decided to go as a guest visitor to a networking group I had not visited before in my local area.
I went to the lunchtime meeting (a new time for me to network), but I thought it would be a good idea to meet different businesses also networking at this time.
During the meeting, I built synergy with serval business individuals, but one in particular.
We got to know each other (our character and initiatives better) and decided to keep in contact by phone on a monthly basis, as we liked each other’s personality and business acumen.
⚙ ⚙ ⚙
5 months later, this individual worked with another company, introduced me to them & they also became a client of mine… but that is a story for another time.
About a year later, this individual required some advice on articles, as well as digital marketing. I spent some time providing advice (at no cost) within these areas to support their current business initiatives.
⚙ ⚙ ⚙
This individual trusted me to work with me on a week-long project for their needs of their business and became a client of mine. Still a business friend, so I made sure a gestured rate was offered for my services.
The sales environment is constantly adapting. As we find ourselves now selling more via digital channels and tools; you need to develop techniques, analyse, and review your sales process and strategy to understand the buying behaviour, communication styles, and personalities of your future clients.
Here are some integral areas to be focused on when selling in the modern sales environment:
Identifying Your Future Clients:
Before contacting a prospect – take the time initially to develop a sales strategy and process to make your sales activities more efficient and effective.
Identify who your Ideal Client Profile (ICP); the decision maker who is predicted to buy your service or product. These new prospects could be your clients’ clients, the competitors of your clients, etc. The focus here should be to qualify or disqualify a prospect prior to approaching them, social media profiles or sales enablement AI platform tools can assist you with this.
Identify the behaviours of your prospects, e.g., what social media channels they use and how they engage on it. You can identify more about their personality and communication styles by the way and how they are corresponding to their network? The more you find out about your prospects early on within the sales process, the easier they will be to sell too.
Sales Process:
After identifying some key prospects to approach, research and your due diligence are key skills that will help with the next steps for developing a relationship with these prospects/decision makers during the buying process.
There are various channels (especially in a modern environment) for contacting a prospect, e.g., social media (including groups), telephone, text, email, post, video conference, WhatsApp, Slack, website enquiries, networking events, referrals, podcasts, and so on… Adopting automation services can help save time, but is this a personalised approach for your target prospects?
In the sales process – a consistent approach, with several personalised ‘touch points’ i.e., interaction with the prospect/decision makers’ learning and communication styles during the client buying process should be applied.
Decision Makers:
When selling to some companies, there are several decision makers. Each decision maker has a different personality, communication style, and requirements for your service/product.
Are you aware of your decision makers’ interests? What groups they are a part of on LinkedIn/Facebook, etc.? In the modern sales environment, decision makers will experience many pitches from your competition, as well as ‘noise’ from digital channels, i.e., social media, marketing ads, promotions when they look to buy.
Some types of decision makers below:
Starts the buying process
The check writer
Final decision on the purchase or your service/product
The end user (could be a decision maker or an employee)
How to sell more effectively to each type of decision maker?
Starts the buying process
They are likely to research services/products thoroughly via digital channels, e.g., websites, social media, or referrals before they present a service or product to other decision makers within the business.Have you connected with these decision makers on social media channels? Do you engage with their content? Build rapport with these types of decision makers, they will buy from people they like.
The check writer
These decision makers would be looking for formal written communication (email, brochure, proposal) with all the facts and figures to be accurate – any error in detail will have an impact on their buying decision.
Final decision on the purchase or your service/product
These decision makers will react to their gut emotion. They would need to be convinced visually (video marketing, Google reviews, LinkedIn recommendations, etc.) during the buying process by you/other decision makers. Likely to be focused on the outcome your service/product offers; these decision makers are logical buyers. An engaging demonstration/case study would be an ideal way to demonstrate a return of investment and close the deal with these decision makers.
The end user (could be a decision maker or an employee)
Likely to explore buying a service or product with several of your competitors. These decision makers will want to know all the benefits and features, including elements such as the service/product’s life cycle, implementation, ease of use, etc. Video testimonials or client feedback (highlighted on website/in a brochure) are good resources to win these end users to buy from you.
Remember – in the modern sales environment, some decision makers might prefer to communicate via social media ‘private message’, WhatsApp, text, video conference, etc. Advice – Ask the decision how they prefer to communicate with you!
Building Rapport:
Cold calling is becoming a sales activity of the past. The renowned sales term: Know, Like, and Trust (KLT), as well as referrals is more important now for building rapport and long-lasting relationships.
A prospect is likely to engage with you through the buying process if you take the time to listen and care about their values and interests. A strong rapport built can make the negotiation and closing stages easier. People do buy from people!
To build rapport in a modern sales environment – build a connection with your prospect by getting to know them personally. Engage with them on social media. Actively listen to how they communicate with you (their body language, their tone of voice, etc.).
If you identify a connection/interest in common with your prospect, you are more likely to be remembered during the buying process.
Selling Your Service or Product:
Before the advancement of the digital world, the selling activity included approaching prospects in volume, during the buying process a smaller number of prospects would qualify and be converted into clients. Yes, this approach included ‘wins’, but how many hours/costs/resources were required?
In the modern sales environment, various digital channels (social media, automated emails, articles, videos, landing page, etc.) can be utilised for lead generation and your sales funnel. These tools should be personalised and adapted to the emotions and buying behaviours of your target prospects.
For identifying new prospects and qualifying more prospects swiftly and efficiently; your business should focus on their personality, communication style, their needs; how your service or product will make a significant impact on their business in current markets? Social media profiles (such as LinkedIn) can provide insights into some of these areas.
In the modern sales environment, we can utilise a variety of modern touch points to keep in contact with our prospects during the buying and follow up process, i.e., newsletters, video messages, social media.
Using Social Media for Selling:
There are various social media channels: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Social media is for information sharing – what are you an expert in? How will your service of product benefit prospects and your clients? If you are not producing constant social media marketing posts; how will your prospects know who you are and what you are selling?
In one of my surveys, ‘83% of Sales Professionals feel they require support in using social media for building business relationships’ (Correct Careers Coaching, 2019).
If you do not embrace social media, you are missing out on building relationships with future clients, i.e., LinkedIn has registered over 30 million companies. Utilise social media to stay visible, promote your brand, engage with new prospects, etc.
Personalities will thrive when selling in the modern sales environment!
Jamie works with companies globally to enhance the employee’s B2B selling capabilities for generating and converting prospects. Jamie also improves the sales process and strategy to increase your gross sales by winning and retaining clients.
If you would like to have a more detailed discussion and explore selling techniques further, contact Jamie on:
Jamie Martin BSc (Hons), PGCert (Managing Director & Founder)
