by Art Waskey | Feb 27, 2023 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
A Needle in a Haystack
Today, finding the right product can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. In your B2B business, how do you help customers find and choose your products? The best answer is to focus on your stakeholders – know what they want.
A Complex Task
In addition, Knowing your stakeholders is a complex task, as there tend to be many involved in any one deal. For example, a typical manufacturing decision-making team comprises executives, management, operations, and purchasing staff. Add to this mix the prevalence of buying committees. According to a recent SMB survey, 80% of companies have buying committees that influence decisions today.
Value-Added Requirements
As authors Richardson and Sharer discuss in their book Agile and Resilient, this mix of stakeholders influences how you approach the sales journey. They report, “Three big changes we have identified where sellers need to become more adept are: selling to committees, working with purchasing/procurement, and selling to the C-suite.”
In addition, sellers must tailor their conversations, marketing messages, and sales tools to all stakeholders. For this purpose, sellers need to identify the stakeholders’ value-added requirements.
Mine Your Data
Therefore, mine your data to help find and understand your customers’ value-added requirements. Make sure you have an omnichannel presence. According to IndustrialDistribution, “Omnichannel refers to the connection of all systems, platforms, departments, and sales channels. Furthermore, with omnichannel capabilities, distributors can provide customers with a consistent experience across all touchpoints. With AI, that experience isn’t just consistent – it’s seamless.” Contrarily, use data to understand your stakeholders’ buying patterns and needs more fully.
Knowledge is power
Lastly, fulfill your stakeholders’ specific needs by understanding their expectations and pursuing sales success relentlessly. The power of the sale lies in customer knowledge.
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by Art Waskey | Feb 13, 2023 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Pitching your Products
Today’s market is flooded with an array of goods and services. As a B2B seller, this makes pitching your products more challenging. As a distribution consultant, I am often asked how best to fine-tune sales strategies to meet buyers’ expectations. My answer is to focus on building trust and proving your value to customers.
Build Trust with Personalization
One of the best ways to build trust with customers is to increase the personalization of the sale.
Listen to the nuances in your customer’s voice — not just his words. Tailor the sale to each customer’s specific need. Show empathy and kindness when problems arise. My best B2B relationships have developed from projects where I have helped a customer out of a tight spot.
Use Technology
Sales have always been based on trust. In a recent blog, Michael Buscemi, Director of SMB at G2, stated, “I don’t think trust has fundamentally changed… However, I think the way our information is available today has made it [trust] more acute in the minds of buyers and sellers.” Technology is available that helps identify customers’ specific needs. Use data to personalize your approach to each client and build trust.
Prove Product Value
Today’s buyers start their research for a product or service online. A survey last year by DemandGen Report reported that 77% of B2B buyers did not talk with a salesperson until they had performed independent research. In this research environment, you need to prove your value by being the product expert. It is imperative that the sales team has hands-on experience with the product or service it sells. For example, when our bathrooms needed updating I researched the latest designs online. Only then did I invite a couple of local sales companies to demonstrate their products to me. My order went to the company that convinced me of the value of their installations.
Recipe for Success
Establish customer relationships based on trust. Add to that the ability to prove the value of your product or service. This is the recipe for sales success in today’s competitive market. Get tips and tricks like the above in The Art of Sales books. Or subscribe to the FREE monthly articles here.
by Art Waskey | Feb 6, 2023 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Workers in the US labor market are on the move. A shortage of talent combined with greatly expanded job options has led to rapid employee turnover. Additionally, the US Bureau of Labor reported that the professional and business services industry, which includes B2B sales, had the fifth-highest turnover rate in 2021. Altogether, in a fluid labor market, how do you get your employees to stay? Prove that you value them.
Create Strategies
Furthermore, employees switch jobs for a variety of reasons including quicker advancement, better compensation, and to find a more pleasant work environment. Business leaders need to take responsibility for retention. Also, recognize the current demands of the labor market and create strategies that encourage employees to stay.
Value your Team
Here are some ways to build loyalty by valuing your employees.
Get comfortable with change – The Y and Z generations are comfortable with change. Empower your managers to try new ideas and listen to suggestions from younger employees.
Provide a career path – Make sure internal opportunities for job growth are seen. Establish clear pathways for career advancement. Provide meaningful time for employees to communicate personal career goals. Offer and invest in training where there are gaps in skills.
Refocus the culture – Culture is developed top-down in an organization. Get external assessments to ensure you are projecting a healthy culture. Create 360-degree reviews where managers can see and understand gaps in relationships. If a manager has a high report turnover, recognize it early and make adjustments.
Reassess your compensation plan – With social media, job-hoppers are aware of the benefits other companies offer and discuss them with their peers. Be sure your compensation plan is in line with companies like yours.
Staying Power
In conclusion, make sure your employees feel valued for their contribution to your workplace. The longer a person is in a position that doesn’t fulfill them or underutilizes their talents, the more likely he is to move. Lastly, create staying power within your company by providing opportunities for promotion, great compensation packages, and a culture of trust.
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by Art Waskey | Jan 29, 2023 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Personalize the Sale
I have an older car which I use for fun when family comes to visit. As it gets only occasional use, the battery often needs charging. I went online to shop for a charger and found a large assortment of options. However, I had no idea which charger was best for me so I headed to my local auto parts stores. In the first store, the rep showed me three options but gave no recommendation. At my next stop, I talked with a rep who was a charger user himself. He asked me about my specific needs and handed me the charger I should buy. His personalization of the sale was invaluable to me. As a salesperson, it is important to keep in mind that the perceived value of a product or service is how it looks, feels, and sounds to the buyer.
Tailor your Solutions
The online marketplace offers lots of product choices at low prices. In the absence of appropriate descriptive information, however, price doesn’t help you select the right product for you. According to Laura Ramos, VP, Principal Analyst at Forrester, “Sixty percent of customers will stop doing business with sellers that do not tailor solutions to meet their exact needs.” “Forty-three percent of buyers feel embarrassed in front of their peers if sellers’ presentations are not customized to their specific needs.” In the example above of the battery charger, I could have purchased the product online at a lower price. However, it would be of little value to me if it was the wrong charger.
Enhance Perceived Value
Remember, the perceived value is how a product or service looks, feels, and sounds to the buyer. Always present an organized and knowledgeable sales plan that enhances the perceived value of your solution. Personalized perceived value positions enable the seller to build strong, value-driven, long-term customer relationships.
The Value of Peace of Mind
The personalized attention I received from the store rep in the example above added perceived value to the charger I purchased. Going forward, I may still look online for information and prices. But I will buy my auto parts from the local, personalized, added-value distributor who offers me peace of mind that I made the right choice. Get tips and tricks like the above in The Art of Sales books. Or subscribe to the FREE monthly articles here.
by Art Waskey | Jan 23, 2023 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Job-Hopping on the Rise
Today’s labor market is marked by a shortage of talent and many new job options. These factors enable younger employees to pick their spots and social media has accelerated the job-hopping process. Employee retention is now a serious issue for most companies. According to Grant Thornton Consulting, about 68.9 million American workers left their jobs in 2021 — 70% of them voluntarily. The company also reports that over 20% of American workers took a new position in the last year. Forty percent of those are already looking for new jobs.
What Motivates a Move?
Additionally, to address the issue of job retention within your company, you need to understand what motivates the movers. Here are some of the primary reasons for changing jobs today.
Advancement opportunity – Careers are no longer linear. Today, the quickest way up the ladder is with a job change and social media makes that fast and easy. Finding a new job is often more expedient than asking for a promotion. Many times the next step in an organization is limited by the positions available and employees may choose not to wait.
Company loyalty – Companies are no longer seen as being loyal to their workers. In recessionary times, through reorganizations, and as a result of corporate buyouts, the Y and Z generations saw their parents laid off. As a result, Gen Y and Z workers try to build their own unique career paths by moving on before someone moves them out.
Salary increases – Zippia, an online recruitment services provider, reported that in 2022 the average salary increase when changing jobs was 14.8% while wage growth was 5.8%. Today, it is often easier to switch jobs for a hefty pay increase than to ask your boss for a raise.
Better culture – A top reason why people change jobs is to be part of a better work culture. According to Shelby Palmeri of CareerPlug, 72% of employees surveyed reported leaving a job because of a toxic workplace. 51% said they plan on leaving their current job for the same reason.
More perks – The younger generations are looking for a good life/work balance —more personal time off, a shorter time to earn it, and perks. Company matching contributions to 401K saving programs, student loans retirements, flexible hours, and work-from-home are options new workers are seeking.
Work on retention
Lastly, examine your company’s culture carefully to identify weak spots in job retention. Provide competitive compensation packages and clear career path opportunities. The best way to build loyalty and prevent job-hopping is to value your workers.
Get tips and tricks like the above in The Art of Sales books. Or subscribe to the FREE monthly articles here.