Kevin Femal
Marketing & Industry Awareness Committee Member
EMS Industrial, Inc.
The life of a sales professional is one that few will ever understand unless they've stepped into the batter's box themselves. It is a life on the road attempting to put out fires, controlling the uncontrollable and building deep relationships while hunting for new opportunities. Structurally, things have changed as “on the road” has taken a different meaning over the last several months. Yet, through all the twists and turns, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
Whether you have a dedicated sales team or that responsibility falls to you, consider integrating these lessons from 2020 to your 2021 sales strategy.
#1 You Are What You Think About
The adage of “you are what you eat” has been replaced by “you are what you think about.” Your internal mindset will have the most significant impact on your success (or lack thereof) than anything else you do. If you wake up thinking, “How do we cope with all the challenges of decreased interaction and sales potential?” then you are defeated from the word GO. Meanwhile, your competitor is thinking, “How can I maximize this new way of interacting while bringing greater value to my customer during these unique times?”
Now more than ever, the key to success is looking at things through an optimistic lens. You and your team should manage your territory and book of business the same way you manage your company. If you are like most business leaders, you strive to be positive and resilient and wake up each day with a sense of optimism that rubs off on everyone else. Think positive when you wake up and think positive when you go to bed. Thinking leads to acting, and acting leads to achieving.
#2 Help Your Customers Find Success
The best sales professionals genuinely want to help their customers find success. This attitude is a great place to start any conversation as businesses everywhere are doing things differently, shaking the tree per se, when it comes to looking in the mirror. If a customer is struggling, you have an incredible opportunity to position yourself as their total solutions provider and help them succeed. Is COVID-19 making it harder for a customer to have a consistent workforce in keeping up on preventative maintenance? Create a list of questions like this that you can ask at the beginning of any sales appointment, phone call or video conference.
#3 Target Prospecting Is the Key
COVID-19 has changed buyer tendencies globally, which in turn has created new markets and sales prospects. All too often, we've heard stories of the local businesses who won't make it. On the flip side, we've also heard countless stories of new markets or customers who are doing exceptionally well in the face of the pandemic. From a prospecting standpoint, we want to focus our time on customers or prospects in the second category. Engage in a brainstorming session with your sales team, management team or anybody else within your business. With the sage advice from others around you, create a robust list of both industries and companies to help serve.
#4 Become a Delivery Specialist
Depending on where you live, getting face-to-face meetings is more challenging than it was 12 months ago. We need to be more creative than ever. One strategy is to deliver the repaired equipment yourself. If you can, volunteer to make deliveries to your customers or accompany your transportation specialist. You earn facetime with the customer while providing value. It also creates the chance to talk with contacts you have not seen since before the onset of the pandemic.
Consider collaborating with your local bakery or grocery store to wrap or bag pastry items or sweets individually. Pandemic or not, customers still like food. Most local bakeries are happy to customize bagels, doughnuts or other options to meet your customers' safety (and gastronomic) needs.
#5 Improve Sales Experience through Technology
If nothing else, 2020 gave everyone a chance to pause and reflect on their current strategies, including how they go to market. When COVID-19 first hit, most of us thought it would be around for a few months, and we would go back to business as usual. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case.
This unique time allows us to determine how we can use technology to improve customers' sales experiences.
Providing online training can endear your service center to your customers. Virtual plant tours are a strategy used by some EASA members to showcase value while building value equity. Another way to use technology is to host a live Q&A webinar with customers. Send out an invitation and let the sales team drive the activity. Work with customers ahead of time to determine conversation topics so that the right specialists are available for the Q&A.
In summary, 2020 was a year like no other. However, if approached with a positive mindset and more vigilance than ever to help customers, there is no reason 2021 can't be successful.
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