3 B2B Sales Principles That Your Strategy Must Incorporate
The sales industry is rapidly evolving. Sales teams have consistently been able to make incremental tactical improvements to their processes. Still, in the last few years, sales have entered a new era fueled by technology, analysis, and a dramatic change in buyer behavior. Sales managers have placed a new focus on utilizing technology to measure sales representative activity and enhance operations through quantitative analysis and experimentation with tactics and strategies.
If you compare a modern sales team to one from the late 90s, the differences are night and day. The act of pounding the pavement and cold-calling anyone and everyone to scare up leads is dead. But…. not all teams are adopting the new standards of selling. Some sales organizations are significantly behind their competitors and are struggling to keep pace with the times. That’s why the DocSend team put together this infographic detailing how the sales floor has evolved and what teams have benefited. Here are the biggest takeaways:
What’s Wrong with the Traditional Way of Doing Sales?
A lot! When teams employ individual sellers who are responsible for sourcing their leads and closing their deals, it can limit a sales team’s ability to scale and create some serious issues:
How Have B2B Buyers Changed The Sales Process?
B2B software buyers now have access to an unlimited amount of information about potential products and vendors. Most buyers engage in extensive research before even filling out a lead form or contacting a sales rep. The old way of selling positioned reps as gatekeepers of product knowledge: they could tell you about the offering and quote you a price, because the information wasn’t publicly available.
This is no longer the case; now, sales professionals are tasked with finding businesses in pain and alleviating that pain with their product. Their job is to create consensus among all the stakeholders within an organization while overcoming objections and minimizing special customization requests that cause additional complexity. In The Challenger Sale from CEB, four trends are identified as potential blockers for the modern sales rep:
How Can a Sales Team Adapt to the Times?
If you’re currently managing a sales team that’s a little behind the times, there are three principles you can take to heart that will get you and your team up to speed:
- Embrace technology
- Specialize roles
- Create a culture of teamwork
Build a Modern Sales Stack
A sales stack can be defined simply as the technology and software a sales team uses to assist its sales process. By building a custom set of software that manages and streamlines sales development, presentations, and closing, you can create a unique workflow for your sales team that is tailored to every step of your sales cycle. With the advent of cloud-based software, sales leaders can now roll out new software purchases for their teams without relying on IT. This allows them to quickly add, remove, and replace
With the advent of cloud-based software, sales leaders can now roll out new software purchases for their teams without relying on IT. This allows them to quickly add, remove, and replace software in their stack, enabling them to experiment and find the optimal setup for their team.
Specialize Roles
In his revolutionary book, Predictable Revenue, Aaron Ross explains why prospecting for sales leads and closing deals should be handled by two distinct roles on your team. Prospecting for inbound or outbound leads falls under the purview of the Sales Development Representative, or SDR. On the flip side, Account Executives, the role responsible for the bulk of communication, contract negotiation, and closing, require a different skill set. By specializing in roles, individual contributors on your sales team can focus on building a more narrow and refined skill set.
On the other hand, Account Executives, the role responsible for the bulk of communication, contract negotiation, and closing, require a different skill set. By specializing in roles, individual contributors on your sales team and focus on building a more narrow and refined skill set.
Support Your Sellers!
It’s common in traditional sales organizations for lone wolves to dominate the floor. These sellers typically prefer minimal interaction or collaboration with other team members. They often ask to be left alone so they can reach their target, and once they achieve their monthly goal, they pack their belongings and head home. In this type of setup, salespeople aren’t supported (and tend not to want it when offered).
Sales teams achieved the highest ROI when about 50-60% of the team are in roles dedicated to supporting actual sellers.
HBR
Modern sales teams are supported by sales operations, analysts, developers, sales enablement, and most teams require ongoing training. This supporting cast of characters provides individual sellers with the tools they need to succeed, allowing them to focus on selling. A study from McKinsey found that
Modern sales teams are investing in technology, experimenting with new tactics and processes, collaborating more closely than ever before, and specializing in roles that require a narrow focus while developing deep expertise. A new era of sales has begun, and if your team ignores these trends, they may become obsolete.
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