How did your sales perform in 2020?
did they adapt to succeed?
2020 was a year like no other. Tried and tested sales methods became virtually redundant overnight. Whilst some businesses spotted opportunities and adapted quickly, others were slow to respond and suffered as a result.
Traditional face-to-face sales conversations and meetings have, in many cases, stopped. Customers are developing different buying behaviours and creating new challenges.
Salespeople are having to face new situations that they may not be equipped to deal with. Sales management and sales training have become more problematic, and in many cases have been put on hold.
The new reliance on different, previously untested channels such as video meetings has exposed gaps in skills and infrastructure for many businesses.
There has never been a time when it was more critical to be nimble from a sales perspective.
If your sales suffered as a result, what can you do about it?
How do you make effective change?
Change management is all well and good in the corporate world with teams of Project Managers or access to outsourced solutions; but what about SMEs and growing businesses?
Talking to experienced sales professionals can provide insight to the changes that your business can make that will result in a significant difference to sales performance. In many cases SMEs will have skills in the services or products they provide, but sales management may not be one of those skills. A third-party view can help provide perspective and identify areas where your business can adapt. It could be:
- A change of process
- Training to sharpen those sales skills
- Better measurement of results
- An improved customer management system
- A more in depth understanding of your customers’ requirements
- Investment in some new equipment to support your sales operation
- Dropping out-of-date or underperforming processes
Whatever the requirement, often quick and simple changes can produce immediate results following observation and analysis from an external view. How many times have I asked the question: “why do you do it like that?” and got the answer “because we have always done”?
Change can be painful… it doesn’t have to be.
Sometimes change can be difficult for organisations and individuals. Emotions can get the better of teams and managers who feel that they have been doing a good job.
Positioned in the right way and delivered with empathy, a message about the need for change can be motivational, often inspiring. Given the backdrop of the pandemic, we can all recognise that the world has changed and nearly everything we do looks and feels different.
Whether it is a move to remote selling, enabling and equipping your sales people or listening to your customers about what they want. Whatever the solution, the first step is to talk to the right people who can quickly identify what works well and where improvements are needed.
You then need a guide who can help you effectively make those changes.
If you would like to spend some time with John to discuss your sales performance, please complete our discovery form so we can understand more about you. We'd love to find out more about you.
John is a trainer, coach and mentor. He helps SMEs with specialist sales and sales training advice. He’s had a successful career as a Sales Director and trainer with a history of delivering innovation and sales success in both face to face and telephony environments. John’s specialism is in building successful sales operations through training and developing people, processes and systems. He also provides awareness training for a drug and alcohol charity.
