Showing Sales Professionals and Leaders How to Leverage Digital Influence to Create More and Better Opportunities - Sales Hall of Fame Inductee, Speaker, & Author
You can’t make your buyers buy. And you definitely can’t make them buy like you want them to and on your timeline. If you are a seller or sales leader today and don’t understand this, you are in for some missed sales goals and extra stress. Because if you think you are in the driver’s seat, you’ll soon find your prospects and customers have tuned you out. They want to drive themselves. And they have the tools and capability to get any information that you might possibly send them in an email. What you can do, is be the guide for them on the journey. Be the trusted source of insights and ideas. Because this might be the first time they’ve bought what you sell. But you do it every day. So like my son who doesn’t want to be pushed, let them control the stroller. And just be there to make sure they are going in the right direction. (And that they don’t veer off into traffic!) #sales #modernselling #socialselling #salesprocess Alexander Beck David New David Hewett Tom Latourette Todd Caponi Anita Nielsen Jared Gibson Vincent Gatti
I think we need to update our sales methodologies in parts. I`m not saying that we should replace them or through everything over board, but with the changes in information availability and the heavily transformed buying committees (who had to deal with a CRO 5 or 7 years ago?), it´s time for us to realize that we need to make adjustments.
Be the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage. “just be there to make sure they are going in the right direction.” This is hard to do if you’re accustomed to driving. But the rewards are great if you can let go. The sooner sellers let go of the mindset that they need to control the buying process, the better - and the more their audience will be drawn to them.
So true! They want to push the bike or ride the big-wheel themselves. It's no fun watching you do it!!! There are 2 key tenants our founder Skip Miller used to espouse. "People want to buy, they just don't want to be sold" AND "People don't want to be educated, they want to be validated". While both of these have been true throughout all of time, I think they're even more important today. If you think about key relationships you have in your life, be it a spouse, a child or a good friend, how successful are we when we tell them - "Ooooh, you need to do it this way... Let me show you how it's done!" Isn't it incredible that the more you give up control, the more you gain control? But validation isn't about saying "YES" to everything and just being an order-taker. It's about understanding the customer and the industry, asking strong insightful questions about the outcomes they desire and the struggle they're having achieving those outcomes. That's how a strategic partner (or the parent of a headstrong child) operates!
Heard someone say that the best marketing is the invisible kind. Couldn't agree with that more.
How about putting this idea in reverse and attracting clients to desire... I love the burger ads with cheese dripping, they stir that craving!
Marketing Consultant specialized in Marketing Strategy, Brand Experience Design, Content Marketing, and Marketing Team Operations
7moI often talk with marketers who have one or two big campaigns planned for the year, and they put all of their marketing budget into those campaigns. Spoiler alert - not everyone will be ready to, want to, or need to purchase during those campaign timeframes. But if you invest all of your energy and budget into those campaigns and don't talk about those products or services outside of those campaign windows, you're missing out on reaching a lot of people who would purchase from you. I feel like it's the marketing version of what you mention above. It's not taking into account your audiences' needs and not building relationships over time. But if you were to use some of your budget to create content to share throughout the year or to run ongoing paid search ads, etc., it's a way to engage with people on their timeline.