by Art Waskey | May 15, 2025 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Focus on your core business
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are particularly effective for your core business. Companies have a lot of information on existing customers, and AI can crunch that data for you. According to a McKinsey report, 80 percent of the value creation achieved by successful growth companies comes from their core business—namely, generating new revenue from existing customers.
Selling to existing customers
Todd Daubenberger, CRO at White Cup, says selling to existing customers costs less than finding new ones. AI-powered platforms help by giving teams smart suggestions based on order history. With the right tools, companies can boost revenue by 10% to 30%. (“Eight Upselling and Cross-Selling Strategies That Drive Sales Growth,” distributionstrategy.com)
How AI strengthens your core
A sales rep’s job involves juggling multiple tasks. A recent report by the Distribution Strategy Group explained how AI is providing data that helps reps keep all the balls in the air.
The Distribution Strategy Group reported: “Distributors are catching on. Recent research shows that 78% of survey distributors plan to use data and analytics to guide their decision-making and sales strategies. Many are also leaning into CRMs and AI-powered tools to help their reps work smarter, not harder. In seconds, AI can surface a long-time customer whose orders are slipping, signaling a churn risk. It can also reveal a high-potential prospect that’s gone quiet and needs a follow-up or a growing account with untapped opportunities in new product categories.”
Work smarter
Growing your core business is essential to success. Lastly, make sure you have the AI tools to allow your sales team to work smarter, not harder.
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by Art Waskey | May 7, 2025 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Traditional sales techniques can be improved with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to a recent article in Forbes (“Why Sales Reps Spend So Little Time Selling by Ken Krogue, Forbes), conventional reps spend 35% of their time selling and 65% on everything else.
The traditional sales process
The traditional sales process for distributors involves juggling many tasks and coordinating lots of customer information. As a past VP of Sales, I remember my frustration with seeing outside sales reps in their offices until mid-morning. Why were they not out engaging with customers? The representatives shared that they were working to develop the best plan of attack. They were working on whom to call, what to suggest to existing customers, and which accounts needed the most attention. The actual selling time was being lost. Monthly prospecting target results were weak. Also, I received call reports listing a day of six to eight prospective calls, with, maybe at best, two qualified leads. The success with productive calls to existing accounts was not much better.
To improve the situation, I invested significant time training representatives on preparing for customer visits. I instructed them to review old call reports and actively gather data from business intelligence, other departments, and various online sources. I also encouraged them to analyze sales history and examine credit spreadsheets.
AI to the rescue
All this effort and research on the part of reps, while important, is incredibly time-consuming, and results are often incomplete. AI can change this scenario by automating tasks and streamlining the traditional sales process. Machine learning is constantly analyzing the data behind sales transactions. It enables reps to see priorities faster. AI automates repetitive and tedious tasks like sorting through endless data, and allows reps to focus on what they do best — selling.
Improving the process
As you can see, AI doesn’t replace sales reps, it assists them. Finally, it automates numerous tasks in the traditional sales process, enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of sales strategies.
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by Art Waskey | Apr 29, 2025 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Attention, all sales executives. Digital Transformation (DX) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are here. It took a long time for the collection of technologies and applications referred to as DX (laptops, emails, texting, smartphones, social media technologies, etc.) to move from a conversation to a coordinated business reality. Also, take note that the adoption of artificial intelligence and its benefits is moving much faster. The good news is that artificial intelligence applications are affordable, even to smaller companies.
Outside sales is hard work
Outside sales is daunting work. Reps must be focused and able to close business fast to outperform the competition.
A rep’s job is a juggling act. He needs to chase leads, satisfy existing clients, follow up on backorders, correct pricing errors, handle objections, and keep competitors at bay. Inefficiencies within current systems can cause reps to spend too much time with the wrong prospects. Moreover, the correct information on existing customers’ objectives may also be lacking or hard to come by. This puts pressure on representatives and undermines their confidence in identifying next steps and surpassing the competition.
AI streamlines processes
New AI tools are available to make selling more strategically efficient. AI allows sales representatives to enhance various processes, such as lead generation, pricing, and follow-up, making it an exciting time to be in outside sales. According to McKinsey & Company, AI has “opened up 20% more sales team capacity” (“How Top Performers Outpace Peers in Sales Productivity,” July 6, 2023: mckinsey.com).
Adopting AI
In conclusion, be sure to provide your sales team with the appropriate artificial intelligence technologies to open up your sales capacity. AI tools are critical to beating your competition, especially the larger companies that have lots of AI tech powering their sales force. Lastly, you must adopt AI tools now. They will streamline the selling process and help you grow your business.
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by Art Waskey | Apr 18, 2025 | Uncategorized
Ensuring a Sale is Truly Complete
One of the most frustrating experiences for a salesperson is closing a deal only to see it unravel due to poor execution by their organization. A colleague once shared, “I worked hard to secure a new client, but our company mishandled the initial delivery, and we lost the business. It’s exhausting to see hard-earned sales slip away because of service mismanagement.”
As a consumer, I’ve experienced this firsthand. When my hot water heater started leaking, I sought a reliable provider. My first call was to a national hardware chain. They quoted me a reasonable price for both the tank and installation. But the next morning, a third-party installer called to add unexpected fees. Feeling misled, I canceled the order, and they didn’t even follow up to understand why.
This story highlights a key lesson: a sale isn’t complete until the customer is fully satisfied. Or, as Yogi Berra famously said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”
Strategies to Ensure Sales Success
- Create a Strategic Plan
A salesperson’s job doesn’t end with the sale. Develop a clear schedule that outlines steps to ensure first-class delivery and service. Consider hosting a kickoff meeting with your customer and your internal team to set expectations for the first 60 days. Document required actions and anticipate potential challenges to address them proactively. - Enhance Team Collaboration
Salespeople are the bridge between customers and the organization. Strong communication between customer service, delivery personnel, and sales ensures any surprises are managed effectively. - Prevent Errors
Understand what your customer expects from the sale, from accurate inventory to seamless delivery and friendly customer service. Identify potential challenges and address them before they arise. - Exceed Expectations
Building long-term relationships hinges on surpassing customer expectations. Help customers streamline their operations, reduce costs, or improve efficiency with your product or service. - Measure Satisfaction
After delivery or installation, check in with your customer to gauge their satisfaction. Use a simple scoring system (e.g., 1 to 10) to understand how well you performed. Aim for a score of 9 or higher, and take immediate steps to address any shortcomings. - Foster Referrals
Strong relationships can lead to valuable referrals. When you consistently meet and exceed expectations, customers are more likely to introduce you to their network, expanding your pipeline.
Final Thoughts
In the end, I purchased my water heater from a personable local distributor who provided a clear, honest quote and managed the installation smoothly. After the project, the salesperson followed up with thoughtful questions to ensure I was satisfied.
This experience underscores the importance of seeing every sale through to the very end. Remember: it truly isn’t over till it’s over.
by Art Waskey | Apr 9, 2025 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Personnel issues, if left unaddressed, can create chaos and derail business operations. Remember, when working with others, there are no absolutes. You need to organize principles and solutions to meet needs.
Here are four ways to organize solutions.
- Delegate responsibility – In his ground-breaking book, The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker points out the mark of a successful leader is his ability to “use all the available strengths: the strength of associates, the strength of supervisors, and one’s strength.” Delegating responsibility is an opportunity to develop team members by challenging them to grow their skills.
- Maintain a proper balance – To achieve workplace balance, it’s important to cultivate self-awareness and understand your needs and limits. Balance involves moving past doing the things we know we can do and moving toward new levels. When I consider balance, the acronym SMART comes to mind: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This framework helps me create clear and effective goals.
- Make planning a team effort – In Sharpening the Focus of the Church, Gene Getz urges us to “take an approach to problem-solving and decision-making that takes into consideration the attitudes and feelings of all those who are directly involved.” Before enacting a plan, communicate your idea to the people responsible for its implementation. You may find the need to make revisions. You want to be sure all those involved with a plan’s implementation are motivated. Make it a team effort.
- Solve problems creatively – Don’t allow yourself to get locked into administrative methods and routines. Circumstances vary with each problem and solution. Be creative, expect alternative options, and solicit suggestions.
Still in the people business
No matter how digitized our lives are becoming with technology, we are still in the people business. Keep the implementation of your personnel strategies as simple as possible. Delegate responsibilities fairly, maintain workforce balance, make planning a team effort, and by all means, be creative!
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