by Art Waskey | Mar 12, 2023 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Leadership doesn’t just happen. To be functional it has to be promoted. Recently, in a Distributor Strategy Group webcast, Eric Chernik, CEO, of Building Controls & Solutions (BSC) provided excellent insight into defining functional leadership (700% Growth in 3 years Engagement Powers Growth for BSC, Distributor Strategy Group, January 25, 2023,). Chernik described being an employee enabler as his primary role.
Key competencies
In addition, to become a functional leader and successful enabler, here are four key competencies I suggest you work on.
- Empowerment. Firstly, Empower your employees by allowing them to express their passion and talent. Maintain an entrepreneurial spirit that maximizes each individual’s talents. Build strategic relationships across functional areas within the team and support employees with continued training.
- Manage corporate culture. Cultural change must be managed from the top. In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins stated, “Build a culture around the idea of freedom and responsibility, within a framework.” That framework should include alleviating fear, removing overbearing controls, creating an atmosphere of transparency, and ensuring integrity.
- Hire right. Chernik stated that he didn’t buy companies primarily based on their financials but rather on their key employees. In addition, he found it crucial to get recommendations from those who had previously worked with the employees, rather than listed references. Your network of influence is valuable in hiring right. Alternatively, as a consultant with a 60-year career in atmospheric gas and welding distribution, I get frequent calls from suppliers and distributors for recommendations.
- Remove organizational politics. For example, be collaborative and take politics out of your organizational approach. Collaboration increases understanding and promotes better personal relationships between workers. To remove political pressure, Chernik suggests getting rid of titles. In order to sell to the customer, he explained that ability should be emphasized rather than position. In short, the flatter your organization, the less likely that politics will get in the way of success.
Functional leadership
Lastly, by achieving 700% growth in three years, Eric Chernik is proven to be a model leader. You can be one as well by promoting functional leadership. Similarly, hire the right employees, empower them to do their best, manage your corporate culture carefully, and keep organizational politics in check.
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by Art Waskey | Feb 27, 2023 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
A Needle in a Haystack
Today, finding the right product can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. In your B2B business, how do you help customers find and choose your products? The best answer is to focus on your stakeholders – know what they want.
A Complex Task
In addition, Knowing your stakeholders is a complex task, as there tend to be many involved in any one deal. For example, a typical manufacturing decision-making team comprises executives, management, operations, and purchasing staff. Add to this mix the prevalence of buying committees. According to a recent SMB survey, 80% of companies have buying committees that influence decisions today.
Value-Added Requirements
As authors Richardson and Sharer discuss in their book Agile and Resilient, this mix of stakeholders influences how you approach the sales journey. They report, “Three big changes we have identified where sellers need to become more adept are: selling to committees, working with purchasing/procurement, and selling to the C-suite.”
In addition, sellers must tailor their conversations, marketing messages, and sales tools to all stakeholders. For this purpose, sellers need to identify the stakeholders’ value-added requirements.
Mine Your Data
Therefore, mine your data to help find and understand your customers’ value-added requirements. Make sure you have an omnichannel presence. According to IndustrialDistribution, “Omnichannel refers to the connection of all systems, platforms, departments, and sales channels. Furthermore, with omnichannel capabilities, distributors can provide customers with a consistent experience across all touchpoints. With AI, that experience isn’t just consistent – it’s seamless.” Contrarily, use data to understand your stakeholders’ buying patterns and needs more fully.
Knowledge is power
Lastly, fulfill your stakeholders’ specific needs by understanding their expectations and pursuing sales success relentlessly. The power of the sale lies in customer knowledge.
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by Art Waskey | Feb 13, 2023 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Pitching your Products
Today’s market is flooded with an array of goods and services. As a B2B seller, this makes pitching your products more challenging. As a distribution consultant, I am often asked how best to fine-tune sales strategies to meet buyers’ expectations. My answer is to focus on building trust and proving your value to customers.
Build Trust with Personalization
One of the best ways to build trust with customers is to increase the personalization of the sale.
Listen to the nuances in your customer’s voice — not just his words. Tailor the sale to each customer’s specific need. Show empathy and kindness when problems arise. My best B2B relationships have developed from projects where I have helped a customer out of a tight spot.
Use Technology
Sales have always been based on trust. In a recent blog, Michael Buscemi, Director of SMB at G2, stated, “I don’t think trust has fundamentally changed… However, I think the way our information is available today has made it [trust] more acute in the minds of buyers and sellers.” Technology is available that helps identify customers’ specific needs. Use data to personalize your approach to each client and build trust.
Prove Product Value
Today’s buyers start their research for a product or service online. A survey last year by DemandGen Report reported that 77% of B2B buyers did not talk with a salesperson until they had performed independent research. In this research environment, you need to prove your value by being the product expert. It is imperative that the sales team has hands-on experience with the product or service it sells. For example, when our bathrooms needed updating I researched the latest designs online. Only then did I invite a couple of local sales companies to demonstrate their products to me. My order went to the company that convinced me of the value of their installations.
Recipe for Success
Establish customer relationships based on trust. Add to that the ability to prove the value of your product or service. This is the recipe for sales success in today’s competitive market. Get tips and tricks like the above in The Art of Sales books. Or subscribe to the FREE monthly articles here.
by Art Waskey | Feb 6, 2023 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Workers in the US labor market are on the move. A shortage of talent combined with greatly expanded job options has led to rapid employee turnover. Additionally, the US Bureau of Labor reported that the professional and business services industry, which includes B2B sales, had the fifth-highest turnover rate in 2021. Altogether, in a fluid labor market, how do you get your employees to stay? Prove that you value them.
Create Strategies
Furthermore, employees switch jobs for a variety of reasons including quicker advancement, better compensation, and to find a more pleasant work environment. Business leaders need to take responsibility for retention. Also, recognize the current demands of the labor market and create strategies that encourage employees to stay.
Value your Team
Here are some ways to build loyalty by valuing your employees.
Get comfortable with change – The Y and Z generations are comfortable with change. Empower your managers to try new ideas and listen to suggestions from younger employees.
Provide a career path – Make sure internal opportunities for job growth are seen. Establish clear pathways for career advancement. Provide meaningful time for employees to communicate personal career goals. Offer and invest in training where there are gaps in skills.
Refocus the culture – Culture is developed top-down in an organization. Get external assessments to ensure you are projecting a healthy culture. Create 360-degree reviews where managers can see and understand gaps in relationships. If a manager has a high report turnover, recognize it early and make adjustments.
Reassess your compensation plan – With social media, job-hoppers are aware of the benefits other companies offer and discuss them with their peers. Be sure your compensation plan is in line with companies like yours.
Staying Power
In conclusion, make sure your employees feel valued for their contribution to your workplace. The longer a person is in a position that doesn’t fulfill them or underutilizes their talents, the more likely he is to move. Lastly, create staying power within your company by providing opportunities for promotion, great compensation packages, and a culture of trust.
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by Art Waskey | Jan 29, 2023 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Personalize the Sale
I have an older car which I use for fun when family comes to visit. As it gets only occasional use, the battery often needs charging. I went online to shop for a charger and found a large assortment of options. However, I had no idea which charger was best for me so I headed to my local auto parts stores. In the first store, the rep showed me three options but gave no recommendation. At my next stop, I talked with a rep who was a charger user himself. He asked me about my specific needs and handed me the charger I should buy. His personalization of the sale was invaluable to me. As a salesperson, it is important to keep in mind that the perceived value of a product or service is how it looks, feels, and sounds to the buyer.
Tailor your Solutions
The online marketplace offers lots of product choices at low prices. In the absence of appropriate descriptive information, however, price doesn’t help you select the right product for you. According to Laura Ramos, VP, Principal Analyst at Forrester, “Sixty percent of customers will stop doing business with sellers that do not tailor solutions to meet their exact needs.” “Forty-three percent of buyers feel embarrassed in front of their peers if sellers’ presentations are not customized to their specific needs.” In the example above of the battery charger, I could have purchased the product online at a lower price. However, it would be of little value to me if it was the wrong charger.
Enhance Perceived Value
Remember, the perceived value is how a product or service looks, feels, and sounds to the buyer. Always present an organized and knowledgeable sales plan that enhances the perceived value of your solution. Personalized perceived value positions enable the seller to build strong, value-driven, long-term customer relationships.
The Value of Peace of Mind
The personalized attention I received from the store rep in the example above added perceived value to the charger I purchased. Going forward, I may still look online for information and prices. But I will buy my auto parts from the local, personalized, added-value distributor who offers me peace of mind that I made the right choice. Get tips and tricks like the above in The Art of Sales books. Or subscribe to the FREE monthly articles here.
by Art Waskey | Jan 23, 2023 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Job-Hopping on the Rise
Today’s labor market is marked by a shortage of talent and many new job options. These factors enable younger employees to pick their spots and social media has accelerated the job-hopping process. Employee retention is now a serious issue for most companies. According to Grant Thornton Consulting, about 68.9 million American workers left their jobs in 2021 — 70% of them voluntarily. The company also reports that over 20% of American workers took a new position in the last year. Forty percent of those are already looking for new jobs.
What Motivates a Move?
Additionally, to address the issue of job retention within your company, you need to understand what motivates the movers. Here are some of the primary reasons for changing jobs today.
Advancement opportunity – Careers are no longer linear. Today, the quickest way up the ladder is with a job change and social media makes that fast and easy. Finding a new job is often more expedient than asking for a promotion. Many times the next step in an organization is limited by the positions available and employees may choose not to wait.
Company loyalty – Companies are no longer seen as being loyal to their workers. In recessionary times, through reorganizations, and as a result of corporate buyouts, the Y and Z generations saw their parents laid off. As a result, Gen Y and Z workers try to build their own unique career paths by moving on before someone moves them out.
Salary increases – Zippia, an online recruitment services provider, reported that in 2022 the average salary increase when changing jobs was 14.8% while wage growth was 5.8%. Today, it is often easier to switch jobs for a hefty pay increase than to ask your boss for a raise.
Better culture – A top reason why people change jobs is to be part of a better work culture. According to Shelby Palmeri of CareerPlug, 72% of employees surveyed reported leaving a job because of a toxic workplace. 51% said they plan on leaving their current job for the same reason.
More perks – The younger generations are looking for a good life/work balance —more personal time off, a shorter time to earn it, and perks. Company matching contributions to 401K saving programs, student loans retirements, flexible hours, and work-from-home are options new workers are seeking.
Work on retention
Lastly, examine your company’s culture carefully to identify weak spots in job retention. Provide competitive compensation packages and clear career path opportunities. The best way to build loyalty and prevent job-hopping is to value your workers.
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by Art Waskey | Jan 16, 2023 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Pricing strategy
One of the top distribution subjects in the last two years has been pricing strategy. In 2021 and through the first half of 2022, systems were related to dealing with supply chain shortages. More recently, inflation has been a problem to address. Customers are experiencing increases from all their major suppliers. In this scenario, how does a distributor maximize its price increase attainment?
Pricing trends and profits
It is easier to increase prices during volatile times. In a review of distribution sales in 2022, Andy Szal of Industrial Equipment News reported, “Strong pricing trends have helped the robust revenue numbers amid stubborn inflation, and despite concerns about where things could be headed in coming months, the economy seems to keep humming along.”
While strong pricing helps beef up revenue numbers, how much of those price increases translate into profits? When we increase prices by 8% to match inflation, for example, we often see only a 6% price attainment.
Sales strategies
Here are some sales strategies you can deploy to strengthen margin and profitability and to maximize price increase attainment.
Promote your added-value worth – Before making your price increase announcement, have your sales team make a list of all the added-value solutions you offer. This should include order accuracy, pricing consistency, on-time performance, and product availability. Given this information, customers are more likely to accept your price increases.
Create a cross-functional price evaluation team – There are always reps that tend to give up on pricing more quickly than others. To offset this, create a cross-functional team that has the authority to make pricing decisions on deals below specific margin thresholds. The team should include members who are versed in determining criteria for maximizing account margins. Reps can be coached by the team on how to make better trade-offs for company profitability. Your percentages will increase.
See the value
In addition to supply chain issues and inflation, B2B channels continue to put the squeeze on distributor pricing pressure. It’s more important than ever to remember that you can’t sell a price increase if you don’t see the value of the product or service yourself.
Promote your added-value solutions and work as a team to maximize your price increase attainment.
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by Art Waskey | Jan 3, 2023 | Art of Sales Weekly, Uncategorized
The ERP solution
I consult with a supplier who offers a single, basic product. Nevertheless, while reviewing his strategic projects, I suggested he add finding an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) provider to his to-do list. His company uses apps for warehouse, accounting, and sales. But they are not coordinated through an ERP platform. The apps cannot talk to each other. So while the apps help him internally, they don’t add direct value to the customer. The solution to this digital dilemma is to synch your apps with an ERP.
Provide added values
Today, customers expect the best product quality and on-time delivery. These can be acquired through multiple supply channels with the same manufacturer’s tradename. The supplier’s challenge is to find a way to differentiate himself from his often larger competitors. In addition, with knowledge, experience, financing, and person-to-person availability, the supplier should trumpet his ability to provide these added values. To survive and thrive, these added values must be augmented and communicated using unified digitally transforming integrated software. To be a leader, the supplier must be involved on a digital basis.
Use your historical data
Moreover, to compete against evolving alternative marketplaces, suppliers must define value independently of traditional roles. Virtual marketplace alternatives exist —and are designed — to enable customers to acquire products. To maintain viability with its distributors, the supplier must offer services designed to improve a customer’s experience.
Having historic intimacy with distributors is the differentiator for the supplier. The supplier I consult with has years of stored information related to his distributor- customer spending patterns and other characteristics. Moreover, he realized that he needed to put this data into an enabling, actionable digital system (ERP). In that way, he could maintain and enhance his unique supply chain relationship going forward.
Affordable ERPs
The big virtual marketplace providers have made it easier to acquire products by investing in the initial expensive software development. As a result, today affordable ERP solutions are available to smaller suppliers. In addition, a good ERP provider can offer the supplier better communication channels. Furthermore, using the company’s historic data and connecting its existing apps. An ERP can bring added value to a supplier’s distributor customers.
Better customer relationships
Lastly, the internet has changed the way markets operate. Now is the time to capitalize on digital innovations. In conclusion, ERPs allow you to add value, at a favorable cost. And build better customer relationships.
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by Art Waskey | Dec 19, 2022 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Changes and Challenges
As 2022 comes to a close, it’s time to formulate a plan for 2023. I find that webcasts are a great way to acquire relevant information and ideas. They offer reviews of the changes and challenges of 2022. These include the rapid progression of digitalization, a renewed focus on economic, environmental, and social sustainability, coping with product outages related to the war in Ukraine, and inflation, to name just a few. This all makes creating a productive plan for 2023 a complex process. How do you move from current best practices to the next practices that will help you succeed going forward?
Next Practices
In addition, a mindset for the New Year must include a reflection on the past. In his webcast, “Accelerate Your Productivity Pathway – 3 Areas of Focus for 2023” Paul Pretko, Industry Executive Advisor, stated that business processes have moved from the age of Best Practices to Next Practices.
Furthermore, the Best Practices of the past have leveraged technology to do things better and faster. We are now shifting to what Pretko referred to as Next Practices. These are revolutionary new processes focused on doing more with less. Next Practices involve innovations with distinctly different applications, such as fully automated warehouses. Advanced digital vendor-managed inventory (VMI) platforms and cutting-edge omnichannel enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications are also Next Practices.
The Three Cs
When planning for 2023, look to integrate technology that is comprehensive, convenient, and contemporary. Pretko called these the 3 Cs. Distributors need Comprehensive systems from start to finish; systems that provide a Convenient user experience; and Contemporary services that incorporate technologies like AI.
Pace your Planning
Lastly, the pandemic accelerated changes in business practices. Your challenge in 2023 is finding ways to take your business and employees through these changes cohesively. To attract and integrate the best of the new generation with the old requires adding technology at an acceptable, step-by-step pace. Lead with care to tap into the best from each generation as you move into your next practices for 2023.
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by Art Waskey | Dec 12, 2022 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Digital natives
The pandemic impacted the role of the outside sales rep (See adjusting-to-changes-in-sales-process-relationships) but what about the make-up of their target audience —the B2B customer? Since the early 2020s the profile of the purchasing professional has changed. In the buyer population, Baby Boomers are rapidly being replaced by Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996. Many in this cohort have already joined the management ranks of B2B buyers. Zoomers (or Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012) are also becoming buyers. Selling to this group of digital natives requires new sales strategies.
A preference for digital interactions
Jason Smith and Paul Demery explain in a recent article that “Many millennials and Gen Z buyers are keeping their distance from traditional sales calls, preferring digital self-service…” A survey of 172 B2B marketers also finds these buyers are showing a strong preference for digital and virtual interactions.
A recent report from Digital Commerce 360 lends further support to the swing toward digital selling. In it MSC Industrial Supply Co. CEO Erik Gershwind relates that the company has been busy improving its entire digital offering. As a result, digital commerce sales increased 17% to $2.28 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 3, 2022. By comparison, total sales grew 13.8%.
Today’s purchasing agents use online digital content, blogs, infographics, and videos for making buying decisions. Smith and Demery write that digital content represents 72% of a buyer’s journey. They explain that while in-person events are among the top three strategies, they come in third after online customer case studies and white papers or e-books.
Personalize your research
Today’s sales professionals must be digitally savvy. Growing sales requires a firm understanding of each client’s business and specific customer roles. Use CRMs to conduct thorough customer research and learn the degree of influence your prospect has within the organization. Find out the key factors that shape their pain points then structure your value proposition accordingly. Digitalization enables personalized outreach to clients. Use it to succeed with the new generation of buyers.
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