by Art Waskey | Feb 1, 2022 | Art of Sales Weekly
Seller-free sales
The transformation to the digital marketplace for sales channels happened gradually — and then suddenly. The global pandemic didn’t start this shift, but it certainly accelerated it. Brent Adamson from Gartner finds that 43% of all buyers now desire a seller-free sales experience — a preference that jumps to 54% for millennials. That shift isn’t just fueled by the rise of next-generation buyers. Adamson concludes in a related study: “By 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur in digital channels.” For the outside sales executive these statistics have meaningful implications for sales strategies. What techniques do you need to adopt to be prepared to sell in a seller-free environment?
Knowledge still key to success
Digitization has opened markets and created a super abundance of products and brands available. Customers need help sorting through the choices and that requires sales engineering knowledge. Keeping up with manufacturers’ new products releases is a challenge for distributors, however. To ensure your sales organization is positioned for success in the fast-paced digital marketplace, Benj Cohen (from his article here) suggests the following:
- Use digital tools that users embrace – Strong adoption and sales follow when digital tools are intuitive, easy to use, and automatically log every customer interaction. The more sales reps use Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered tools, the more data is acquired and analyzed. AI models help reps make more effective pitches and increase revenue.
- Put the customer first – AI-enabled semantic searches of sell sheets, documents, and other product data, allow sales reps to quickly find information and respond to customer requests. AI also powers engines that can give customer-specific product recommendations or inform sales reps of a customer’s buying history.
- Prioritize data and analytics – AI-powered sales tools add immense value. They help reps find the information they need to be strategic and to have consultative sales conversations with each customer. When a sales rep pitches relevant products suggested by AI, it can result in a 10X increase in revenue per pitch.
Get on-board
An early jump into these next-generation capabilities could potentially grow revenue at twice the rate of the economy. Prepare your sales team for the seller-free digital marketplace. Adopt user-friendly digital tools, put the customer first, and prioritize your data and analytics.
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by Art Waskey | Jan 25, 2022 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Looking for fulfillment
With over 38 million people in the US leaving their jobs in 2021, the coronavirus pandemic has spawned what some are calling the Great Resignation. According to Business Insider, research shows that people want to pursue more fulfilling careers. Distributors were experiencing difficulty with staffing before the pandemic. Now they are looking for strategies to attract and retain employees during an acute labor shortage. Offering people a fulfilling career within your company is more important than ever.
Special delivery
Hiring and keeping good drivers was difficult for distributors pre-pandemic. With Covid creating an explosion in demand for delivered goods, the driver shortage is more challenging than ever. To find and retain good drivers, it’s important to understand what keeps them interested in working for you. According to Transport Topics, truck drivers report their top reasons to change carriers are: compensation (33.9%), home time consistency (21.6%), job frustration (11%), lack of communication (8.7%), relationship with driver manager (7.5%) and equipment quality (6.4%).
Understand the Reasons
Understanding why people leave your company is critical to employee retention. From my research, here are the top reasons employees leave and my advice on how to offset them.
- Unsatisfactory pay – According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (bls.gov), 4.4 million US employees (3% of the workforce) quit their jobs in September of 2021. At the same time we saw the consumer price index rise. Salaries not keeping up with the cost of living is a major reason for employees to leave. Your base pay changes should reflect inflationary increases. In addition, bonuses and extra benefits are a good way to compensate for short term financial conditions.
- Unhealthy work/life balance – Most people will put in extra effort if it produces other benefits. Consider offering your employees more time off, a chance to work from home, and/or flexible hours. These help create a better work/life balance.
- Lack of a defined career pathway – When a person’s career doesn’t follow the expected trajectory, he may view his employer with skepticism and decreased trust. To avoid this, present clear paths for advancement within your company. Offer professional development opportunities and encourage feedback and transparency.
- Flawed company culture – A flawed company culture repels talented employees. I work with several clients who want out of the corporate world. They are tired of its unfulfilled commitments. Broken promises are a sure way to demoralize your staff. Be sure you say what you mean, and do what you say.
Retain and Save
Recruiter Humantelligence estimates that every time you replace a salaried employee, it cost 6 to 9 months of that salary. You also lose productivity. To attract and retain employees during a labor shortage, be sure you understand what motivates them to work for you. Act on those factors. When turnover is low, employees feel valued and will stay.
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by Art Waskey | Jan 11, 2022 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
When I consult with the next generation of business owners and key executives, I am frequently asked what makes an effective leader. This is an important question. As John Maxwell notes in The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” He asks, “What makes people want to follow a leader?” And, “Why do people reluctantly comply with one leader while passionately following another to the ends of the earth?”
Key leadership principles
Here are four stated leadership principles from writers I admire that address these questions:
- Accountability – In The Oz Principle, the authors explain how we lead by resolving problems using these four steps to accountability: see it, own it, solve it, and do it.
- Influence – In The Go-Giver, Burg and Mann show us that influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interest above your own.
- Trustworthiness – In The 8th Habit we learn from Steven Covey that 90% of all leadership failures are failures of character. He purports that an effective leader needs to be trustworthy and that trust is developed from strong character and competency.
- Multipliers – In Multipliers the authors explain, “Multipliers are genius makers who bring out the intelligence in others. They build collective, viral intelligence in organizations. Diminishers are absorbed in their own intelligence, stifle others, and deplete the organization of crucial intelligence and capability.” A leader needs to be a multiplier.
Today’s successful leader
Experience shows us that these four character qualities are foundational to the makings of a successful leader. To be an effective influencer in your organization, show accountability, put others first, be trustworthy, and use your ability to bring out the intelligence in those you lead.
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by Art Waskey | Jan 4, 2022 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Tapping inside potential
Digitalization, combined with a worldwide pandemic, has caused significant disruption in distribution sales, especially inside sales. Advice on how to succeed on the new playing field, particularly in regard to servicing your 80/20 accounts (the 20% that generate 80% of your sales), is plentiful. I have written recently on the importance of using Enterprise Selling techniques to retain and gain customers in this digital age. However, there is also a wealth of information on another approach for distribution account retention — boosting sales from the inside.
Blending sales techniques
While each offers a different approach to sales, Enterprise Selling and Inside Sales Management, can work well together. By blending these two models, company assets can be coordinated to boost sales. Campaign coordinators and field specialists can offer support to the inside sales team. Project leaders can work with customer service and business development staff to improve results. In addition to supporting Enterprise accounts, this blended model puts resources into mid-size, high profit accounts and encourages more effective prospecting activity.
The inside sales team and digitization
While the pandemic temporarily closed the door to servicing customers in person, it opened wide another. Today, the level of communication between rep and customer can be far greater with virtual face-to-face call activity. Digitalization also provides better access to account information. To take advantage of new digital tools and boost sales, you need a well-developed team making outgoing calls.
Focus on customer interaction
The inside sales team should focus on these types of interactions:
- Next tier territory accounts – Direct your sales team to work with outside sales territory managers to focus on building business in the group below the 80/20 accounts.
- Attend to the In-store customer – Lead generation and midsize account development can originate from customers who regularly stop by a branch office. These clients may be picking up a purchase, renting equipment, or just visiting your showroom. The inside sales department needs to engage with the customer to see what additional products or services they might use.
- Marketing department – Social Media is now a major means of marketing. Make sure your social media team works in sync with the sales team to capture new business leads.
- Business lists – Make a focused effort to have your inside sales team develop leads from vendors, SIC/NAICS coding, social media, website data, etc. To make these lists effective, have inside sales reps qualify listed leads before sending them to the outside sales team.
Be strategic
Be strategic with a blended sales model that works to retain existing customers and penetrate new accounts. Using Enterprise Selling and refining the efforts of your Inside Sales Team, you can boost sales and stop losing business to alternative channels.
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by Art Waskey | Dec 21, 2021 | Art of Sales Weekly
A commitment to resolution
The owner of a distribution business complained that his staff was not following through on commitment deadlines. I had been consulting with this team for over a year. They were excited by our implementation of “The Oz Principle”, a method of being accountable for your actions. The Oz Principle’s definition of accountability is “a personal choice to rise above one’s circumstances and demonstrate the ownership necessary for achieving desired results.” I had worked with the team on moving past blaming others for problems. They were now on the next steps — seeing the problem, owning it, and making a commitment to resolving it. The owner saw solutions being recognized by his team but was finding it difficult to hold them accountable.
Steps to accountability
This is a common scenario. Identifying the problem is often easier than solving it. “The Oz Principle” authors recommend the following steps.
- Clearly define the desired results – Be sure a specific outcome has been established. Often, next steps are not consistent with getting the required results. Ask the lead person to send notes on any purposeful conversation. These should summarize expected results with a timeline.
- Determine a mutually agreeable time for a progress report – Specify a time to review progress on a commitment. I find that this is often the stimulus needed to ensure you stay on track. Scheduled reporting sets you up to succeed by creating deadlines and a chance to make adjustments to your progress where needed.
- Deliver praise or coaching – Reviewing steps progressively gives you the opportunity to praise and motivate the team as they work toward a common goal. It also provides a chance to brainstorm and make modifications when needed. Be careful with your assistance. Do not allow the team to think you are making them less accountable.
An opportunity to help
As a leader, you have the opportunity to help those around you mature through accountability. By following the simple steps outlined above, you can hold your team accountable and achieve desired results.
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by Art Waskey | Dec 15, 2021 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
The changing sales landscape
In my 50 years of distribution sales and sales management, I have worked with all types of sales reps. By nature, I am a relationship builder. As a Chief Sales Officer, I tended to be most comfortable working with other relationship builders. For me, the time and marketplace favored this model and yielded successful results. The sales landscape is constantly changing, however, and recently, at an accelerated rate. To build a successful sales organization in today’s complex marketplace you need a mixture of sales types. Sales managers need a balanced sales team made up of individuals who can address varied needs.
Which type of rep are you?
In their book, “The Challenger Sale”, Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson, describe five types of sales reps. Take a minute and see which one best describes you.
- The Hard Worker – These “nose to the grindstone” sellers are always willing to go the extra mile. They will make more calls, send more texts and emails, and respond to all RFQs (request for quotes). They are self-motivated. To the hard worker, sales is a numbers game.
- The Challenger – Challengers are assertive. They tend to “press” customers as well as their own managers and senior leaders. They look for a deep understanding of the complex issues at hand and will push customers to think outside the box. A challenger can teach a customer how their company can compete more effectively.
- The Relationship Builder – These are natural networkers. They build and nurture strong personal and professional relationships. Relationship builders will advocate across the customer organization and are generous with their time.
- The Lone Wolf –These reps are self-confident, don’t like paperwork, and are difficult to control. They are loners but diligent in the pursuit of their goals and tend to be very successful.
- The Reactive Problem Solver – Detailed problem solvers fit into this group. Every organization needs them. Reactive problem solvers are more concerned with solutions than sales results, but they keep you out of trouble.
Achieving Balance on Your Sales Team
Each type of sales rep brings a particular strength to a sales organization. In a rapidly changing marketplace, a mixture of talent provides balance and the ability to meet new sales demands. Examine your sales profile to determine how you can make the most effective contribution to your team.
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by Art Waskey | Nov 30, 2021 | Art of Sales Weekly
Problems and Solutions
We all need to take steps to accountability. Throughout my career in executive leadership, I have had relationships with people who were critical of the company that employed us. These were generally successful, mid-level managers. I would listen to their issues, ask questions, and consider their opinions. My parting words were always the same, “Please get back to me with possible solutions to the problem.” Most did not follow up on that request and perhaps felt that I was being dismissive. However, I have always believed if you aren’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
The Blame Game
In “The Oz Principle”(oz-principle), authors Roger Connors, Tom Smith, and Craig Hickman classify complaining individuals as being part of The Blame Game. These people typically take a wait and see attitude or cover their trail, do some finger pointing, and ignore/deny the facts. “It’s not my job,” or, “I’m confused: tell me what to do,” are common refrains among the complainers. Unchecked, malcontents can demoralize an organization. They can operate at what Connors, Smith, and Hickman call, Below the Behavior Line, an environment where no one acknowledges the truth of the situation.
Steps to Accountability
If we are honest, we probably all have times when we’re functioning Below the line. To operate Above the Line, “The Oz Principle” lists these progressive Steps to Accountability:
- See it – Recognize and acknowledge the full reality of the situation.
- Own it – Accept responsibility for the experience and realities you create for yourself and others.
- Solve it – Change the reality by finding and implementing solutions to the problems. Be creative. Avoid the trap of falling back Below the Line when obstacles present themselves.
- Do it – Have the courage to follow through with the identified solutions, even if they involve a lot of risk.
Be Accountable
Practice the four steps to accountability. See it, own it, solve it, and do it. These actions will keep you out of the Blame Game and Above the Line for productive behavior.
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by Art Waskey | Nov 23, 2021 | Art of Sales Weekly
One of the benefits of retiring from the corporate executive world is that I now have more time to read, write, teach, and give keynote speeches. I was a stereotypic go-getter — in at 6:45 AM and at work until I got it done. While I always believed in working with others, my personal drive to get things done ASAP made that challenging. Today, I am working on being more of a go-giver.
The value of people
What’s changed? Since leaving the corporate world I have worked as a consultant. In this position, I can see just how valuable people are to each other in the business world. For example, I counsel a senior executive who lost his job in the recent economic downturn and had to deal with a sudden illness at the same time. By working together we have rebuilt his strength and belief in himself. Today he is ready to re-enter the labor force. I find good people who work well with others generally find the next venture is better than their last. I believe this will be my client’s experience.
Five Laws of Stratospheric Success
The reward and joy one finds in working through people is summarized very effectively in “The Go-Giver” by Bob Burg and John David Mann (thegogiver.com).
Here are Burg and Mann’s Five Laws of Stratospheric Success:
- The Law of Value – “Your true value is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.”
- The Law of Compensation – “Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.”
- The Law of Influence – “Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.”
- The Law of Authenticity – “The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.”
- The Law of Receptivity – “The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.”
A Passion for Giving
In my work, I derive the greatest joy from working in the hearts and lives of others. Paid compensation pales in comparison to the richness of the relationships I have formed. As Burg and Mann write, “All the great fortunes of the world have been created by men and women who had a greater passion for what they were giving – the product, service or idea – than for what they were getting.”
We need go-givers in the world now more than ever. Stay open to receiving and give the gift of yourself whenever you can. Giving leads to the most rewarding kind of success.
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by Art Waskey | Nov 16, 2021 | Art of Sales Weekly, Featured
Enterprise Selling occurs when you demonstrate where customer needs meet your company’s innovative capabilities. According to Mark Dancer, “B2B companies should work more closely with partners not to specify how they work, but to understand how they work. By comparing methods across multiple partners, new insights may be gained that can lead to unexpected innovation opportunities.”
Know your Customer
Spend time getting to know your customer’s business. Analyze that business in terms of your capabilities. A salesperson’s priority is to understand where each player fits in terms of the customer’s and the distributor’s business objectives. Build customer relationships with key executives in sales, marketing, operations, and administration. Question each on their specific needs.
Learn New Methods
Enterprise Selling involves the use of new sales methods. To make this type of selling work, both sales people and customers need to learn about these new ways to transact business. Train your sales team in Enterprise Selling techniques. Lead customers through any new external sales processes so they are aware of its value to their bottom line. For example, once a distributor makes the transition to eCommerce, he must teach the customer how to use it to their benefit.
Ask Questions
The goal of Enterprise Selling is to implement changes that enhance the traditional role of the distributor’s value chain partnership. To make this work, you need to ask questions. Are you training your field sales force to understand and take advantage of these changing trends in the industry? Are your reps speaking to the customer about how to achieve better outcomes in their own language? Do reps know the stakeholders and their reasons for making a decision to use your products or services?
Create Customer Value
As new ideas gain traction, intentional mindfulness is needed to stay aware of how value is created for customers. Remember, Enterprise Selling works when customer needs are met with your innovative capabilities.
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by Art Waskey | Nov 9, 2021 | Art of Sales Weekly
A distributor asked for advice on creating new opportunities for his company. It was experiencing sales erosion to alternative channels. While sales of the company’s added value items that require technical assistance remained strong, its higher profit-margin products were not being ordered. The distributor bemoaned, “Since the pandemic, 15-20% of our revenue has been lost due to reductions in sales of our basic products.” The company’s bread and butter items— like consumables, safety products, and hand tools — were being shopped online elsewhere.
Digital marketing
Paradigm shifts like digitization are disruptive but can inspire the creation of new opportunities. Mark Dancer notes that digital marketing can be a game changer “by teeing customer opportunities that are assigned to sales or support resources not according to their physical proximity to a customer but by their ability to deliver the right experience at the right time.”
Enterprise Selling
To identify and deliver these right experiences have your field sales team use Enterprise Selling. Capitalize on your long term local customer relationships and your team’s command of the latest technological developments. Find the opportunities inside the customer by asking their executive team these questions:
- What are your company’s strategic objectives for the next one to three years?
- Where are you the strongest against your competitors? Where are you lagging?
- What business problems are you focusing on with your customers?
- What are some of the latest trends in your industry?
- How will these trends affect your company?
- What is unique about your position in the marketplace?
- Where are you most vulnerable?
Use Insight
Today’s customer is awash in information — and it can all look alike. To make a good decision, he needs insight from a knowledgeable supplier. Introduce ways your customer can save money and increase earnings using your products. In “The Challenger Sales, Taking Control of Customer Conversation,” Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson relate, “We have found that 53% of loyalty was by the sales experience – namely the supplier’s ability to deliver unique insight to the customer.”
Creating Those New Opportunities
Get creative in your approach to selling. For example, Mark Dancer suggests, “Local distributors
and manufacturers could band together to pitch ‘quality of business,’ which is achieved through
their coordinated local products and services.” (Read the whole article here). Use
your product knowledge and insight to create new opportunities and recover revenue lost
to digital channels.
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