A salesperson who does not value their clients is doomed to fail. A common pitfall for many fledgling salespeople – and sometimes overconfident veteran sales professionals– is to become too self-centered.

They only think about what will move them forward in their career, rather than what will help their client the most. This approach will make clients feel like an afterthought and unlikely to seek out your services in the future.

During the world’s current, post-pandemic, economic situation, with the possibility of a recession, businesses must be more frugal. This means salespeople who fail to provide value to their customers will be left out in the cold. To truly become successful as a salesperson, you must show your clients you value them as well as whatever it is you are trying to sell them.

This can be achieved by using the V.A.L.U.E method. This method involves using a checklist of things that you can provide to a client. Here are the five things you need to do to ensure you are providing your clients with something of value:

Validate Your Client’s Problems

When talking to a client about the problem they are facing, do not treat it like it is not important. If you come across as apathetic or worse, annoyed, and hostile that they even brought it up, they will be far less receptive to what you have to say. It shows you only care about what they can give you and that you do not care about them or their problems. If I’s important enough to them that they are trying to fix it, it should be a top priority for you, too.

Show that you care about them and their problems by conducting some research beforehand and then listening to them talk about the challenges their business is facing. Listening, knowing enough about the problem to respond in an educated way, and validating that their problem is important and will go a long way to instilling trust in you.

Articulate Your Solution’s Value

One of the most common pitfalls for any growing business is not having any concrete goals and plans to work towards. However, as outlined by George T. Doran in an old article he wrote for Management Review: “There’s a SMART way to write management goals and objectives.” He then proceeded to break down what SMART goals are; that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time Sensitive.

This strategy has been used by many goal-oriented people – from entrepreneurs to athletes – ever since. The point of this strategy is to make sure your goals are as well-defined as possible, so that you know exactly how and what you need to do to achieve them. It also gives you a plan that is easy to evaluate, allows you to easily tweak it, and ensures that everybody is on the same page.

Learn About Your Client

Before you even start constructing your pitch to your client, do your homework. Learn about the company, its history, its decision-makers, and the problems that they are facing. You can find a lot of this information from websites and from coworkers who may have knowledge of the company. Knowing this information will give you a significant edge when you pitch to them. Never go in blind and try to wing it. Perhaps you’re the smoothest talker on the planet but that’s not going to help you if your customer or client has a very specific problem, and you don’t know anything about it.

In 1973, Peter Drucker, a famous Austrian-American management consultant said: “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well, the product or service sells itself.”

The same way of thinking applies to sales, as marketing and sales pitching are somewhat linked. If you know enough about them and show how your solution can solve their problem, you’ll be far more likely to succeed.

Understand Your Competition

The phrase “know your enemy” applies to sales just as much as it does war and politics. Knowing how your competition is trying to solve the same problems you are will give you an idea of how to make yourself stand out. You may be able to do things that your competition can’t or simply be better at it than they are. Show your client that your service will be able to do things that the competition can’t or won’t do.

Execute With Excellence

Finally, show that you value your clients by doing everything in your power to provide them with the best service possible. Do your best to make sure the product or service you deliver is high quality. If shipping is involved, make sure it reaches them in a timely manner. Be professional and polite, answer whatever questions they may have, and be the best salesperson you can be by showing them you truly value their time.

In today’s oversaturated marketplace, businesses are always looking for strategic approaches to boost revenues. One such method is sales scaling, which means increasing the scale of your sales team’s results without necessarily adding more members.

Knowing both how and when to do so might be the difference between your business growing or failing. If you do know how to grow sales, your business could get left behind and fail to meet customer expectations. Here are four common strategies for scaling sales that you can integrate into your sales playbook:

Rethink Your Existing Methods

It can be a difficult pill to swallow for business owners to accept that a once effective sales approach is no longer viable. What worked once upon a time won’t necessarily work forever. In fact, old strategies can even become so stale, they turn potential customers off. If you’re unwilling to adapt to new strategies, there’s a very good chance your company will pay a heavy price in the long run.

Thankfully, you don’t always need to throw the baby out with the bathwater and start over. Sometimes, all those old tried and true methods need is a bit of updating. Find ways to fine-tune your existing sales strategies, but to tweak obsolete practices to better serve the needs of your current customers.

Use SMART Goals

One of the most common pitfalls for any growing business is not having any concrete goals and plans to work towards. However, as outlined by George T. Doran in an old article he wrote for Management Review: “There’s a SMART way to write management goals and objectives.” He then proceeded to break down what SMART goals are; that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time Sensitive.

This strategy has been used by many goal-oriented people – from entrepreneurs to athletes – ever since. The point of this strategy is to make sure your goals are as well-defined as possible, so that you know exactly how and what you need to do to achieve them. It also gives you a plan that is easy to evaluate, allows you to easily tweak it, and ensures that everybody is on the same page.

Focus on Customer Retention Strategies

The pursuit of new customers is always a wise practice for any business. But if you ignore your existing clientele, you could be hurting your business rather than helping it to expand. Rather than spending hundreds on advertising for new customers, a business should focus on satisfying its existing clientele because those clients are more likely to buy from a company they know and appreciate.

Thus, you should figure out and understand your demographic and what your customers both want and expect from you. Then you should do everything in your power to cater to their needs, which includes giving them what they want and fixing what they don’t want. There are more people in your chosen demographic than you think and if people in those groups like you, word will spread, and you will get new prospects.

That said, there is nothing wrong with branching out either. You could find ways to cater to multiple demographics and still be successful. Just remember to never neglect your current group or your attempts to branch out will be more likely to crash and burn.

Check Your Stats Regularly

Your attempts at scaling sales will be all for nothing if you’re not willing to keep track of your metrics and the revenue you are making. Scaling a business means preparing for future expansion. If you want your business to thrive, you need to pay attention to how lead generation, conversions, and other metrics are impacted by any changes you make.

If they are shrinking, then maybe you’re taking too big of a gamble and your company doesn’t have the resources to properly grow yet. If they are staying the same, then maybe you should push a little further or scale back a little to see what will make a difference. And of course, if it’s growing, then you know you’re going in the right direction.

 
Imagine your part of a group of runners, training to run a marathon relay. The event is just a few away and you’ve been meeting regularly to prepare for it. However, as you meet and watch each other train, you begin to find fault in each other’s forms and methods.

Perhaps it’s poor form or substandard equipment. Maybe it’s bad nutrition or hydration habits. There are any number of things that you or the rest of the group could start finding fault with.

It’s important to find a way to bring these things up constructively so everyone can work together to make the entire team perform better. Teams that can’t create a supportive environment of truth are unlikely to eliminate bad habits and will undoubtedly underperform no matter how hard they work as individuals.

The same principle applies to sales training. Fledgling salespeople are often riddled with little flaws that can – if left uncorrected – hinder their success in the long run. To offset this, businesses often spend significant amounts of money on sales training for their employees.

However, they often overlook other issues that are preventing their sales teams from truly optimizing their performance. By disregarding these shortcomings, a sales team will struggle to reach its true potential and can start causing major issues for the company. Here are four issues that may hurt your company, if they are not nipped in the bud:

Customer Dissatisfaction

Many newly trained salespeople will want to jump into making calls and sales right away. However, those clients will be the first to experience the effects of your sales training, especially the negative ones. With many of their methods unrefined and their flaws on full display, said flaws will seep through into their sales pitches and clients will feel the full brunt of it.

For example, a salesperson may not use the appropriate selling strategies while presenting their products to clients, which can leave the client confused and unconvinced. They may not take the time to consider the customers’ concerns and treat them like they’re just a number, which may leave the client unheard. Clients are what keep a company afloat and if they aren’t able to train their sales team properly, those connected may be severed. Successful training programs will teach how to talk to their customers and to always be considerate of their client and their needs.

High Turnover Rates

Soon, if these issues aren’t resolved, it could result in either a lot of new salespeople being fired, or they will be expected to do more because of the lack of sales and will eventually quit. In the former, you don’t want to spend so much time on a new employee, only to have to fire time, flushing all that effort down the drain.

The latter is arguably worse since it creates a hostile and toxic work environment. In their higher amount of pressure, their flows may become even worse, leading to even more mistakes and possibly even worse sales. It could also lead to intense burnout and eventually low employee retention rates. Your current employees would likely quit, and your company would have difficulty finding new ones, since it’s developed a reputation.

Quality sales training will allow your sales team to know what they are doing and allow them to work effectively. You wouldn’t have to fire anyone or push them so hard that they quit and prevent anyone from wanting to work with you.

Unreachable Goals

In the long run, the flaws in your sales team and your sales program will prevent you from reaching your loftier goals. Poor sales training won’t give them the tools they need to do their job properly in the first place and those little things build up. If your team is constantly making those little mistakes, they will hold you back from building up to those goals in the long run. The plan to reach a goal is like a pyramid, where you’re building a foundation of decisions that build up to a bigger decision on top. If your foundation is a pile of broken glass, you won’t be able to take any steps toward that goal and will be forced to clean up your mess and/or start over.

Lingering Issues

Finally, if you’re not willing to change your sales training strategy for the better, those same issues that plagued you in the beginning will haunt you for the rest of your career. If you’re not willing to fix the problems with your training, different people will make the same mistakes over and over again for years to come.

This especially applies if you’re not willing to keep your program updated with new technology and methods. Companies that refuse to change will be left in dust by their competitors that have embraced the new and improved sales strategies supplied through sales training. If a sales team is reluctant to confront whatever narrow-mindedness they may have, it will all be for nothing.

It can be incredibly difficult to convince a client of anything, especially of something you’re selling. Every salesperson has had a situation where they’ve lost a client and it is never enjoyable. That said, there are many ways to save the sale if you feel it slipping through your fingers. Here are five easy strategies to prevent your transaction from falling through.

1. Understand the Product and the Customer

Your job as a salesperson is to understand what your product is and why some people would want or need it, then be able to demonstrate that to others. If you feel that you’re not convincing someone, try to understand why they would want your product. Ask them questions and show them how your product can solve their problem. Revolving your pitch around a solution to a need they present will make it more likely to succeed. Additionally, show how your product stands out from the competition, whether it’s because it’s a higher quality or it fills a niche that other brands don’t.

2. Negotiate a Better Deal

Sometimes the deal you’re initially offering isn’t within the right price range for a client, or they may not be unsure that your product is worth the amount you’re asking for. In which case, if you’re in a position to do so, try to negotiate price with them. A simple “let me see what I can do for you” can make a customer feel valued and demonstrates that you’re reasonable and care about saving them money. Being willing to negotiate the price, even if you ultimately decide on the previous price, may be enough to convince the buyer. However, don’t be desperate or a pushover. A negotiation should be an equal footing back and forth, eventually settling on a price you’re both happy with. Even so, if the client isn’t argumentative about it, a modest discount can go a long way.

3. Suggest an Alternative

If your client isn’t convinced of what you’re selling, consider introducing an alternative, one that may be better suited for what they need or their budget. Doing this gives you another shot at selling something to them and allows you to refresh and go from a different angle, one more tailored to their needs. Additionally, doing this shows that you’re willing to adapt to their needs and that you’re actually listening. It may also give them more time to consider the previous product or they may ask what else you have, holding their attention for longer.

4. Don’t Rush Them

If you try to rush your client, they may suddenly lose interest. Most people need time to think through and be confident in their decision. Rushing them not only messes with their thought process but will make you come across as either desperate or inconsiderate, both of which making them not want to trust you or your product. Give them the time they need to make up their mind, after you’ve provided them with all the relevant information. Doing this will make it more likely to make the sale and will show that you’re confident in your product.

If they need more time, let them. Sometimes they may need to speak with their spouse or go through their finances. Be patient and allow them to step back and even come back. You can offer to hold onto their product for a couple days while they decide or provide them with the contact information to reach you when they’ve made their decision. While they may still say no, your considerate behavior will make it more likely to go back to you when they’re ready.

5. Have a ‘Real’ Conversation

Dropping the pretenses and having a “real” conversation with your client about your product can create a more candid environment and can be done in a variety of ways. You can tell them about your own experiences with the product. You can ask more in-depth questions and allow them to open up a little. This can be done by just being honest with them, which can be a little scary, especially if you risk undermining the viability of your product. But even so, your honesty will be appreciated, respected, and show you care more about their needs than their money. Clients who are honest and have a genuine faith in their product will be one more thing to convince a client.

Before we get too deep into this blog, it’s important to understand what VUCA is. In 1987, the concept of VUCA was created, based on theories by economists Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus as a way to understand the ever-changing market more dynamically. Since then, this concept has been used to analyze the market and inform business decisions.

What Does VUCA Stand For?

VUCA is an acronym that covers four concepts:

Volatility: How rapidly will an industry or market shift? This includes changes in demand, price inflations, and other abrupt swings that can influence market trends.

Uncertainty: How difficult it is to predict future events or results? Despite constant monitoring and analysis, there are situations where even the most well-informed predictions can be proven false due to outside forces. This especially applies when the information itself is unclear, thus making the future harder to predict.

Complexity: How many variables are there to consider and how many connections are between them? The greater the number of variables in a situation, the more that can happen, especially if there are connections that can lead to a domino effect. The more information there is to analyze and understand, the more difficult it will be to come to a rational decision.

Ambiguity: How much information is lacking? This can include inconsistent, missing, or even flat-out false information. Unlike uncertainty, in which you can find a clear end goal from the information, or complexity, in which it’s just a lot to understand, there is no analyzable information, making it even more difficult to draw any solid conclusions.

How Can VUCA Be Applied to the World of Sales?

VUCA can be easily applied to any industry and is an incredibly useful way to understand current and future market environments. There are five primary ways understanding VUCA can help your company stay relevant in a constantly changing market, regardless of what you’re bringing to the table:

1. Learn to Adapt

One of the primary elements of VUCA is that anything can go wrong at any time. If you want to succeed as a sales professional, then you must learn how to adapt to your environment. Staying up to date with the market through external sources such as magazines, blogs and podcasts, and discussing industry trends with your teams will help you gather the information you need to adapt.

2. Gain Confidence in Yourself and Your Team

VUCA also reveals a lot of hard truths. Therefore, you and your team need to be prepared for anything that the market might throw at you. Finding creative ways to build confidence in yourself as a salesperson and for your team to gain confidence as a cohesive unit will help you cope with whatever comes your way.

3. Accept Novel Ideas

When it comes to dealing with VUCA, it’s important you keep an open mind. Allow your peers to voice their out-of-the-box ideas and listen to them, because in all likelihood, this will be uncharted territory and you never know what’s going to work. Keeping this flexible and agile approach could help your company to potential growth and being able to stay relevant in a changing landscape.

4. Build Bridges with Clients and Colleagues

Having a trustworthy team and loyal clients will help you to confidently face any complexity. Investing in relationships will allow you to build a tight knit community that can sustain your business despite the uncertainty a volatile market environment can bring. While these relationships won’t change the situation you find thrust upon you, they will positively influence the decisions you make

5. Stay Determined

Having to deal with VUCA is not ideal. In fact, it can be downright harrowing. What’s important is that you keep moving forward, adapt to the changes that come your way with confidence, foster a sense of ingenuity in your team, and build up your business community. Above all, stay determined and keep plugging away. It won’t last forever.