sales
How to select for sales success
In today’s digital world we have so much information at our fingertips that no salesperson would dispute that the buying process has changed. The more complex the sales proposition, the higher level of early interaction is needed to add value. Claire Edmunds, CEO of Clarify, asks, what behavioural capabilities do your sales people need to demonstrate in order to deliver growth and have a competitive edge in today’s market?
Critical thinking is a key skill for employees, solving problems and connecting the dots on complex issues. For sales, and in particular complex sales, the very nature of selling is in transition. Consultative selling based on value is replacing transactional feature/benefit selling and as a result, requires competencies that challenge a customer’s thinking.
The illustration below demonstrates the different competencies in a traditional verses consultative sales person. Today sellers need to be able to articulate not only why their solution is the best, but to create a buying vision. That is, bringing new insight and perspective to enable the stakeholders, who are responsible for P&L to understand and recognise the value of solving their business issue.
Get this right and it has a huge impact on win rate. Indeed analysts Forrester state that solution providers who engage prospects early in the buying process win 74% of the deals. However, research from CEB found just 17% of sales employees globally score high on the competencies for success in insight selling.
This is exacerbated by a business culture that is focused on delivering short-term revenue goals at the expense of long-term investment in profitable
growth. As a result, it drives transactional sales behaviours, and as such a price-driven sales cycle.
Statistics show that assessing for values, behaviours and motivations during the recruitment process increases the odds of attracting the right candidate by 75% and Clarify has introduced this methodology as part of its recruitment process when hiring sales talent.
Clients can’t always change their corporate culture but we can coach sales people to sell differently; creating demand rather than responding to it and change KPIs to value and reward salespeople who cultivate long-term profitable business pipelines.
Clarify is pioneering in its approach and this is demonstrated in the global enterprises we work with. If you are interested in joining our dynamic team – a background in sales isn’t a prerequisite – contact
recruitment@clarifyBD.com for more information.
Claire Edmunds is the founder of Clarify, a business development specialist for complex sales.
clarifyBD.com
Traditional Sales Person Drivers/Behaviours
Relies on previous experience Uses charisma to sell
Feature/benefits approach Knowledge limited to product Sells based on price
Creates seller/buyer relationship It’s about WHO you know
Consultative Sales Person
Drivers/Behaviours Intellect drives curiosity Thought leader
Challenges customer thinking Results driven
Sells based on value to business Problem solver
Creates trusted adviser relationship It’s about WHAT you know
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businessmag.co.uk
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – OCTOBER 2016
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