Accelerate Your Sales

The demands of being a professional salesperson are always changing but in the last few years those changes have been especially dramatic as the economy has gone through a major cyclical change.  When I first joined I.B.M., the vendors with their proprietary technology and solutions were in a very strong position.  Customers looked to the manufacturer as the technology expert and would trust their recommendations for the best solutions.  Computer and data processing knowledge was limited to a small number of manufacturers who originally created the computer technology at the time.  This was also true for the telecommunications industry. Telephony and telecommunications was considered a black art known only to the major service providers such as AT&T and the Regional Bell Operating Companies.

Today, technical knowledge and expertise in computers, networking and telecommunications is commonplace.  With the introduction of the concept of industry-standards  and a movement away from proprietary equipment solutions, manufacturers have learned to abandon their proprietary products and develop products that comply with industry-wide standards based products.  Those companies that did not make the move to standards based products have either failed or found that the marketplace no longer wants technology that cannot interface with other vendor’s equipment. The introduction of standards based solutions in computing, networking and telecommunications has allowed for more competition among equipment suppliers and thus more choices for customers to choose from. Likewise, with the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web there has been an increased availability of information and knowledge about technology.  As a result, customers understand what technology can do and how it works. Customers are less interested in the technology for technology sake.  Customers are now more interested in the application solution.  The opportunity for professional salespeople remains to help customers understand how your solution will help customers improve their businesses and make them more successful. 

Professional salespeople selling in today’s business environment need to understand that there are new expectations in the marketplace.  It’s become more of a buyer’s market which reflects a change in the customer’s buying attitude.  Customers have more choices to choose from and as result customers think they control the sale.  Consider the following:

q       Pricing- Every customer today expects and demands some kind of discount or special pricing incentive.

q       How are you going to deal with this new expectation?

q       Customer Service- All vendors talk about providing good customer service.  Today that’s a given with customers. How will you truly differentiate yourself and deliver the kind of extraordinary support your customers expect?

q       Testing and demonstration equipment- Most customers today do not want to buy anything unless they have had a chance to do a free test of your equipment or software in their environment.  How do you deal with this new customer requirement?

q       Competition- In today’s tight economy, every deal is going to be heavily contested by several competitive vendors. Are you prepared to fight for every deal like you never have before?

q       Product Delivery- Today’s customers expect vendors to be able to offer instant product delivery. They want their orders delivered and installed on their timetable, not yours.  Are you and your organization ready to deal with this reality?

q       Control of the Sale- In today’s sophisticated business climate, it appears that the customer is in control of  the sales process.  What sales strategy do you have in place in order to take back control of the sale?