The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Unprecedented times call for different strategies. While there’s no real consensus as to what state the economy is in currently, signals point towards a potential economic slowdown either on the horizon or seeping its way into your industry. The disparate nature in impact on different sections of the economy makes for truly interesting (but mostly frustrating) times.  

Regardless of whether your prospects or clients feel an economic pinch, preparing your sellers to navigate these trends will only help you. As your clients adjust to changing currents, your team should too. 

The world runs at a rapid pace these days.

Twitter tells you in 280 characters, TikTok shows you in 10 minutes or less, and we want all the episodes of our favorite shows released all at one time!

We’re impatient by nature, and we want the kind of solution that turns everything around now, including training our salesforce. While some of these quick hits may work in the short run, most are not sustainable, and they leave you needing more, especially in the world of employee development.

Finding talented salespeople has never been easy.

Finding naturally talented salespeople has always been more difficult than finding successful sellers. Far too often, we confuse success with talent. We go after the big name at the big competitor who has some big sales numbers. Experienced salespeople tend to have bad habits that follow them.

We default to looking and hiring experienced salespeople over inexperienced talented salespeople because it's easier.

World-class managers know that adding a sales superstar to the team is a great way to improve sales performance. They also know landing a superstar seller involves a recruitment process just like it does for a top-performing college football team (go figure, teams like Alabama and Clemson win national championships after they compile great recruiting classes).

Superstar sellers know they are good and should be treated accordingly.

As part of your recruitment process, it is important to know—and effectively communicate—your Employment Value Proposition (EVP). 

72% of the population wants hybrid work for the future, so more businesses are forced to adjust to this new setup. But finding a balance between working from home and being social can be challenging. 

For instance, you still need to conduct regular team meetings and manage different personality types. Thankfully attracting sales talent is only one part of the puzzle when shifting to a remote staff management strategy. 

Here's how to ensure everyone's voice is heard at work, even through a screen.

Have you ever set a goal for yourself to run a race?

Whatever the motivation, you decided to do it. It may have been on a whim, but nonetheless, you realized there was more to it than showing up the morning of the race and running. You probably found a race that suited your ability, recruited a friend to join you in the adventure, set a training schedule, and off you went.

By no means did you show up for registration the morning of with no prep at all. Well, I hope not anyway. If you did, it probably didn’t go as well as you would have liked. You may have looked back and asked yourself what you could have done differently to change the outcome. I’m guessing the answer is, almost always, more training, so you were better prepared.

The most successful leaders understand business and are conceptual thinkers.

They naturally see the bigger picture of what is ahead and consider the cause and effect of their actions. Their natural curiosity leads them to be forward-thinking, taking chances to adapt to what is needed for future success.

With this ability, their analytical thinking affords them to make sound decisions and learn from mistakes made along the way.

Often the terms “tough times,” “slow times,” and “uncertain times” create a pessimistic feeling, but they can easily be seen as an opportunity. Yes, times are changing, and business models are shifting, but the relationship you establish right now with your clients and prospects will define your organization in the future.

How can you genuinely maintain relationships with clients and prospects? Whether it’s being proactive or adjusting your marketing strategy, all it takes is innovation, effort, and willingness to do so.

Although face-to-face meetings are happening more often, being creative and using video to stay connected with customers as well as propose and close business with new prospects is still a trend that’s not slowing down.

The best sellers know it’s time to move from playing defense to playing offense because customers and prospects need help. They need solutions. They need the problem-solving expertise that a quality salesperson brings to the table.

Simply put, customers are more open to ideas and solutions than ever before because their level of pain is high.

Over 13 million workers hold sales or sales-related positions in the United States. Any experienced sales professional knows that the key to generating leads is sales prospecting.

In sales, it's crucial to focus on potential customers that are likely to buy your product. Not only does prospecting generate more leads, but it also ensures that you're selling to someone interested in what you're selling.

Putting together a good lead generation system can be a daunting task, though. In this sales prospecting guide, we've covered everything you need to know to start finding qualified leads.

Would you manage your people differently if you had your next Sales Superstar sitting on the bench, ready to jump in?

What if you had a Talent Bank full of these talented people?

If you are like most leaders, you would probably hold your people more accountable for meeting expectations, and you would refuse to tolerate poor performance.

This post was originally published on Startups.co

Ditch the "why" of your sales conversation and focus on the "how" to show prospects that you hear and understand their needs and can solve their unique problems.

Buyers want things to be easy. So easy, in fact, that 89% of buyers say that they choose vendors that made a return on investment easier to prove or that could be easily justified with a business case. They also preferred speed over price — with 80% of buyers citing deployment and ease of use as “very important.”

Your customers want to understand how to use your product — not sit through a pitch and wonder if it’ll actually fit their needs. Selling is less about explaining why buyers should buy and more about showing how an easy-to-use product or service will help them.