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. 

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.

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.

Do you ever wonder what it would take to become a Sales Superhero? What would it take to bag every target account on your list?

Bruce Wayne trained for 12 years to cross the globe and learn martial arts and forensics. Doctor Stephen Strange trained for 4 years, but he had the forces of Kamar-Taj in his favor!

The Center for Sales Strategy firmly believes that you have a few innate sales traits (best discovered through our Sales Talent Assessment). And the rest you can build upon training and resources we have within your reach.

Over 13 million people work in sales and related occupations. Yet, not all salespeople are created equal — some of them are better at the job than others. What separates a good salesperson from a great one?

Mainly being able to get past sales objections.

There is no salesperson who won't come up against these objections, so knowing how to handle them can make or break the deal. Here's what you should do when you meet the inevitable.

As a business leader, you're well aware of the fact that sales can make or break a company. Unfortunately, simply designing a great product or service won't lead to outstanding sales. 

Industry leaders today are focusing on a more psychological approach to boosting their sales. Read on to learn more about sales psychology and find out how you can use it to change the mindset of any buyer.

You sold the campaign. You executed the campaign. Now get the credit you deserve! 

Creating a successful digital campaign designed to deliver desired business results takes time and expertise—not to mention a great deal of work! It makes sense to present a recap during the campaign—to make sure it is on track—and after the campaign, to get credit for a job well done.

The best way to do this is to create a campaign recap and present this to the customer. This process allows sellers to get the credit they deserve for a job well done as well as open the door to the next sales opportunity with a satisfied customer.

Don't do it. I know you want to do it, but you can't.

Seriously!  STOP IT!

"Do what" you innocently ask?

Pitching your product or service in your first meeting with a new client.

"But…but…but," I can already hear your excuses. 

"We are SALES people!  We are supposed to SELL!" 

Technically, yes, you are "supposed" to sell, but not yet! 

Be patient.  Follow the process.  Trust the process.  We have to slow down the sales process so that we can speed up the sale!