Differentiate your sales or die
Your selling skills are so important but there are ways to develop and improve, says Shaun Thomson
The UK IT sector is flourishing and probably the second-largest in Europe. Commentators have put the UK economy as the most web-based of the G20, with its so-called "digital economy" accounting for eight per cent of GDP.
Companies across the globe are turning to technology to enable growth and set themselves apart. However, taking advantage isn't always easy. Resellers are under continual pressure to maintain and increase their customer base in a fiercely competitive market dominated by new products and cost reduction.
It's tough to remain competitive, so it is surely essential to concentrate on key sales techniques.
You must get the foundation right. Define your sales focus, and break large annual sales into manageable bite-sized pieces.
Plan to get in front of your ideal prospect, whether that is a large OEM such as Apple or a consumer. It's a lot easier to find clients when you know exactly what you're looking for.
If you manage the numbers, you are working on the wrong end of the problem. Analyse your target in terms of the behaviours – or actions – that will get you in front of it or them.
If you measure these you will be able to make better predictions of success.
Give the customer a reason to buy. You must show them why they should buy from you, not simply tell them why they should. Essentially, the customer should know they'll be buying from you before you complete your final pitch or proposal.
Listen to them. The number of sales you make is likely to be proportional to the amount of information you gather, not the information you give out. This makes the ability to listen a key tool in a salesperson's skill portfolio.
Ultimately, acknowledge the customer's needs and demonstrate your understanding of them. This can be much easier if you can communicate – both verbally and in writing – in the language your potential customer uses when describing or discussing issues or problems.
Straightforward "features and benefit" copy makes you sound, look and smell like your competitors.
It sounds obvious, but think about how you could best address your prospect's problems. Don't over-complicate things when identifying the solution; focus solely on the client's needs, even if your technology can do 101 more things.
By focusing on what they need, you'll already be demonstrating value, which is how they will measure you. Too often a business thinks that prospects just care about price.
In most cases the buyer does not want the cheapest option, they want the best option. Cheapest and best are usually not the same thing; these expectations must be defined from the outset and the value of the services reinforced regularly.
Resist any urge to talk about yourself and your amazing portfolio of products and services, including that you have X number of awards. That's a one-way street to delays and objections.
Instead, demonstrate how to improve the customer's experience. Enable them to visualise the benefits your product might offer.
Don't forget to consider the location of your sale. Being in the IT sector doesn't mean you have to sell all your wares online.
Selling online requires succinct, persuasive copy to encourage the reader to buy there and then.
Employing a sales team and selling face to face or over the phone are very different.
Relationship building cannot be done through a screen. Simple sales can be generated online, but encourage contact and relationships by using a dedicated sales team.
Track your progress and learn from your experiences. It's important to have basic structures in place so you can monitor your attempts to contact key prospects. If it's not working, look at your behaviour and try something else. Where possible, measure your performance.
The channel must make the most of every sales opportunity. And success is a process, built on a series of skills that are learned and developed over time.
Shaun Thomson is chief executive of Sandler Training