STRATEGIC SELLING – SALES TRENDS TO WORK WITH

 

 

 Businesses who have kept a thumb on the pulse of trends will find it relatively easier to navigate than those  who  remain oblivious to the evolving market realities.

Sales Trend Analysis is the study of historical data of key revenue metrics to identify patterns used in budgeting and forecasting. Sales trend analysis of your business domain have to be done regularly  to tackle seasonality, unusual, and unforeseen events. Businesses don’t have to adopt every sales trend, but they have to work upon those which impact their particular business. Those who have kept a thumb on the pulse of trends will find it relatively easier to navigate than those businesses that remain oblivious to the evolving market realities.

Here we consider the top sales trends to watch that can impact how Strategic Sales organizations manage their sales.

1. VALUE-BASED SELLING

high-growth sales organizations take a value-based approach to sales Value-based selling is beneficial to a business as it emphasizes the value of a product based on the needs and wants of the customer and creates a buying situation where the customer is less focused on price and more excited about realizing the product’s benefits.

It allows the business to close transactions more often with better profit margins and saves time, which can be dedicated to more customers.

Essentials of value-based selling are: know the customers’ need, be patient with the sales pitch , communicate product’s value, educate first, sell later, guide through the buying process, engage the customer to talk, add personal and product value during every interaction

2.SALES AUTOMATION

Predictive intelligence adoption in sales is forecasted to double in the coming years. By eliminating repetitive manual tasks related to follow-up, sales pipeline and lead acquisitions, automation can increase business growth through: increased productivity, increased efficiency, improved accuracy and acceleration of sales process, improved lead management, reduced response time, improved consistency of sales data, efficient use of resources

3. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

The more positive a customer’s experience is with a company’s brand, the more beneficial the impacts are on the company’s business. 70% of buying experiences are based on how customers feel they are being treated Customer Experience can ultimately impact several things- customers may follow through with their purchase, become repeat customers, and/or spread the word by posting an online review or sharing their thoughts with friends and family. Here is how businesses can create a positive customer experience-manage inventory with automation, prioritize convenience, improve responsiveness and engagement

 

4. ADVOCATE MARKETING WILL GET A NEW BOOST

 

Turning loyal customers into a referral machine may be the best chance of building a customer base.  Before meeting the salesman, consumers will look for strong referrals from existing customers.  Some customers  have been writing reviews on Amazon for every product they  buy and almost unfailingly there is a customer somewhere who wants either some clarification on the product or service they bought or wants to know about one buyers’  experience with the product both positives and negatives.  

Word of mouth is still considered the most successful marketing tactic around; recreating it in the aggregate through influencers via social media seems to make perfect sense.  While the direct selling space has been gradually adapting to social media and influencer-led marketing, the coming year will see a major shift in the direction. Social media has become indispensable today to every organisation’s strategy for growth. The players in the direct selling industry will also start banking more on social media marketing for enhanced awareness and recall among the target audience. The continued growth of influencer marketing has proven beneficial for brands and influencers.

The benefits of influencer marketing are: improved brand awareness, builds brands trust and authority, improved market reach, improved access to the target audience, enhanced lead generation, increased conversions, delivers strong return on investment, one of the most cost-effective channel

 

5. BUILDING TRUST WILL BE A SELLING STRATEGY

Every one will have to swear by this principle.  Not only financial services marketers who  need to appreciate that trust deficit is the biggest challenge faced by the financial brands today as consumers in many markets still hold financial brands responsible for the recession or slowdown in their markets.. Research has shown that trust is one of the most important drivers of brand preference.

6.HARD DATA TO  KEEP TRACK OF CUSTOMERS’ RECORDS

Keeping track of every customer’s records is not an easy task. Have more than a functional CRM in place that records not only the actions customers take but also conversations, their birthdays, and other personal information. Use this information to strike the right balance between sales conversation and building relationships.

90% of customers think the salespeople contact them only for sales. If a salesperson uses the tracker and the data from the previous conversation, he can find the problems and the interest of the customer. This activity will give the impression that the salesperson prioritizes the customer and understand the problem.

Develop the habit of keeping track of all customer’s previous records in your sales team and advise them to use it in the next conversation. Use any CRM to track and gain information regarding the customer you are dealing with. It will help you to judge his/her behaviour in the sales funnel and act accordingly. 

7.STRENGTHEN YOUR BUYER’S PERSONA

A buyer persona is not something all the businesses have implemented. However, those who have done it are reaping its benefits. Experience shows any company which has  documented buyer persona improved upon  their revenue goals. Therefore, having a buyer persona is one of the critical target activities of businesses today.

Today, buyers are overwhelmed with the various options and entombed with emails and calls. To win the game, you need to understand the Buyer’s problems and solutions. Design your Buyer’s persona in such a way that will provide your sales team clear understanding on the below points: what are the challenges they are facing, what are the probable solutions for it, how soon they want to get out of the problems, how do they prefer to communicate, what information they need to make decisions.Once you have a clear understanding of the above points, value them in each conversation. Personalize each problem and provide the solutions by positioning your product or services at the right time.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS – BREATHTAKING PACE OF CHANGE

No matter the industry you’re in, the marketing landscape is always evolving. Five years ago, Facebook hadn’t yet hit 100 million users - a far cry from the 1.19 billion the company boasts today. Twitter was still seen as a place to share what you had for breakfast that morning - but since then it has become a powerful social tool that can mobilize the masses to share important (and not so important) news and information. And iPads only came onto the scene in 2010.Given the major changes in technology that leads to a shift in how people consume content, be it information, entertainment or commercial - it’s no surprise that brands have to change their approach to marketing in order to reach their ideal audience.

 

With best compliments

Dr Wilfred Monteiro