In 30 seconds
Sales Strategy is essential to business success. It is how the business organises its sales efforts across the value chain to go to market and determine who you are going to sell to and how to create real value within the given market. A human-centred sales strategy builds trust and transparency within the sales team and with clients. To succeed, businesses must understand evolving customer needs, collaborate, make it easy to buy from them, and maintain competitiveness. Adopting an engaging, human-centred sales approach with an adaptive strategy and change management system benefits business ethics and the bottom line.
In 2.5 minutes
Sales Trends 8 from the Barrett 12 Sales Trends Report for 2023 is about the importance of having a human-centred sales strategy in place to achieve business success.
Underpinning Business Strategy, Sales Strategy should sit alongside Marketing Strategy as an equal partner in the building and driving of better business and sales outcomes. Sales strategy is how the business organises its sales efforts across the value chain to go to market and determine who you are going to sell to and how to create real value within the given market. It’s where the promises we make as businesses get real and personal. Unlike business strategy, a sales strategy focuses on a time frame of no longer than 18 months – 2 years because it has to be tactical, reading the markets and adapting as they shift and change.
See two Case Studies, here and here.
A human-centred sales strategy is about de-risking your business.
The new human-centred paradigm in selling demands that sales forces become proactive rather than reactive – proactive in staying in touch, bringing insights, trust, transparency, consistency, and better ways of doing business.
The challenge is that when sales managers think of their sales force, they seldom consider the support needed to provide targeted direction, clear focus on key segments with clear Why Us messaging and articulated sales processes to sustain momentum in the field in the face of both market forces and continually aggressive competition.
An engaging, human-centred sales strategy includes the whole business. It’s about:
- The customer
The customer you knew yesterday is not the same one you have now. Continue to study the context of your customer base, because it will likely remain in flux for some time to come. - Trustworthiness
Customers want to be seen and understood, and they are extremely sensitive to being taken advantage of. If they can see that you are authentic and genuine about working with them and making a difference, they will want to work with you and stand by your organisation. - Collaboration and making it easy to buy
Sales Strategy is all about how we go to market and the type of sales force we must have to deliver sales goals. Do we need more infield salespeople? Do we need more online options? More internal sales support, etc.? These are important questions. It all depends on how your customer wants to buy and what you are selling. - Competitiveness
A Sales Strategy is about ensuring your business can attract and retain the right kinds of clients for the right reasons and that your sales team can deliver a go-to-market action plan that is aligned to and can deliver on the promises you make.
Adopting an engaging, human-centred sales ethos and a codified sales system that includes an adaptive strategy and change management system that enables people and businesses to get started, reset, or pivot quickly when it comes to being relevant and prosperous is both an ethical and commercial choice that is good for the bottom line and good for humans.
Remember, everybody lives by selling something.
Stories from the field
I FOUND THE FS!!!
I had a business case presentation this afternoon to take a pilot client to full roll out and I opened with WWW. The Director and Head of Retail paused, looked at each other and then spoke openly for the next 10 minutes while I took notes.
At the risk of turning it into TLDR, the result is a $84K deal being drawn up and a full roll out before Christmas.
Thanks for your session, wisdom and concepts – came at a perfect time for me and definitely is already being put to good use and helping me shut up and listen.
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