In 20 seconds
Today’s sales need a customer-centric makeover. Traditionally focused on transactional deals, salespeople must now prioritise understanding customer needs and building relationships. This requires emotional intelligence, collaboration, and a focus on long-term value. Sales leaders must guide this shift by identifying skill gaps, providing training, and fostering a customer-centric culture. This empowers salespeople to thrive in the new era of sales.
In 2 minutes
Customer-centricity is now a common focus of many businesses, and while most of those think of themselves as customer-centric, chances are they are not.
Customer-centricity is rarely a whole-business approach -how it should be- and to complicate things further, usually, different departments have different standards of customer-centricity within the same business.
For sales teams, being customer-centric is not an optional nice-to-have focus anymore, however, the prevailing culture in these teams has been for decades transactional selling, where customers are an afterthought. This approach focused on closing deals quickly, often prioritising product features and price negotiation over understanding the customer’s unique needs and challenges. However, today’s customers are more informed and discerning. They expect solutions tailored to their specific context, not generic pitches.
As we move away from a product-centric, transactional approach and embrace the complexities of a value-driven market, the need for customer-centric selling has become paramount. This shift calls for a change in the skillset and mindset of salespeople, impacting not only their success but also the composition of sales teams as a whole. Research shows that emotional intelligence is a crucial factor, with salespeople possessing strong emotional intelligence achieving 12% higher sales than their counterparts. Commercial acumen and business savviness also play a key role.
This shift towards customer-centric selling encompasses various methodologies like solution selling, value-based selling, and consultative selling. These methods emphasise:
- Deep understanding of customer needs: Salespeople become adept at actively listening, skilful questioning, identifying customer priorities and uncovering underlying issues and opportunities.
- Collaborative problem-solving: Building genuine relationships allows for the co-creation of solutions that address specific challenges and deliver tangible value.
- Focus on long-term value creation: The emphasis shifts from one-time transactions to fostering sustainable partnerships that benefit both parties.
Salespeople used to the transactional approach must shift from product-centricity to understanding customer needs and challenges, move beyond “closing deals” to building genuine relationships and fostering collaboration, and embrace a consultative approach that prioritises long-term value creation over quick wins.
The onus falls on sales leaders to proactively manage this transition. They must:
- Identify the skills gap
- Invest in training and development
- Provide ongoing support
- Embrace a culture of feedback
By implementing effective strategies for training, mentorship, and cultural transformation, organisations can empower their sales teams to navigate this shift and ensure success in the customer-centric future of sales.
Remember, everybody lives by selling something.
Stories From the Field
“I met with a long-term existing client who you would pigeonhole as “fairly hard to deal with” and would assume had everything with us. Without boring you with the details, they needed 9 additional products with the potential of a referral from them. At the end of the meeting, the customer acknowledged that this meeting was the best interaction they have had with a Bank. Look out, I feel like I’m walking on water. I couldn’t believe how much information I got out of this client using WWW.” Agricultural Business Banker. Part of a 320-person sales team. This agribanking business undertook the Selling Better project and grew plus 8% in a marketplace that was in negative growth territory.
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