So before I dive in, don't get me wrong. Having a well defined, clearly iterated Sales Process is hugely important for every sales team. There should be an easy to follow flow with how teams approach sales pursuits, with exit criteria for each stage and percentages to include for forecasting. Each salesperson should be a master of that process, and at any time be able to categorize their opportunities into a stage, with a great explanation and plan for next steps to advance through the process. But guess what...that's not enough!
Lets think of sales teams as a birthday cake. Stay with me here.
What is any birthday cake without an incredibly flavored cake? Thats the foundation for everything, and that correlates to the talent you've hired on your team. Nobody likes a burned cake. So make sure you put the right people on your team, with the right attributes to be successful in sales.
Now we need to frost that cake, with just the right amount and consistency. There's your sales process. It makes the cake whole, and it gives your salespeople direction.
Completed birthday cake, right? Wrong! There's no candles! Who would want a birthday cake without candles?
So this brings me to my point, the right talent, and the right sales process, isn't enough for your team to be successful. Your salespeople need to be industry experts. They have to be able to extremely knowledgable about the industry in which they sell. Whether it's Marketing, Accounting, or Food and Beverage, your salespeople need to be experts in that field.
Does that mean you hire industry experts to sell for you? No! Rarely have I seen that approach work, and if you hire the right talent they should be quick learners, and be able to understand the customers industry.
So why does this matter? Who cares if my salespeople are industry experts I just want them to sell my product/service...right? Wrong!
Your prospects / customers care.
The salespeople of today need to add value in every interaction they have with prospects, and in order to do that they have to be industry experts. Helping prospects is only possible if you have something valuable to give them, unrelated to your product/service. Spouting off features, functionality, or ROI doesn't matter to an initial prospect. They are usually just doing research, and by adding industry specific value, unrelated to your product/service, you are truly helping them. That has to happen at every stage in your sales process. That is what your prospects want, and that is Inbound Selling.
Are your salespeople industry experts?
