Design strategies using skill levels commensurate with how they are reimbursed.
Let me explain:
Each industry has it’s cost-effective benchmarks for how much the person doing the selling can be paid. This is not wrong or right. It is simply the reality that is way too often ignored, and in so doing sees the Salespeople blamed for the lack of exceptional sales volumes ( again, measured against industry ‘norms’ ).
The secret is to have the Sales Strategies and Market offering tailored to the abilities of the Sales Team. In my 30 years’ experience, working with various Sales Teams across a huge array of Industries, so often I find the ‘offer’ is too complex to be conveyed by the appointed person and the ‘needed’ skills are somewhat beyond that person’s natural abilities ! And in pure B2B Selling, the delicate Customer/Rep relationship is by far the least understood factor by those designing the Product Offering, from Marketing to Agencies.
Yes they may need additional skills and yes their ‘understanding’ of how best to present/sell-in the offer is the key the complete package must be relevant to their association with their Customer, and in what context that person views them within the business Sales Rep, Order Processor, Fix-it Rep or Supplier Partner. The context in which the Sales Person is considered by the Customer/buyer is the most crucial yet most often misunderstood aspect of the combined Sales Strategy and the vital Execution Methodology possibilities.
So how should this alliance of strategy, offering, Sales Person scope and role, be aligned to achieve results?
The Solution is to have an Independent Professional go-to-market strategist oversee the challenges, and then tailor both the ‘offer’ and how it will be sold, to match the actual abilities and resources of the Sales and support team.
As a Blog I am now supposed to provide the how-to steps that is an almost impossible task, as inherent knowledge of what is possible and what is not, comes into play. However here are some bullet points for the typical B2B scenario, where ‘repetitive rep syndrome’ is rampant.
- Understand the complexities of the association the Rep has with the Customer call frequency
and how the Customer views the value of the Reps calls. ( independently survey the Customers ) - Consider how many variations the Customer will be exposed to of the ‘offer’ you have and how it will
be compared in the Customers mind ( competitor activity creates Customer mental benchmarks ) - Evaluate the degree of importance your particular ‘offer’ has on the Customers overall business
how much impact your ‘offer’ can have, and so how much ‘receptiveness’ is therefore likely - In essence how does what you offer make life easier for the Customer, what does it take of his/her
worry list and how will take-up of it make them look good ( that was a smart move ) - Of the offer you have how does it ‘sit’ with your Sales Team? Do they see it as an easy ‘sell’
would their conversation require a specific time frame, un-interrupted, can they ‘command’ the needed attention span ? - What tools will they need and how comfortable will they be using them? ( too far outside their comfort zone )
- If at first they don’t succeed, can they re-visit it OR will they be then stretching the trust/association
- Should the offer be made as an in-concept combo-style with a Manager & Rep and followed up by the Sales Rep is this a more palatable scenario
- How will the initial sell-in be followed up what reassurance will the Customer get and who should deliver that
- How will success be measured? By the signs-ups or by the fact that the process was followed take care that the Sales Rep doesn’t achieve the sign-up and get the reward, at the expense of the on-going Customer association
And these are just the top 10 points to check going into detail would be a manuscript.
However, my Neck-Top-Computer with over 30+ years of real-world experiences of what is possible and what is not, can be yours to use, and the first one hour of ‘evaluation consulting’ does not attract a fee. Quickly analysing these aspects and defining degrees of probability is the key. Call me on 0418 318799 and we’ll talk about your Project!
Summary Point:
So many great ‘offers’ don’t even come close to achieving their potential outcome, let alone succeed, due to the above nuances not being taken care of the devil is in the detail !!
