5 Steps to Fueling Growth for Sales

Transcript

1. 5 Steps to Fueling Growth for Sales A Journey with Brian Burns
2. It’s a brave new world for sales teams in the B2B space! So what does it take to really thrive in today’s dynamic B2B sales environment? Sales leader Brian Burns, shares his top 5 tips for fueling growth in your sales organization.
3. #1 Become Client-Centric, not CRM-Centric
4. #1 Become Client- Centric, not CRM-Centric It takes more than just populating lead notes Converting a lead to an opportunity Presenting a demo and making a proposal To see a deal through That’s CRM-centric, and you can miss a lot along the way. Your client sees it differently. They’re more sophisticated these days with how they make buying decisions, as they are getting product recs, reviews, and even pricing without speaking with you. For you, it means re-focusing on the customer experience and becoming client-centric. The buyer’s real challenge is socializing the transaction within their organization. BRIAN BURNS BRIAN BURNS, HOST, BRUTAL TRUTH PODCAST
5. #2: Be a Guide through the Unnatural Act of Buying
6. As a sales rep, you need to change your mindset about how people buy. Don’t just be a ‘trusted advisor,’ become a concierge, or a sherpa, and guide them through the journey. Understand how clients make decisions: the administrative, political, economic, and emotional side of buying. A good rep just services a deal; they’re a clerk. A great rep helps the client justify a purchase and moves them down the buyer journey. Guide, educate and enable them along the way so you can let them discover their needs with you during your conversations and keep the deal warm. #2 Buying is an Unnatural Act No one ever asks “Hey, have you bought anything yet today?” No one has that job! Great reps know what that gauntlet looks like and guides the client through it. BRIAN BURNS, HOST, BRUTAL TRUTH PODCAST
7. #3: Build Empathy into Your Repertoire
8. #3 Build Empathy into Your Repertoire Empathy is what separates the very best sales reps To be empathetic, you need to be curious. And to be curious you need to not talk! Think in terms of questions, not statements. Learn what’s driving them on a personal level: Why are they doing this for the company? That’s the ‘rationalization’ of buying. Why are they doing this for themselves? That’s the ‘realization’ of buying. Nothing builds trust more than showing the other person's interest is your top priority. To be empathetic, you need to be curious. And to be curious, you need to not talk. BRIAN BURNS, HOST, BRUTAL TRUTH PODCAST
9. #4: Make CRM Work for You and Your Customer
10. Model your CRM into the ideal customer journey Leverage your CRM to connect you with the right information to help your customers make informed decisions—it's all mapped out for you within the platform! You can’t memorize the details of 15-30 deals Your head is the worst place for all that information! CRM centralizes it, and gives you context. And once something closes, it’s not over. Now you need to invoice it, renew it, and service it. #4 Make CRM Work for You and Your Customer CRM helps get you through the ‘Mystery Middle,’ the point from proposal to purchase order. BRIAN BURNS, HOST, BRUTAL TRUTH PODCAST
11. #5: Become a Student of the Sales Game
12. Some reps sell by instinct But that’s just following your emotions instead of your brain. You need to learn how companies change and how they buy, politically and administratively. Oftentimes, selling change is the real obstacle, not the money. Make sure your customer fits your ideal customer profile Put the right amount of tension into each order, not 100% effort until just one closes. Don’t just focus on the top 5 deals, but the 50 that need some attention. Get all stakeholders involved and get as many as you can saying yes. #5 Become a Student of the Sales Game Get it all on the calendar. The best time to get a second date is right after the first date! BRIAN BURNS, HOST, BRUTAL TRUTH PODCAST
13. Conclusion See what it means to be client-centric.
14. Conclusion Being client-centric means: Becoming a better guide for prospects to get them from point A to point B. Incorporating personal empathy into your sales engagement. Being an everyday student of the sales profession by learning how and why clients buy. Using your CRM to navigate the sales process to create high-definition customer experiences.
15. About Brian Burns Sales author and consultant, host of the Brutal Truth podcast
16. Brian Burns is a sales author and consultant. He has spent his twenty-five-year career creating, capturing and dominating early- stage innovative markets. During this time, has played key leadership, management and sales roles for eleven venture capital- backed companies, resulting in three IPOs and seven acquisitions. Through this experience, he has developed a unique and powerful sales method for bringing innovative products to market while marginalizing competitors. In his private practice, Burns has founded TMO, a consulting firm specializing in assisting companies with their sales strategy, sales practices and in developing an effective sales team. Brian is also the host of four podcasts including, B2B Revenue Leadership, The Brutal Truth About Sales and Selling, The Sales Questions Show, and the Career Strategy Show. About Brian Burns A lot of the time, selling change is the real obstacle, not the money. BRIAN BURNS, HOST, BRUTAL TRUTH PODCAST