As we continue to conduct our sales training workshops virtually, we’re meeting and engaging with sales reps from all over the country and the world. Everyone seems to be in agreement that virtual selling will be in place, in some shape, form, or fashion, for the foreseeable future. Many reps are still on complete lockdown, while others are beginning to return to the field, meeting with customers for the first time in well over a year.
The consensus is this: sales reps will have to adapt a hybrid approach to selling in order to stay relevant with their customers.
I sat down with John Ferguson, Senior Consultant here at ASLAN, to discuss how sales reps can serve their customers and stay relevant in this new sales norm.
You can listen to my full interview with him on our sALES with ASLAN podcast episode 56:
Other-CenteredⓇ Interactions with Customers
At the beginning of the pandemic, like most sellers out there, John was worried about the impact on his customers and on his own selling practice. What would the role of a salesperson be going forward? How would this impact our customers’ businesses? How can we help?
Some of that uncertainty still exists, but there is hope. As we round the bend towards “normalcy,” we can continue to evolve and improve our interactions with customers to always be of service.
1 – Be there
The first, and most important thing, is simply to let your customers know, “I’m here.” Don’t be pushy, don’t apply pressure, don’t sell – just let them know you are there as a support and a resource, if needed. Everyone has questions. And we may not have the answers. But being there to participate in the collaboration, discussion, or brainstorm, without asking anything in return, will cultivate trust and authenticity in your relationship with your customer.
Working through those challenges with a partner may be useful for your customer. When John reached out with this message, he got an overwhelming response from his customers. With some humor and an Other-Centered attitude, he was able to connect with people and just talk through the challenges and changes of the past year. What should customers be thinking about? What should they be considering, anticipating?
2 – Be flexible
Second, be willing to adapt your offering. Customers have different needs than before. Most of John’s customers were asking, and are still asking, things like, “Would you be flexible on… Could you offer XYZ to solve…?” They wanted to talk time, money, and scope, in a completely new context.
The answer was, and still is, yes. The most basic example of this for us was taking our in-person sales training workshops and adapting them to be conducted in a virtual environment. We also began to offer workshops based on new and relevant material such as Virtual Intelligence or Virtual Selling Skills, on top of our traditional content.
We also took steps to pare down our offerings, working with customers to deliver portions of our solution, instead of the whole package.
These adaptations of our solutions were extremely well-received by our customers and truly designed to meet their immediate needs.
Customers we worked with were grateful for that flexibility. We were able to support them, and their sales teams, to succeed in the marketplace in the new environment.
Be creative. Depending on your industry and role, you may not have that same flexibility, but think creatively. Put yourself in your customers shoes and think outside the box. This doesn’t mean giving away the farm or offering 50% discounts; it can be as simple as rethinking things like sale terms, contracts, packages, timelines, payment plans, add-ons, etc.
Sometimes, your customers will reach out and help you innovate by what they ask you to do.
Customers’ needs are changing. If we hear from our customers about new problems they’re encountering that require new solutions, it’s our job as sales reps to pass that along to the R&D people. Be part of the solution. Your role as a rep is to communicate with, and on behalf of, your customers.
3 – Offer resources
One way that we began to connect with customers and sales reps virtually was by posting content twice a week on our blog. We offered tips for engaging with prospects virtually, setting up a home office, making a virtual presentation, even an article about the great sales books our team was reading.
In the midst of the pandemic, John wrote an article about Dr. Fauci and Driving Receptivity, a concept that we teach in all of our sales training workshops. He then shared that article with his customers, hoping it might offer some useful insight and interesting tips for their sales teams.
Don’t barrage your customers, but if you read something that is interesting and relevant to their business, share it!
4 – Be proactive
Those who know me know that I constantly hammer home the importance of the relationship between sales rep and sales manager. Partner with your sales manager during coaching sessions on your personal development as a rep, but also on what challenges your customers are seeing and facing out in the field.
Brainstorm business ideas and solutions. Your sales manager can take those ideas to the leaders who can get the ball rolling. And you can then in turn offer up that update to your customer, and eventually be able to help solve the problem they are facing. And chances are, if they are experiencing that challenge, your other customers will be as well.
As a former sales manager, I can speak to the fact that hearing from reps about what is happening on the front lines is critical for organization evolution. We have to stay relevant, especially in this ever-changing world of virtual selling.
Summing it Up
Customers will remember how you were there for them during the tough times. They will appreciate your passion, flexibility, and creativity. Be the trusted partner they can rely on.
Everyone is open to ideas about short and long term solutions for what to be doing as it relates to the products and services they sell.
So dig in, be present, and show up for your customers. Serve them well and you will remain relevant in their world.
