Smart CEOS | What execs need to know about the future of sales
CEOs everywhere have to be asking themselves if they think their companies can survive the economic turmoil they must now confront. The pressure is not necessarily to create profit, but in many cases to simply survive until the economy expands again.
A New Age
In the meantime, most CEOs know that they must increase sales or decrease overhead - for many, this means cutting prices or adjusting their operating costs while keeping sales level. While these may be satisfactory - albeit temporary - solutions, the CEO is also charged with the long-term future of the company. Wise CEOs at companies (large and small) never lose sight of the sales process. They continually challenge their senior sales managers to evaluate whether the sales process stays in alignment with the needs of today's buyer.
Here is what the smart CEOs realize: The âinformation ageâ that we are now exiting has provided the technology for buyers to learn everything they need to know about products they want to buy. They are not interested in hearing a âpitchâ by any salesperson; they've already done their homework. Therefore, salespeople who are product-oriented are generally dismissed as âMr. or Ms. Yesterday.â
Instead, savvy CEOs realize that we are now entering the âconceptual age,â or the age of high concept and high touch. For more information on the conceptual age and its implications for your company, read A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink. This new era means that buyers today are evaluating products and services based on how well those products or services satisfy the intrinsic, conceptual needs of their ever-changing environment.
In short, salespeople who will thrive in the conceptual age will continually develop their right-brained, creative thinking skills. This includes developing empathy, connecting with people on deeper levels, becoming effective interviewers and gifted conversationalists and bringing âsymphonic solutionsâ to their customers (suites of bundled products and services that work in harmony) that truly enhance productivity and/or solve complex problems. Structured sales processes will be replaced with softer skill sets.
CEOs who understand this are having their salespeople evaluated differently today. They want to know that their salespeople can connect with prospects of different behavioral styles.
Salespeople who are product-oriented, goal focused and motivated to close the sale today are already on the path of becoming a dinosaur. Sales managers who spend their time focusing on call reports and sales metrics instead of recruiting, training, developing, and motivating are following closely in their footsteps. However, open-minded leaders that groom salespeople who become capable of thinking conceptually, offering creative solutions, and listening aggressively are the sales managers who will lead their companies to economic success in the conceptual age.
CEOs today who are thinking beyond âsurviving the downturnâ realize that now is the time to invest in conceptual salespeople and flexible sales processes, and new customer-centric technology that can help their companies soar.
Harrison R. Greene is president of Unique Selling Systems in Northborough.
WBJ Web Partners
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