What Sales Executives Need To Survive In The AC (After COVID-19) Era
In this guest post, Graham Hawkins (pictured), founder and CEO of SalesTribe, offers his best tips on what sales executives need to survive in an AC (after COVID-19) era…
As a B2B salesperson in 2020, your ability to earn trust and demonstrate credibility has become one of your biggest challenges.
In the BC era (before COVID-19), there was an entire phase of the sales cycle dedicated to developing trust and rapport, which typically required multiple face-to-face meetings with your buyer.
Those days are well and truly over, as your future success in sales now hinges on your ability to establish that same trust and rapport, online.
Before you start to impactfully grow your online credibility however, you first have to overcome yet another obstacle exacerbated by the pandemic. You have to cut through the noise and grab your buyer’s attention.
This is undoubtedly the biggest challenge salespeople in every industry and company will face in the post-COVID era, simply because buyers are being bombarded by desperate sounding salespeople every, single day.
Attesting to this new reality, a recent HubSpot study showed there was a significant spike in outbound email beginning in March, with a corresponding downturn in email response rates. This suggests there is still a significant disconnect between where salespeople are focusing their time and where buyer interest exists.
So while it has never been more difficult for salespeople to cut through the noise and create visibility for themselves, it’s even more difficult to get a prospective buyer engaged in a conversation, because they are now highly adept at ’blocking’ unsolicited outreach from vendors.
Simply put, old-fashioned and impersonal outreach methods don’t work anymore, as nobody likes to be on the receiving end of ‘spray and pray’ tactics. Salespeople today have to engage the modern, work-from-home buyer in a very different way.
What can sales executives do to survive in the AC (after COVID-19) era?
Opening Is The New Closing
Salespeople must rethink their day-to-day activities and begin to focus on becoming highly proficient at opening new conversations, because old methods won’t open new doors.
It won’t matter how well you think you can manage or close the deal, if you can’t orchestrate a conversation (open with a narrative that you can carry forward), you’ll never get that chance to close.
While we used to generate leads to start a conversation, now we have to start a conversation to generate leads – opening is your ticket to the dance.
Who is your ICP?
In order to sell smarter in a world of smarter buyers, you must begin by rethinking who your ideal customer profile (ICP) is, and why? What does your perfect-fit prospect look like? Gone are the days of ‘wishful thinking’ salespeople trying to shoehorn poor-fit customers into a deal.
He who chases two rabbits catches neither, and this just means that qualifying ‘out’ is now more important than qualifying in. Salespeople must remove the ‘happy ears’ (hearing what they want to) and start being very disciplined about which prospective buyers they invest company resources with, and why.
We must become crystal clear about our ICP and how they want to be engaged. This often requires us to drop everything we think we know about our buyers and in some cases, this requires us to go and ask these ICPs how they expect to be engaged.
Educational content on social media
Co-author of The Challenger Sale, Matthew Dixon, once said: “The best salespeople are engaging customers where and how they learn – social media, social groups, web forums, online communities and blogs.” In the AC era, you require a strategy for getting attention and creating value on social platforms, where modern buyers now reside.
HBR recently reported that “82% of the B2B buyers said the winning vendor’s social content had a significant impact on their buying decision.” Even if HBR is only half accurate, this means that almost 50 per cent of your target buyers are making decisions based on your social content.
All salespeople must now curate and create educational content on platforms, such as LinkedIn. We must use educational content to help initiate those all-important conversations, and whilst we can’t all be ‘thought leaders,’ we do all have to be ‘thought contributors.’
Your online presence
It’s pointless doing any of the above if you have failed to cultivate a professional and authentic LinkedIn profile. The first thing that a modern buyer does, once you have managed to get their attention, is check out your profile and anything else that they can find pertaining to your online presence. They do all of this ‘in the dark,’ meaning that you never know when someone is watching.
This means that your profile must be complete and full of information that your buyer might want to know about who you are, and how you might be able to help them solve their business problems. Don’t waste your time curating content or engaging people via online platforms if your LinkedIn profile – your own personal landing page – looks unremarkable.
In short, sales success today requires a re-think. Modern buyers expect salespeople to:
Know them before we engage;
Personalise every message so it relates to their context. Any form of spray and pray sales outreach, which treats the buyer as just another number, will no longer work in 2020 and beyond;
Teach them by disseminating information, data and insights that they can’t Google themselves, and;
Anticipate their future needs, to help shape their thinking about future value-add.
Latest News
Kantar: AVOD Subscribers Double In 12 Months
Study finds Aussies happy to watch ads on their streaming services. Or, are they just putting the kettle on more often?
Val Morgan Digital Exceeds All Campaign Uplift Benchmarks Via A 12-Month Brand Metrics Study
Val Morgan announces it has exceeded all its campaign benchmarks. Still can't get under an hour for the City To Surf.
Australian Retirement Trust launches monster of a campaign, by M&C Saatchi and Bohemia
Get offered a seat on the bus today? Knees creak like an old pirate's galleon? This retirement ad may be of interest.
Print Audits To Discontinue As Audited Media Association Of Australia Pivots To Support Influencer Marketing
Is it just B&T or are audits in the media industry suddenly becoming murkier than Roxy's husband's tax returns?
News Corp Australia Launches 2024 National Education Advocacy Initiative With Expanded Program
News Corp set to shine a light on the nation's schools in new series, giving illegal bikie gangs a well-earned rest.
Decoding The Consumer Maze: Urban List Report Reveals How Modern Shoppers Spiral From Discovery To Purchase
Latest report unravels a shopper's journey from the joy of discovery through to a nasty letter from a debt collector.
Cosmo Returns To Australia!
Ever get the feeling we've weirdly warped back to 1988 at the moment? Confirm it with the relaunch of Cosmo in print.
People & Culture Consultancy Human Kind Collective Launches To Plug HR Gap For Media Agencies
Does the very mention of HR have you struggling to remember last year's Christmas party? Get the sweats with this news.
‘We Want To Be A Growth Partner, Not Just A Media Buyer Or Someone That Makes Ads’ – Bohemia Boss On Agency’s Ambition
B&T's chatting with Bohemia boss Paul ‘Hutch’ Hutchison. Although we do think 'the dagger' a far superior nickname.
Initiative’s Geoff Clarke: ‘Youth Hits Targets With Enthusiasm, Experience Hits The Targets You Can’t See’
Initiative’s CCO Geoff Clarke on the value of experience in agencies. Not to mention quoting lines from Pulp Fiction.
The Iconic Teams Up With 5 Aussie Athletes For Latest Campaign
Fashion label brings in the athletes for new campaign, many of whom appear to have prepped with re-runs of Zoolander.
Seven West Media Secures New Director Of News & Current Affairs
After a tumultuous few weeks, Seven unveils director of news & current affairs. And B&T never uses tumultuous lightly.
Seven Network Expands NSW Sales Team With Two New Group Business Directors
Seven ramps up its NSW sales team. Both of whom are well versed in pronouncing Manu Feildel's croque-monsieur.
New PR Subscription Changing The Game For Aussie Start Ups
Need better PR? You can now buy it via a monthly subscription. Price does not include a fascinator or Moet piccolos.
Paul Kent At Centre Of Fresh Scandal After Alleged Street Brawl
Do you long for the fights, gouges & testicle grabs of footy's glory years? So too, it appears, does Paul Kent.
DiDi Taps Disney’s Tim Farmer For Head Of Brand Marketing Role
Disney's Tim Farmer shifts over to rideshare company DiDi. Taking with him his Donald Duck coffee mug & mouse ears.
As Sure As Night Becomes Day, The End Of Third-Party Cookies Has Been Delayed
The question remains: what will we see first? The end of cookies, alien invasion or Jesus's second coming?
Fast 10: Scoundrel’s Tim Bullock Explains What Shane Warne & Salt-N-Pepa Have In Common
It's a Fast 10 with Scoundrel's Tim Bullock. Make it sound even faster by sucking on helium while reading it.
Outbrain Snatches Chris Oxley From Foxtel Media
Foxtel's Chris Oxley shifts over to Outbrain, but not before having his press photo taken in the wilds of the Daintree.
oOh!media & POLY Partner With Greening Australia For OOH Awareness Campaign
Like to quell the road rage with super cute pics of fluffy marsupials? This outdoor's just the ticket.
Are Media Cares For The Carers In Its Latest Social Change Campaign
Are Media calls on the government to add super payments to carers' payments. Remains silent on AUKUS, however.
In A Fragmented World, Engagement Is King
Today, B&T TV's talking fragmentation & engagement. But not in a down-on-one-knee sense of the word.
Kyle Sandilands On Advertising: “We Want Return Business. It’s No Good Just Taking Someone’s Money”
Kyle & Jackie O finally arrive on Melbourne radio. As yet, no sign of the monotonous and bitter AFL-NRL debate.
Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm
Sydney Comedy Festival 2024 is live and ready to rumble, showing the best of international and homegrown talent at a host of venues around town. As usual, it’s hot on the heels of its big sister, the giant that is the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, picking up some acts as they continue on their own […]
Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth
The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has announced the final epic lineup of local and global marketing powerhouses for RESET for Growth 2024. Lead image: Josh Faulks, chief executive officer, AANA Back in 2000, a woman with no business experience opened her first juice bar in Adelaide. The idea was brilliantly simple: make healthy […]
Is Meta’s New AI Chatbot Too Left-Wing?
Meta's chatbot accused of being left-wing after being caught wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt & listening to Billy Bragg.
TV Ratings (23/04/2024): Why Did No One Tell Angela That Farmer Wants A Wife Is Set On A Farm?
As wonderful as this headline is, let's face it, we all know an 'Angela', don't we?
PubMatic Unveils New AI Partnership To Turn Social Posts Into Ads For Any Digital Channel
Here's some nifty tech for turning social posts into ads. Assuming said posts aren't one-star character assassinations.
Intuit Mailchimp Makes A Splash With Its First Australian Brand Campaign
Ever laugh along at a gag you didn't get so as not to appear dumb? Get ready for more feigning with this new work.
GumGum’s Rob Hall: Advertisers Can No Longer “Rely On Binary Descriptions” Of Consumers
If anyone's got their finger on adtech's pulse, it's Rob Hall. He also avoids using the good paper in the office printer
Mastercard Nabs Florencia Aimo From Marriott International
Marriott International's Florencia Aimo jumps from the hotel business to the exploitative credit card one.
Bastion Agency Appoints Cheuk Chiang As New ANZ CEO
Cheuk Chiang takes the reins over at Bastion Agency. But not the rains down in Africa.
Spotlight On Sponsors: Major Sponsorship Wins After A Disappointing Week In Sport
B&T continuing our deep dive into local sport sponsorships & that's despite not a single offer of a free ticket as yet.
Macca’s Marketing Director, Samantha McLeod On Big Mac Chant: “What Was Once Old Is Now Cool Again”
Macca's using the power of nostalgia in latest Big Mac campaign. Well, only for those who've ever eaten one sober.
World Premiere Of Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line To Open Sydney Film Festival 2024
Oil's biopic to open Sydney Film Festival. Here's hoping Molly Meldrum will take his pants down at the premiere.
Entries Are Now Open For The 2024 Brandies, IntelligenceBank’s Annual Brand Marketing Awards
The Brandies are, of course, a prestigious marketing gong and not the mystery tipple favoured by nannas everywhere.