{"id":1012,"date":"2020-08-14T19:24:49","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T19:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vayomar.com\/?p=1012"},"modified":"2021-09-13T14:24:16","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T14:24:16","slug":"sales-enablement-is-the-new-renewed-method-of-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vayomar.com\/sales-enablement-is-the-new-renewed-method-of-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Rules for successful Sales Enablement in a Changing World"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
Hello, and welcome to our sales pitch. Prepare to be won over by compelling content, captivating language, and cool demeanor. But before we get started, let\u2019s take a moment to consider what comes to mind and how you feel when envisioning the sales process as a whole.<\/span><\/p> Is it a nostalgic image of a sleek, charismatic man in a suit and tie with a glistening smile and a confident voice? Or is it something a bit less personal, perhaps a sea of cubicles, the muffled hum of a thousand salespeople, each with his or her own headset, a computer, a phone, and a list of people to cold call? Or are you imagining a corporate sales team walking into your boardroom, ready to pitch that million-dollar deal?<\/span><\/p> If one of the above scenarios came to mind, you aren\u2019t alone. These are, in fact, the most commonly imagined sales-pitching environments. At the same time, limiting the sales environment to these scenarios, even if only in your mind, is wrong. The field of sales has evolved with time to reflect current individual decision-making practices. Here\u2019s what you need to know, culled from our 18 years of working with leading companies and governments around the world.<\/span><\/p> Over the past 18 years, Vayomar has worked with leading companies around the world and several governments. Today, we want to share three main principles that apply to sales and decision-making. Three ways to reorient your mindset from old to new.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Once upon a time, promises were sold by door-to-door salespeople, who eventually morphed into thousands of agents sitting on a sales floor with telephones in hand. Their mission and measure of success started and ended with the closing of each individual sale.\u00a0 All they needed to do was knock on a door or make a phone call, get the customer to hand over their credit card details, and boom \u2013 success. Investments were recovered and profit lines were added to the ledger.<\/span><\/p> However, in the\u00a0 21st century, that way of thinking simply won\u2019t do the trick. Today, success is less about making that single sale, and much more about ensuring the value of your promise over the customer\u2019s lifetime to promote greater retention and repeat sales.<\/span><\/p> Why? The answer is two-fold. The first reason is because the more you sell, the more you make. And the more you sell to the same customer, the greater the profit you make on each single sale. After all, it costs <\/span>5 times more <\/span><\/a>to attract a new customer than it does to retain an existing one. As such, selling the big-picture – company value – rather than on individual offering, is the future-forward way to promote successful sales enablement and a beefier bottom line.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Second, modern-day customers are increasingly more inclined to buy access to products (or services) instead of ownership. Customers do not commit to the product at the time of the sale. Instead, they sample the product experience before deciding whether to keep paying for access, taking into account their own high standards and the competition\u2019s ever-evolving offering.. They can and do make demands, and they do not hesitate to go elsewhere if they are not satisfied.<\/span><\/p> According to <\/span><\/i>Forbes<\/span><\/i><\/a>, \u201ca staggering 74 percent of Americans prioritize experiences over products. The focus on experiences is closely related to the growth of the sharing \u2026 economy. Why pay for a taxi when you can meet someone new riding in an Uber? \u2026\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p> And the magazine isn\u2019t just referring to millennials.<\/span><\/i><\/p> \u201cAs many Baby Boomers enter retirement, they fall into the \u201cless is more\u201d mentality and put more value on relationships and experiences than things. Clearly, this isn\u2019t a trend that will be going away any time soon.\u201d <\/span><\/i>1<\/span><\/i><\/p> These findings led Gartner to declare that <\/span>\u201cBy 2020, more than 80% of software vendors will change their business model from traditional license and maintenance to subscription.\u201d <\/span><\/i>2<\/span><\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Rule 1: An example<\/strong><\/p> Microsoft used to sell Microsoft Office \u201895 as a set of disks that you owned and could use forever. You could choose to buy a new version every 2-3 years, or simply continue to use the old one. Today, Microsoft sells its Office software as a service. You buy a monthly subscription, granting you access to the latest version, with no commitment required.<\/span><\/p> Bear in mind: when Microsoft sold you the disk, it recovered its investment and profit at that instant. Today, the investment and approach differs, as does the time in which profit is recouped. To solidify their earnings, companies like Microsoft have a vested interest in maximizing their customers\u2019 experience, so that they continue to buy for the long-term.<\/span><\/p> Rule 1: Not just for software<\/strong><\/p> While this concept is intuitive for products like software, it can also be applied to other offerings. Take the car rental industry for example. While in the past, those wishing to use a car for just a few days were required to enter a long-term rental or purchase contract, today, a car can be rented from a vehicle sharing service with the click of a button. Or, you can forgo the driving experience altogether, in favor of\u00a0 door-to-door ride services like Uber or Lyft.<\/span><\/p> Another example is the music consumption industry. Remember when people ran out to buy their favorite artist\u2019s new album? Today, services like <\/span>Spotify<\/span><\/a> enable you to add any song you want to any playlist for a small monthly fee. Don\u2019t like the song? Get rid of it. Don\u2019t like Spotify? You can easily transfer your lists to <\/span>Apple Music <\/span><\/a>or <\/span>Pandora<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p> The future is access \u2013 customers like knowing that they can opt out anytime they want. As a sales agent, it\u2019s your responsibility to ensure that their experience is so great, they can\u2019t help but become lifelong family members.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t You\u2019re not closing a deal; you are making a promise <\/em><\/strong><\/p> Sales used to be simple. Make a pitch, reel customers in, close the deal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> But the evolution of customer demands has forced the sale to become a means, a promise, rather than the end it used to be. Customer retention now plays a major part in determining your company\u2019s long-term bottom line and viability. Your ability to keep your promise of continued value will shape your ability to keep your customers coming ba<\/span>ck for more.<\/span><\/p> It’s all about costumer expectations<\/strong><\/p> Thanks to the internet and advances in digital media and devices, information is everywhere and readily accessible. Customers are learning more and making more information-based purchasing decisions. This knowledge leads them to expect more of any business with which they transact.<\/span><\/p> Gone are the days where customers waltzed into car dealerships and let the salespeople tell them which car they would be taking home. Today\u2019s customers go online research before conducting any business to business (B2B) or business to customers sales (B2C).<\/span><\/p> What informs customer expectations?<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t \u00a0\u201cGartner analyzed 1,100 B2B customers to understand what drives continuing or expanding customer relationships with an existing supplier. The strongest driver of account growth turns out to be the <\/span>confidence customers<\/span><\/a> have in themselves and their ability to make good buying decisions. Customer decision confidence drives 2.6 times the likelihood of a high-quality account growth purchase.\u201c<\/span> 3<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t \u00a0A crucial statistic from Podium shows the preparedness and knowledge of consumers:<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Before customers buy, they want to feel confident that they know everything they can about the product and its value. They research online and read many reviews to gain a sense of whether the product provides the advertised value, and how reliable the product support services may be. If these expectations are met post-purchase, customers are more likely to return and make additional purchases down the line. And they will publish and create reviews that fuel these expectations within new prospective customers.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t If you don\u2019t keep your brand promise, your customers will seek an alternative provider who will. A <\/span>2011 study across the largest industries found that technological innovation encouraged 40% of people to switch brands based on how easy the process was. Today, that number has climbed to 70%. In the USA and UK<\/span>4. <\/span>After all,<\/span> switching brands from <\/span>AT&T<\/span><\/a> to <\/span>Verizon<\/span><\/a> or from <\/span>Amazon Web Services<\/span><\/a> to <\/span>Go Daddy<\/span><\/a>, has never been easier.<\/span><\/p> How do you go about keeping your promises? You guessed it\u2026 the answer lies in rule number three, the hardest change for most companies to effectively make and where <\/span>Vayomar<\/span><\/a> excels.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t The single salesman approach is extinct. The time to create a <\/span>sales enablement<\/span><\/a> solution that comprises a village of pre-sales engineers, delivery, customer service reps, marketing agents, and mid-level managers to create a circle of trust with all of your customers is now.<\/span><\/p> Before you can\u00a0 acquire and retain a new customer, you must first identify the long-term value they seek, even after they\u2019ve already bought\u00a0 your product.<\/span><\/p> In today\u2019s world, technological evolution and competition move quickly. Products become obsolete at a faster pace, so building your strategy on having the hottest tech on the market on any given day is not likely to meet the test of time.<\/span><\/p> Teamwork and sales consulting can play a key role in increasing sales. For example, when shopping at <\/span>Best Buy<\/span><\/a>, it is common to find a salesperson on the floor who is assisted by a <\/span>Samsung<\/span><\/a> technical representative who advises customers\u00a0 interested in buying a mobile device product.<\/span><\/p> The way you measure success needs to change from counting overall sales or AR (annual revenues) to understanding how to emphasize ARR (annual recurrent revenues). The growth of recurrent revenue can make the difference between closing another round of investment or not, and will be a key factor that drives executive decisions.<\/span><\/p> It takes a village to promote successful sales that carry lifetime value. There\u2019s no glory in going at it alone.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\tOur pitch - 3 rules to help you sell more in an ever-changing world<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Rule #1: Start selling with the bigger picture in mind\n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Rule #2: Promise to meet their expectations\n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Meet their expectations\u2026 or else!\n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Rule #3: Build your village and leverage it to enable more sales\n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
How do successful companies close more sales? <\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t