Sales Leadership with Jim Pancero
Sales Leadership with Jim Pancero
How are your reps overcoming the reality of today’s self-educated buyers?
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How buying decisions are made has changed dramatically in recent years. It used to be if you wanted to buy something, like a hot tub, the first thing you’d do is stop by a hot tub store, talk to a sales rep, pick up some literature and pricing and then go home to talk with your family about your options.
Look how different buying is today. If you want to buy a hot tub today, the first thing you’d likely do is ask your friends for suggestions (if you’re younger) or do research on Google (if you’re older). In either case, the first thing you wouldn't do is talk to a salesperson because of feeling unprepared and being taken advantage of by the rep.
By the time a sales rep actually gets to talk with a prospect, there's a high probability your buyer has already completed extensive research and made some decisions. They also have likely made wrong decisions.
How can you help your team understand today they need to qualify prospects to learn what kinds of research they’ve already completed, any decisions they’ve already made, and how they now want your help.
Today’s video discusses this reality of buyers completing their research on their own before ever talking with a sales rep. When we learn we are now coming in the middle of their decision process we can ask better questions…and sell even more!
How are your reps overcoming the challenge of today's self-educated buyers? Hi, I'm Jim Pancero, helping you and your team be more effective in selling today. And the reality is how decisions are made has changed dramatically in the recent years. It used to be if you wanted to buy something like a hot tub is the example I use in my programs. First thing you would have done after work is stop at a hot tub store, talk to a sales rep, pick up some literature pricing, and then gone back and talk with your family about what your decision options are. But look at today, how different that is. Sales reps have lost the respect of that early research. They've been replaced by Google. They've been replaced by your friends. So the reality is today if you and your family wanted to buy a hot tub, if you're younger, the first thing you do is you'd ask all your friends. If you were older, the first thing you do would be googling it. But in either case, the first thing you wouldn't do is talk to a sales rep because you would feel unprepared and you might be taken advantage of. So for salespeople today, we have a challenge. By the time we're able to talk to a customer, there's a high probability they've done extensive research and they've already made some decisions. In a lot of cases, it was the wrong decision for the wrong thing that they needed and it really wouldn't solve their problem. But because they went online, that's what they thought it said. So challenge the day is we have to be more challenging in our selling, asking the customers, so what decisions have you already made? What have you liked so far? What have you seen you don't want? Because we have to realize we're going in in the middle of the decision process now. We're no longer at the beginning. What can you do to work with your sales team to make sure they understand and they have the best questions to ask when they meet a new account to find out what kind of research they've already done, what kind of decisions they've already made, and what they want to hear from you so that you can sell them even more.