For many, 2020 comes pretty close to a curse word. And while there appears to be a chance of a resurgence at the moment, the fact remains, we still have no clear certainty about the path the pandemic will take businesses on next year. But that does not mean we just sit back and wait. You will not survive. Start getting Match Fit and Sales Ready in these closing months of 2020, otherwise 2021 will be even bleaker for businesses than this year was.
Companies that are still standing strong and successful today must be Sales Ready and prepare to adapt their approach on a strategic level in 2021. While we can’t predict the future, we can use what we’ve learned to shape our strategies and maximise prospecting potential for next year.
Here is a list of what we have learnt so far from the pandemic experience, and how to be Sales Ready, prepare for prospecting and go hard.
2021 SALES READY AT A GLANCE
For those of you that want to go straight to it click on the link of your choice:
- Adapt, Apply, Adapt Again
- Clean for Clarity
- Trust Your Gut But Act on Fact
- Measure to Manage
- Create a 2021 Sales Strategy
ADAPT, APPLY, ADAPT AGAIN
Digital change has been around for a while now. Suppliers, buyers and and consumers are already living the digital lifestyle. Online purchases with small, medium and big-name vendors are now part and parcel of B2B purchases. This sounds like it may mean sales prospecting is going to get harder. It doesn’t have to be the case. Your Salespeople need to be adaptable in all their approaches. To be Sales Ready and prepare for 2021, there are big changes to B2B prospecting. Train your sales team to:- Sell to remote buyers
- Identify new opportunities
- Come up with their own unique selling points to meet the needs of a changing market
- Try to enforce on-site purchasing where possible
- Completely take onboard digital channels
- Get socials-savvy – enable more social platforms to reach a wider digital-first audience
CLEAN FOR CLARITY
While most people dislike the chore of cleaning, some find it soothing. Either way, it is a necessary activity to maintain order. The same applies to your business’ database.
- Clean up your Sales database and CRM: correct typos, incomplete records, incorrect email addresses, and so forth.
- Check you have the correct CRM fields in place – as well as, correctly filled in.
- Sift through bounce-backs from your email marketing.
- LINKEDIN: Clean Up YOUR PROFILE! KONA’s LINKEDIN WORKSHOP was one of the most demanded trainings this year. What are your employees’ profiles saying about your brand?
TRUST YOUR GUT BUT ACT ON FACT
It is crucial Salespeople prioritise their leads based on data analysis rather than just gut feeling. This is critical – to convert the most customers and deliver an extraordinary experience, data must play a significant part in your strategic decisions. Train your sales team to ANALYSE FOR PROFIT. Do they know how to:- Gain a deeper understanding of their customer?
- Create Customer Profile accounts?
- Research techniques to personalise responses?
- Maintain a sense of urgency while building rapport?
- Defend price based on fact and value?
- Use behaviour profiling to engage effectively with different buyer behaviour styles?
MEASURE TO MANAGE
Track and analyse your business’ actions. Measuring your marketing, as well as individual and team performances, gives you insight into strengths and weakness, as well as revealing what is working and what is not. Take a measure of:- The company’s Google Analytics figures: how many people are visiting the site? Where are they from? What particular pages are they frequenting?
- What the numbers of your social media platforms are. Is your business growing in followers and connections? Is your team actually engaging with the marketplace to generate leads, or is it just a page for presence not profit?
- The efficiency and accuracy of your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System. Are your Salespeople adding new prospects to the pipeline? As a Leader, are you tracking movement through it? How about conversions, what is the bids versus wins ratio?
- Measure it in many ways: Year-to-date versus Last-year-to-date. Year-to-date versus Goal, by service line and as well as by industry served.
Do you and your Sales team require training on how to measure performance, and what to do with the results?
CREATE A 2021 SALES STRATEGY
At the very least, make notes about the business’ marketing and sales activities for the next 12 months. Address your team’s ability to commit to:- Investing in time and effort in their marketing and sales approaches
- Setting, achieving and measuring individual KPIs, as well as team KPIs
- Task Responsibilities for 2021 – most importantly, put all of these activities into a calendar-system, assign specific skill-based responsibilities, and then share the calendar with the team
Consider KONA’s ACTIVITY PLANNING Workshop to set your team’s goals for 2021. This needs to be done before 2021 arrives! For example: as you think about your team’s goals for next year, do not just focus on the end result… set individual and team goals for the activities that will help you achieve the end result. This includes:
- How many conversations to generate leads?
- The number of Sales calls per week
- The cost in time and money of prospecting properly
- The Power of Power Hour – done right, done regularly
- Maintaining Systems and Processes
- Accountability Measures
- Getting Geed-Up to Sell
- Adaption and Resilience
- LINKEDIN Training | Employee Profiles and the Effect on the Brand
- Analyse for Profit
- Measure to Manage with Accountability
- Sales Strategies: Geed-Up to Sell in 2021
