Sales Innovation
Traditionally, individual salespeople choose their own “market-making” strategy. This strategy centres around customer visits, leveraging word of mouth and personal contacts, or simply converting the leads generated by corporate marketing efforts. We could define this as a “push” approach . On the other hand there’s a “pull” strategy, based on Personal Branding and the capacity of every professional to be perceived as competent and credible in their fields. They could also, for example, leverage their Economic Graph (LinkedIn works with governments and NGOs around the world to understand the rapidly changing world of work and gives everyone dynamic data, useful to create economic opportunities).
With a “pull” approach, your customers are attracted to salespeople because they have established a reputation for being authoritative, trustworthy professionals who are experts in their fields.
In an age of great change and complexity, we need to go further. Today’s salespeople must be able to vary and innovate their entire strategy, and be able to do this autonomously.
To create this kind of salesperson, concepts such as a specific value proposition, channels as well as digital collaboration and customer relations channels, relationship styles, and needs based customer segmentation, must not be bound by blinkered budgeting logic. Your sales staff need key partners to whom they can delegate part of their sales activities. Skills have to be developed coherently, without wasting time on unnecessary training courses.
That’s why today so many sales organizations come to us to innovate the entire personal business models of their salespeople and consultants, and align them to their corporate business model.
OUR APPROACH
- We do not offer the usual programs which focus on (social) sales techniques and LinkedIn tips-and-tricks. Instead, we will help your salespeople become independent and self-directed in the development of their marketing strategy;
- Thanks to our knowledge of corporate, organizational and commercial strategy development, our advice is always tailored to specific company needs and how their sales forces function;
- We have studied and innovated the Personal Business Models of thousands of salespeople, including helping hundreds of financial advisors and insurers in Europe and in Italy.
OUR SALESFORCE INNOVATION SERVICES
Personal Branding on LinkedIn and Social Selling
Sales are not solely reliant on meetings with customers: in today’s era of disintermediation and asynchronous information, there are additional points of contact (or real moments of truth), including digital channels such as LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
On the web today, your salespeople can project images that are authoritative, inline with that of their company, and thus position themselves as domain experts. By learning key marketing and communication concepts, your salespeople will be able to organize their work more strategically. Achieving this means, for example, helping them understand which groups they need to target, beginning with customers who are most likely to appreciate their expert input. This approach will increase their chances of sales success and boost professional satisfaction too. All of which is good for your business’ bottom line.
From transactional to complex sales
Many companies today are transforming their salespeople into consultants. The sales process is moving away from its traditional transactional nature and is becoming more complex. Think of all the situations in which customers do not simply ask for a product or service but have specific and, even if they are not always aware of them, often unspoken needs.
Customers also need advice to help them understand the complexity of their needs, even more so when the purchase process chain often involves more than one decision maker. In these contexts, adding skills is no longer enough. This represents a real change in personal business models. Nowadays, your salespeople need to know how to apply the key tenets of Personal Branding, so they will be perceived as experts in their sectors. Today, a customer-needs focused consultancy-style of relationship is essential to sales success.
From Manager to Strategic Advisor to Sales Teams
The time has come for businesses to focus less on motivation and more on strategy.
Today, your managers need to become real key partners, acting as precious strategic consultants, to their staff. Managers must continue to leverage corporate marketing efforts and ensure that salespeople have clear sales budgets, goals and value propositions, while, of course, knowing how to apply sales techniques effectively.
Managers also need to ensure that their staff possess realistic and clear personal marketing strategies. They need to focus on their professional image to attract new business, and achieve their personal and business goals. Managers now act in partnership with their most important ‘clients’: their staff.
AS COVERED IN OUR BOOKS
Personal Branding for Companies
Enhancing companies by positioning their key people
by Luigi Centenaro and Silvia Zanella
The first book in the world that deals with all the main applications of Personal Branding in the business sector.
With countless business cases!
Business Model You
The one-page method for reinventing your career
by Tim Clark, edited by Luigi Centenaro
The book that revolutionized the conception of work and career using the Personal Business Model Canvas
WHAT CAN YOU DO NEXT?
Get in touch with us to request a free Salesforce Innovation programme feasibility study for your organization!