You're not a salesperson

Sales used to be a simple equation 👇

“X” number of calls = “Y” number of meetings = “Z” number of new deals

Throw away your calculator because that equation has been rendered useless in today’s environment.

I recently shared that Gartner found B2B buyers spend just 17% of their time with potential vendors.

Vendor(s). Plural.

Meaning you don’t even get 100% of the 17% - you’re competing against 4-5 others.

83% of their “in-market” time is spent talking with peers, connecting with communities, and performing their own research.

It’s up to you to influence their buying decisions when you’re not around.

So, how do you do that?

1st - abandon the “salesperson” identity

It’s 2023. The game has changed.

Having the “gift of gab” or the “sales gene” isn’t impressive and doesn’t lead to repeatable results.

Salespeople used to be able to get by without really understanding their prospect’s position, the market, industry, even their own product.

That doesn’t work anymore. Buyers have unlimited access to products, services, knowledge, reviews, and much more. In other words, they’re ridiculously educated and they know who isn’t educated.

Bottom line is - you now have a requirement to become a domain & industry expert if you want to show your prospects you’re serious about helping them.

Stop thinking about how you can angle to hit your number, start acting like your prospect’s internal team member that’s objectively looking for the best solution.

2nd - adopt the idea that you’re a marketer

You’ll hear me say this a million times over the next year or so.

EVERYONE needs to become a skilled marketer. At the end of the day, we’re playing an eyeballs game. From the very beginning of the buying process all the way through to customer success and beyond.

Look at where we’re at with AI - it’s impossible to keep up. Everything is constantly changing. And the people your prospect’s report to are going to expect constant innovation from them, which means you need to be delivering innovative content to your audience at all times.

Adopt a marketing mindset.

Work on your writing skills.

Prior to starting this newsletter I had zero professional writing experience. I’ve now published over 60 issues. Regardless of any monetary outcome, I can confidently say I’m a better writer and verbal communicator than before.

From a framework perspective, learn what captures attention and what doesn’t - you do this by studying human behavior/psychology along with content that performs well.

3rd - adopt the idea you’re also a project manager

This is most applicable to enterprise sales reps but helpful for anyone selling anything.

The best closers are not great salespeople, they’re great project managers.

The highest performing AEs aren’t always charismatic, but they always have a strong understanding of the steps that need to be taken and the boxes that need to be checked in order to close a deal.

True story: One my co-workers closed a $2.5M deal at the end of Q1 this year. He’s not a great storyteller, he doesn’t “command the room”, he’s not any of the things you’d associate with the #1 rep at a $100M company.

He’s quiet, introverted, and extremely methodical.

Buyers don’t know what next steps are - you need to guide them. To do that effectively, you need to see their buying process as a project you are managing to its desired result.

Recap:

1. Old school sales equations don’t work

2. Abandon the traditional “salesperson” identity

3. Adopt a marketing mindset

4. View deals through a project management lens

That’s all for now, go surprise yourself today!