SWTBP New Year’s Resolutions Calendar 2024

Many people make them, but not many actually keep them: New Year’s Resolutions. If you have your mind set on hitting home runs this year in Sales, then here is a list that will help you. For loyal thesalesadvice followers, they are obvious, but, yeah, implementing and turning these into new habits requires focus and a strong will for success. It may help to stick your resolutions on the fridge or hang them on the wall. Click the Download Button to access your Selling With The Buyer’s Perspective 2024 New Year’s Resolutions Calendar.

January: Sell with the Buyer’s Perspective

Although the Customer is King and is always right, over the last few years, the expression ‘being in your Customer’s world’ has turned into a whole different meaning. B2B and B2C buying is more complex than ever, so business owners and their management teams are screaming for help. Be confident that you can provide what they are looking for. Once they give you that opportunity do not sell with the seller’s perspective.

February: Recognize where your customer is in their Buying Process

Remember a time when you were hustled to buy something you didn’t want? That is when you are in a Why Should I Change? Buying phase. You don’t see the need to purchase, and you want to get rid of the salesperson. Selling something to someone who is not ready to be sold to doesn’t work. The hard Sales techniques are history. To be successful in sales, you need to understand where stakeholders are in the buying clock and know how to move them forward or backwards.

March: Invest Time In Finding Insights

Selling with the Buyer’s Perspective requires letting your customers discover something about themselves and create wants and wishes. Invest daily time to find insightful information that will help your customer change their perspective about how they could grow in a different way than expected. Without insights, you cannot. Rely on your experience of how you have helped other customers and tell insights through stories for even greater effect.

April: Don’t Ignore AI, Embrace It

To find the right insights, embrace AI to help you. Review the 4 x S of Sales AI blog for those unfamiliar with how to start. Use ChatGPT to:

• Search
• Summarize
• Script
• Strategize

your insights. AI in Sales is the Next Big Thing. Without a doubt, you will become faster and smarter and sell more.

May: Have Strategic Business Views

If there is one thing that Customers appreciate the most in Salespeople, it must be having ideas about possible strategic advantages. Business Acumen supersedes Sales Acumen. Customers will pay attention to business talk and less to sales talk. And… strategic eats tactical for breakfast. There are enough reasons to dive into this and become that Trusted Advisor.

June: Be Others Oriented

A mindset of being interested in someone else’s well-being will get you very far in Sales. This requires you to let go of self-interest, go-getting and deal-making. Show interest in your customer’s challenges, apply active listening, and drive their agenda – not yours. Selling is helping others achieve results they didn’t think were possible. This is your new aim.

July: Start With Why Change, Not With Why Us

One of the most crucial and challenging skills to turn into a habit. Traditionally we have the urge to sell our company, our solutions and ourselves. But customers don’t want to hear all or any of that until they have discovered reasons to change. Stay on the right-hand side of the buying clock until your customer is ready to be sold to. It will double your closing ratio.

August: Enable Others to do the selling for you

The bigger the opportunity, the more stakeholders will have a say in a change. Use that to your advantage. After convincing a stakeholder that a change benefits their company, enable that change champion to do the selling for you. Leave them your insight, story and ideas before departing the building. They may use it at their next coffee break. Most influencing happens when you are not there.

September: Find and Overcome Hidden Competitors Early

You are not competing with the traditional competitors. Your biggest competitors are inside the customer’s organization. When you think you have moved key stakeholders to Change to Who, something or someone, always puts the opportunity on hold. Get better and smarter to identify these early and know how to overcome them. Don’t leave anyone or anything in the Why Change? Phase.

October: Keep your Pipeline Clean

If you want to make progress month after month, keep your pipeline as accurate as possible. Focusing on opportunities that will never become revenue outcomes is hoping for nothing. And this prevents you from adding opportunities that may result in success. You need to be honest with yourself. Don’t be a prisoner of hope. Flush it or Flash it!

November: Sell at the Right Price

When customers ask you to sharpen your pencil, avoid being squeezed on prices or compared to your competitors on a spreadsheet. You are in a different league when you sell undeniable top and bottom-line outcomes. Demonstrate this through a solid business case. Then you can sell at the right price. Don’t forget to use the fair price phenomenon!

December: Help Your Colleagues

Last but not least, leverage knowledge with your teammates. They are working on all of the above Resolutions, just like you. If you find an insight that is changing your Customer’s perspective, they may be able to use that for one of their customers. Dedicate time in your calendars, e.g., every Friday from 4-5 pm, to help each other sell with the buyer’s perspective and become the Trusted Advisors of 2024. Make it even more competitive through quizzes:

1. Get ahead in B2B Selling.
2. The Sales Transformation Challenge
3. The Black Belt Quiz
4. The Selling With The Buyer’s Perspective Test