The Sales Game Has Changed

Some of you know that I am a huge Ajax fan. Ajax Amsterdam is one of the oldest soccer clubs in the Netherlands and was the home of many famous players, such as Johan Cruyff, Marco Van Basten, and Dennis Bergkamp.They have won the European Cup/Champions League four times.

Unfortunately, lately, Ajax has not been that good. Why? Although their Total-Football vision (where every player plays offence and defence) was born in Amsterdam, other European clubs have applied the same tactic, refined it, improved it, and taken it to a whole new level. They have changed the game. Ajax is currently working hard to change its strategies to compete with the best. It has to adapt again.

Similarities

I see similarities with what the sales industry is facing. One could impossibly apply the same old sales approaches or sales processes innovated two decades ago to the current buyers, who are living in a digital world and face totally different challenges than their fifty-sixty-year-old bosses did in their days. The sales game has changed, and so should your strategy.

The Drivers of Change

For example, in football, beating your opponent nowadays is not about your skills, capabilities, and tactics – these are just must-haves. You have no chance of applying a winning strategy without being in top form. Instead, football analysts spend hours and days analyzing their opponent’s data. They need to know what has changed in the way they play. When their teams enter the football pitch, they probably know their rival’s skills, capabilities and tactics better than anyone else.

Understanding your buyers better

So, in selling, the game is not changing because it is time for a new idea about how we should sell. The new way of selling is not based on smart ideas or even scientific proof of what sales processes would work better than the old ones. Instead, Selling with the Buyer’s Perspective is an adaptation to the changing nature of buying and buyers and the challenges that go hand in hand.

Changes you need to adapt to

What changes in Buyer’s behaviours should you adapt to be the best?

• Preparation and AI. Customers dislike being interrogated to help you discover their pain points. Instead, they want you to understand their situation and challenges before you enter their office. Use AI to help you gain the situational knowledge needed. This will help you build your credibility, which you will need, especially at the start of your meetings.
• Discovery. Instead of conducting your discovery, help your stakeholders discover something about themselves, their situation, and their challenges. Selling is helping!
• Change their Perspective. Customers are overwhelmed with information. Help them narrow down what is important in their business. Share third-party research and explain, using your business acumen, the impact on their top and bottom line when they focus on your business growth idea.
• Enable stakeholders. The buying rooms are bigger than ever; how can you reach all these stakeholders? You don’t need to. Most of the influencing is done when you are not there. Find a change champion and enable this person to influence others, especially those stakeholders, with a revenue and profit responsibility.
• Gaining consensus is the new closing. Apply all your Trusted Advisor skills to gain consensus in every phase of the buying clock. Don’t leave anyone behind, especially the Hidden Competitor.
• Strategic eats Tactical for breakfast. Finally, ensure you focus on the strategic advantages of your business growth ideas. Prepare a business case for change. Make it tangible. Then, the stakeholders in the buying room can see what’s in it for them and will make them want to change.

Like in football, the game has changed…and so should your sales strategies!