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SalesAndManagement.com
Have you noticed any changes lately?
By: Rick Lamos
You would expect a great salesperson to begin any discussion with a prospective client with a few good questions. Allow me to do the same.
- Has your industry changed in the last few years?
- Have your customers' businesses changed during that time?
- Are they expecting more value for less money?
- Do they have access to more and better information?
- What are the competitive dynamics you face
- Have your margins faced any pressure?
- What new investments has your company made in capital equipment and new technology to meet your customers' changing needs?
- What new methods, practices or processes have you devised, implemented and then refined to marry your employees' new skills to these new tools and technologies?
The answer to each of these may well require volumes. You likely have committed much of your company's intellectual, human resource and fiscal assets in these initiatives.
However, the final piece of the competitive puzzle begs an answer.
When was the last time you have reassessed your sales process? Does it match your customers' new buying process associated with the changes they have faced?
You have always relied on your sales and marketing strategies, the critical link between you and your customers, to communicate to them your unique value. But is that enough? Your competition has likely made the same investments as you and you can bet they have developed sales and marketing strategies to communicate such to your best customers.
How then can you continue to differentiate yourself and rise above the competitive clutter?
The answer may be in this question. How can your sales and marketing strategy not only communicate your unique value BUT deliver value as an inherent part of the process?
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Rick Lamos is the Director of Business Development for Frost & Sullivan. Rick can be reached at rick.lamos@frost.com
