Blended Learning Group’s approach to sales development is to provide sales people with the three defining characters that matter most in the current sales environment; ability to connect and quickly build rapport, provide insights and disrupt the clients current thinking whilst creating constructive tension, and assert and control the buying process to shorten the sales cycle.
Effective sales people offer their customers unique perspectives for competing in their markets—not deep dives into the supplier’s products and solutions. This approach can powerfully differentiate the sales experience in the customer’s eyes. And the degree to which the perspective offered ties back to the supplier’s unique strengths positions the supplier to win the business.
They also tailor their messages to individual customers based on the customer’s desired outcomes. As customers become more risk averse and pull more people into the sales process, the range of desired benefits expands. Sales people who can tailor across a more diverse group of people involved in the sales process are more likely to win in a consensus buying environment.
Finally, effective sales people assert and maintain control in sales conversations. Not only is this type of sales person more likely to stand firm when customer’s push back, they are also likely to create tension—constructively. That means pressuring the customer’s ideas and timelines in a positive way intended to bring the customer to a better outcome.
In the face of intense risk aversion by customers, sales people who can move customers outside of their comfort zones (without alienating them) can drive action. It is the combination of connecting, challenging and controlling that serves sale people so well in the current economy and provides a real advantage to sales people in moments where sales complexity matters.
A High Performing Sales Team has the ability to teach the customer unique insights that are tailored to drive value for the customer and for their business, in an assertive, authoritative way.