Sales prospecting, change and transformation is a challenging profession. A sales professional must be skilled at many tasks. If you have done or are doing the job, you understand.

Sales professionals prospect to fill the sales pipeline, yet sales prospecting is hard. Impeccable follow-up is essential.

Whether it’s lack of time, inexperience, or resistance to performing the required tasks, one of the most challenging parts of selling is knowing the buyer’s and/or buying committees’ willingness and ability to ignite and get a commitment to change.

Yes, change. Doing something different than the status quo of what you are doing today.

We Must Have Prospects Who Embrace Change

Many times in sales, we spend hours with one perfect prospect. Early in my sales career, I was no exception. My ideal prospect did not buy. Why, you ask, they were the perfect prospect? They fit the ICP perfectly: the right industry, region, ideal number of employees, and annual revenue. Our solution was a perfect fit for their operation, and they acknowledged the benefits they would receive as our customers received from using our solution.

Many years later it occurred to me that the status quo was more comfortable and livable than the change and disruption brought about by our new solution. Moving forward, I always sought to understand my competition, and I considered the status quo a viable and realistic competitor in all my deals. It was a painful lesson to spend so much time with this prospect only to determine that inertia won the contract. I was naive and stunned by their decision, but I learned quickly.

We experience the same in personal situations.

Strategies to Increase Sales: Change and Adapt

Here are strategies to increase sales, helping buyers through their buying journey regarding change, transformation, and inaction.

1.) Discuss change and inaction with buyers in an open, meaningful dialogue.

Questioning, asking, listening, engaging, and thinking are all essential strategies to increase sales.

• How long has this problem/ challenge/pain persisted?
• Have you tried to resolve or fix it before?
• If yes, what happened? If not, why not?
• Why is it pressing now?
• What is the cost and impact to not make the change?
• How will you resolve the obstacles that stood in your way the last time?

An open dialogue around these key points will give you a foundation for further exploring the attitude and process regarding change and transformation for the buyer, buying committee, and organization.

• Where do they fall on the adopter chart? Are they early adopters, late majority adopters, or somewhere else on the scale?
• What is their change, transformation, and adoption history?
• How often does transformative change occur in the organization?
• How does change fare? Were staff accepting of changes?
• What is the culture of the organization/decision-makers?

2.) Observe and keeping your eyes and ears well attuned. Visit prospects and look around.

• Is their surrounding atmosphere state of the art or dated?
• Is their technology state of the art or dated?
• How do they present themselves?
• Is their outlook favorable?
• How do they view /perceive you?

3.) Analyze/review with them

• What are direct and indirect costs under your current method?
• Is this reasonable? To whom?
• How will these costs escalate going forward?
• Here is how we would reduce the annual cost. Thoughts?
• What and who is involved on your end in approving or buying into this improvement?

4.) Beware of non access

• Who is the buyer/buyer committee?
• Have you met everyone? Why? Why not?
• What are their views on your proposal/change/ inaction?
• Are there any pending significant events occurring? A merger? IPO?
• Will you get access, and when, if you haven’t

While these categories present areas for introspection with your prospect, consider these categories and questions to thwart inertia in your deals. Please give this thought, and feel free to reach out if I can offer any additional insights or tips regarding change and transformation in a sales situation.

Elisa Ciarametaro, Principal at Exceed Sales, Inc., offers sound sales suggestions that make an impactful difference and better sales outcomes to individual contributors, managers, and executives in sales, sales development, marketing, and customer service. To learn more about Elisa Ciarametaro get more information at  www.exceedsales.com, sign up for our newsletter, call Elisa at 917 653 0125, email elisac@exceedsales.com or follow her on LinkedIn.