It’s A New Economy Out There

Over the last few years buyers have made a significant change in the way they buy. It is now estimated that up to 70% of the buying cycle is completed before the buyer ever talks to or engages a salesperson.

In the past, buyers may not have welcomed a visit from a salesperson but they needed us. If they wanted any information they had to contact us as that was the only way to get the information they needed to make decisions. Now with everything “on line” and “in the cloud” they can get most of what they need without engaging a sales professional.

So what does this mean for the average salesperson? It means that the buyers frequently have the upper hand. Your “line card”, brochures, and data sheets are no longer of any help to getting you in the door. The sales cycle is more than half over before you even get started. Sales processes and techniques born in a different era will not be effective.

It is more important than ever to proactively get to decision makers before they are actually “in the market” for your product or service. Because once they are in the market, a few clicks of a mouse and they have access to worlds of information that render most of your value as a sales professional obsolete. You need to be in talking to them about their situation and helping them to solve problems. This is the very definition of a consultative sales process. Introductions are more important than ever. The truly efficient and effective salesperson will cultivate a network of people who are well placed in the industry to put them in touch with prospects who are beginning to think about attacking a problem that they are positioned to solve.

I don’t think we will ever return to “normal” after this most recent down turn. Companies have learned to get along with fewer staff members and those who remain in place have totally integrated smart phones, tablets, and other devices into their daily life. Executives work from home and on the road and handle things efficiently they used to delegate to people who are no longer in place. It’s a new economy out there and the old methods won’t work anymore.

Click here for a video that explains it in more depth. To learn The Attributes of the Sales Overachiever needed in the new economy, Click on this Free Report link.

Dan Caramanico is a salesforce development expert and he is the author of Attributes of The Optimal Salesperson® One of Selling power’s top ten books for 2010 and Optimal Selling, Sales Conversations of the Optimal Salesperson.