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What An MBA Didn’t Teach You About Sales

The sales profession is challenging. You need to work hard at it to succeed. You need to learn from the best. You need to improve your skills continuously. If you think you can sell since you are a hit at parties and have a lot of friends, you may soon find that you are a failure as a salesperson. Blunt truth:

because the sales profession is so hard, you have to focus on doing everything in sales very well, or you will be considered a failure.

I call this blog, Skinned Knees because I try to relate all of the learning that I have done over the past 4+ decades (while skinning my knees in the learning process).

I hope that you learn from my mistakes so that your business will grow!

Becoming a Trusted Advisor: Solve Problems, Not Just Sell Products

In B2B sales and sales leadership, problem-solving is an art that goes beyond selling a product or service. The secret to becoming a trusted advisor is addressing business problems, not just selling a product. This concept resonates with salespeople, sales managers, and small business CEOs who sell themselves or manage a team of salespeople. 

Sales is not just about pushing a product or closing a deal; it’s about forging relationships, understanding businesses and their unique challenges, and offering solutions to these problems. The role of a trusted advisor is not to sell a product and become a trusted advisor, but rather to become a trusted advisor who can sell a product. 

The reward for earning trusted advisor status is immeasurable. It is fantastic to receive a call from a client asking for advice on solving problems they have never discussed with you. Imagine having relationships that stand the test of time and outlast competition and challenges. 

So, how does one become a trusted advisor and solve problems for clients rather than just selling them a great product? It starts with building a relationship from scratch. When starting with a prospect list or an ideal client profile, the goal is not to find anyone who will respond but to seek opportunities to build meaningful relationships. 

The cornerstone of these relationships is reliability. 

  • Are you always punctual? 
  • Do you cancel at the last minute? 
  • Do you forget to return phone calls? 

These behaviors erode trust. On the other hand, showing up when needed, providing solutions even when they are not directly related to your product or service, and connecting clients to others who can help them are behaviors that build trust. 

Becoming a trusted advisor also involves understanding and curiosity about the client’s business. Do you ask questions about how the prospective company makes and loses money, how it dealt with past challenges like the pandemic, and how it deals with current challenges like rising inflation or supply chain disruption? The aim is to understand the client’s business, challenges, and competitors and offer insights and parallels to other companies. 

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Adapting to the New Sales Landscape: The Importance of Omni-Channel Outreach

Are you still relying on trade shows as your primary sales driver? The sales landscape has undergone a seismic shift. Those packed convention halls and endless rows of booths no longer serve as the bedrock of business development they once were.

Let’s talk about what works in today’s sales environment. Building an effective outbound pipeline isn’t just an option anymore – it’s your survival toolkit. But here’s the challenge: how do you stand out in a market where everyone’s fighting for attention?

Your unique value proposition makes all the difference. Yet many sales professionals miss a crucial point: your value proposition isn’t static. What resonates with a manufacturing client might fall flat with a distribution company. Have you tailored your message to address each industry’s pain points?

Think about your last prospecting campaign. Did you give up after four or five attempts? Research shows it takes 12 to 16 touches before prospects typically respond. This gap between persistence and practice often determines success or failure in modern sales.

The game has changed. Your prospects live in an omnichannel world. They check email between Zoom calls, scroll LinkedIn during lunch, and scan their phones throughout the day. How are you showing up in their digital world?

Consider this: every unanswered email or phone call might be a messaging problem. Are you talking about your features when you should be solving your prospects’ problems? Your prospects don’t care about your product specifications. They care about their challenges, their goals, and their bottom line.

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The Right Person in the Right Seat: Unleashing Company Growth through Strategic Sales Leadership

A recurring issue for small companies has emerged; the company’s owner or CEO often leads the sales department. This might be because they believe no one else can sell their product or service better than they can. However, this mindset might be hampering the company’s growth potential.

If you’re a company owner or CEO who leads sales, it’s crucial to consider the risk of this approach. When the person leading the company also heads sales, the business is constrained by the amount of time that leader has. If your salespeople consistently wait for your input or response, you might face a growth opportunity and a challenge simultaneously.

The solution lies in de-risking your organization’s growth potential by getting a sales leader in the sales leadership seat separate from you. This concept resonates with the theory of constraints, a principle often applied in the manufacturing industry but equally applicable in sales. The theory of constraints focuses on identifying the factors that limit your success. 

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