- BLOG, SALES
The future of sales: how to create a sales strategy for sustainable success
10 MIN LEZEN
Sales is evolving with the dynamics of various industries. Where sales managers were once the lynchpin between company and customers, this dynamic has changed drastic today. Colleagues now share direct or indirect contact with potential and existing clients more than ever, making subtle but influential contributions to the sales funnel. So how do you actively capitalise on this as an organisation and how do you involve colleagues in your sales strategy for sustainable success? Read all about it in this blog.
A fresh breeze in sales
As a sales manager or employee, have you ever thought about the changes in your field recently? Traditionally, as a sales professional, you are the face of the company and the only one who represents the voice of customers within the organisation. However, the traditional structure of the sales department seems to be evolving and is taking a completely different shape these days: A growing number of colleagues, from marketing and customer care to even accounting and IT, are increasingly in direct or indirect contact with potential and existing customers.
As an organisation, do you not want to be left behind in the rapidly changing world of sales? Then it’s about time to actively involve everyone in your organisation in your sales funnels to keep your sales strategy fresh and up-to-date.
SALES EVOLVES WITH VARIOUS INDUSTRIES, WITH COLLEAGUES INCREASINGLY CONTRIBUTING TO THE SALES FUNNEL THROUGH DIRECT OR INDIRECT CONTACT WITH CUSTOMERS.
Ready for the future? Five tips for a future-proof sales strategy
1. Determine the added value of colleagues
It’s crucial for an organisation to realise that every team member, from marketing and customer service to finance and operations, plays a vital role in the customer journey. Therefore, first identify the additional value your colleagues can add to optimise your prospecting and sales processes. Through close cooperation between the sales department and customer service, for example, you can easily integrate customer feedback on frequently asked questions and complaints into your sales strategy. This way, you are not only proactively anticipating potential customers’ needs, but also creating an image of your company as reliable and customer-focused.
2. Stimulate collaboration between sales and other teams
Identifying the additional added values of your colleagues for an efficient sales strategy is important, but to make a real impact, you need teams – groups of individuals connected to each other. Sales managers and employees need to build real trust in their colleagues’ expertise and foster collaboration to strengthen the prospecting process. Customers expect the same from you and your company: A complete and seamless experience that quickly turns them into ambassadors.
Practical example: Sales and marketing:
Suppose you have a marketing colleague who excels in content creation, and a customer service colleague who has expertise in customer interaction. By deploying engaging content to answer frequently asked customer questions, you are not only creating valuable information, but also a more streamlined customer service experience.
3. Become the leader of your sales tribe
‘Tribes’ are groups of people connected by a leader, a purpose, a way of ‘being’…. As a sales manager or sales employee, you should also try to maintain that (sales) connection between your colleagues, by regularly sitting down with the team, gauging what is going on and leading them and keeping them connected as the (sales) leader of the group.
Would you like some additional knowledge and methods to improve your leadership skills? At Markies, we are here to support you in this. Together, we will discuss practical solutions, including leadership programmes and action plans, to promote an inclusive and performance-oriented culture.
Would you like some additional knowledge and methods to improve your leadership skills? At Markies, we are here to support you in this endeavor. Together we will discuss practical solutions, including leadership programs and action plans, to promote an inclusive and performance-oriented culture.
4. Be creative
Successful sales professionals show a will to keep learning and dare to be creative by proposing innovative ideas. For example, look at your products and services from a different angle or reach more customers through original content marketing or social media participation. Not all your ideas will work immediately in practice, but it is that curiosity, passion and flexibility that are sometimes more important than a standard sales pitch.
5. Build a strong network of ambassadors
If you apply the tips above properly, you will reverse your sales funnel and build a network of successful customer ambassadors. In this way, you create a group of fans, who are happy to share their positive experiences and talk openly about what your organisation has to offer. New (potential) customers will not experience this as spam, but rather as reliable and confidential information about your brand or organisation.
Do you also want a future-proof sales strategy and strengthen your customer relationships?
Do you also want a future-proof sales strategy and strengthen your customer relationships? To anticipate on the future of sales, it’s crucial that you adjust your sales strategy in time to changing sales situations within your field. Are you experiencing some challenges in that area and could use some help? At Markies, we have all the tools and experience to make your sales strategy completely future-proof. This way, your sales results will continue to evolve sustainably in the future.
The Markies sales approach: your way to success
We start with an in-depth analysis of your current sales performance and market trends. We then optimise your sales process with three tailor-made strategies:
- Efficiency: You learn to organise your team more efficiently and increase customer conversion.
- Standardisation: With the right methods, you will be able to better direct your sales efforts and achieve your set goals.
- Data-driven sales: you learn to use data effectively for your sales planning.
Does our Markies approach appeal to you or would you like to learn more about it? Then let’s schedule a digital coffee and get to know each other a little better.
