Selling technology - it's not what it used to be!
Work life and selling as we have previously known it has changed for the foreseeable future. No in-person meetings, traveling, conferences or happy hours with prospects and clients. It’s also possible that after this unexpected ‘proof of concept’ many firms will never return to how it was before, potentially allowing for wider work from home policies rather than centralized office buildings and a greater reliance on video conference facilities rather than corporate travel and off-sites.
The slowdown that is happening right now, happens every year - albeit on a smaller scale; typically around the end of year holiday season and around the July/August vacation season. These are ideal times to take stock of what is happening and plan for the next wave of sales activity. I firmly believe that is coming in a few ‘mini-waves’ for the foreseeable future. The first will be when prospects and clients have settled into the new working from home routine - there will be a window when people will want to talk and connect. Social distancing may be in place, but there will be an increasing desire for social connections and discussions. Daily schedules will be more flexible affording time for folks to learn about what is out there in the market. Beyond that, I expect that when office buildings start to open again, change freezes are relaxed and after everyone has caught up on vacation time - that new corporate initiatives and projects will once again kick off. Throughout my career, September has always shown a renewed interest in evaluating technology vendor solutions - and I expect that we’ll see that trend occur in these mini-waves as the individual firms start to return to business as usual (hopefully before September!).
What does all of this change mean for those of us in sales? Anyone that’s heard me talk about why I formed Many Mind Consulting will have heard my story around how I believe that selling technology in finance has been morphing over the last 10 years - I think the current scenario is set to accelerate that change. For technology sales, especially in the financial sector - folks no longer want to hear a sales pitch over a steak dinner, they want to discuss low level technical details around a whiteboard. The line between what is sales and technical pre-sales has been becoming more and more blurred, and effectively the goal of Many Mind Consulting is to provide both functions as a service to small to mid-size companies. Don’t get me wrong, I have a huge respect for the ‘old school’ sales process and have met and worked with some of the best sales people in the industry - I’ve also seen the best of these folks grow and thrive by becoming more in tune with the technology they are selling rather than pitching to anyone with a pulse and promoting what is not a fit.
There are a few activities that I have found help keep momentum during quieter times. Most of these are good guidelines to follow all year round, but interestingly they are a mix of sales practices that would be considered more traditional and some that align with more modern ways of selling.
Be accessible and responsive. Let your key clients and prospects know how and where to reach you during this time. Leverage technology to ensure all of the usual ways that you can be reached are still available (forward desk phones, install soft-phones etc.) Folks may not be following normal working hours, so when they are at their laptop and sending emails or picking up the phone to call - that is your window. Even if you don’t have the complete answer there and then, respond back immediately and let them know you are “on it” and set some expectation of a response time. Folks are seeking a sense of normality at this time.
Perfect your sales pitch/presentation. Personally I have always learned better through understanding rather than reading. Building a sales presentation allows me to start to ask the questions that I need to know to understand technology better, and the questions I need to ask from clients to understand their challenges. Drawing diagrams of how complex technologies work helps me better explain those concepts to others. Not everybody learns this way, but that is what works for me - I’m a firm believer that understanding how technology works is key to any sales pitch. When sales activity is quieter, take the time to be familiar with all of your marketing material and be confident and professional in how you deliver it. This may mean pitching to yourself via recorded video or a mirror, or perhaps give your pitch to whoever you are isolated at home with. I’ve often found that explaining what I do to family and friends is tough, but after a few attempts it becomes easier and my thoughts on how to explain it become clearer. Besides - who is going to give unfiltered feedback like kids :)
Leverage social media. Sales is about trust. People can’t see how strong your handshake is or how shiny your shoes are right now. Having an up-to-date LinkedIn profile is the new shoes and handshake. Recommendations and active social media contributions will help build your trustability score with prospects. Contributions on social media will help demonstrate to your prospects that you are passionate about your role and actively contributing to the industry rather than simply just trying to sell at them.
Stay up to speed with what is going on in the industry. The finance industry changes very rapidly. Specifically in these times we should expect more turbulence than normal. Use LinkedIn, Twitter etc. to be up to speed with partners, competitors, clients and prospects. Follow those firms and have a good view as to any changing dynamics. Use Google Alerts to get the latest content delivered to you based on keywords. Watch out for key contacts leaving one firm and joining another, congratulate them - or ask to catch up (via phone or video of course!).
Prospect. This should really be an activity during all times, and I once read that the best time to prospect is right after a big win (before hitting the pub!). However, now is the time to plan out which firms are targets and who at those firms are key decision makers that you need to build relationships with. This targeting should be granular to the product level and may involve many different levels in an organization. Start to actively reach out and make contact, you may get delayed responses or requests to come back after things have returned to “normal” - but this activity will all start to actively build the pipeline in preparation for when the next wave comes so you are hitting the ground running.
Generally although times are turbulent - we will get through this, but I expect this will be a time of transformation rather than ever return to business as we've known it in the past. Now is the time to be preparing for and adapting for that transformation.
Stay safe out there!
Cheers,
Ciaran