Have you found that your previously successful sales model is not working?  Are you experiencing dramatic changes in how your customers buy today?  Is it difficult to motivate your sales people to keep making those connections?  Has sales changed?

In working with sales organization of all sizes and industries, selling services and products — the answer is a resounding, YES, sales has changed.  Sure, there are fundamentals that will remain timeless.

To stay stuck in your old models is the definition of insanity “doing the same thing and expecting a different result”.  The answer to this question is one of the biggest challenges (and opportunities) facing leaders today.  So, let’s unwrap 3 key elements that have changed:

• Relationship selling is no longer enough – clients are looking for insights, ideas and innovations to drive their business!
  • In the past, the strongest relationships could create long-term sustainable revenues. Today, customers rely on their own research and education to build their objectives and therefore, are looking for true expertise from a sales professional.  When you can make them say “wow, I hadn’t thought of that before”, then you have gained credibility with them and the opportunity to present your solution.
• You must meet the buyer where they are in the process…not where YOU are!
  • The traditional pressures of “what have you sold today” drive organizations and sales professionals to devalue what they bring to the table. The focus is always on the close, the sales cycle and what’s in it for the business/individual sales person.  This isn’t how the buyer makes their decisions though.  This is a complete shift in looking at a customer centered sales approach to drive your process.
• Interruptive sales and marketing techniques don’t work – they annoy your potential buyer!
  • People are overwhelmed with the amount of communication that comes their way today. How can they effectively sort through all of the messages coming at them to realize the potential opportunities that will impact their business?  When you interrupt people, it annoys them.  It annoys you when you are interrupted so why do we continue to focus on these old-style sales and marketing tactics?  It’s time to connect and build community instead so that your prospects and customers value what you bring to them.

For those organizations and sales professionals that embrace the reality that how people buy today has changed and look for ways to align with this new reality, incredible success will be achieved.

Are your beliefs empowering you or holding you back from achieving all you desire in life and business?  The negativity in the world will always try to pull you down and make you feel weak. It is up to you to take an active role in remaining powerful and loving despite what is happening in the outside world. Live into the part of you that is filled with courage, trust, love, fulfillment, joy and all empowering things. Find the best of who you are and allow the “yearning” to disappear. Let’s explore some of the real truths of limitations and how to step fully into all that is possible.

Constraints are the open door to potential.

If you really dig deep into the meaning of limitations or constraint, you could define it as a stimulus to find a better way of doing or being. What is the one problem or challenge that holds you back from becoming all that you are capable of? This is your upper limit problem, as defined by Gay Hendricks in The Big Leap. This keeps you from achieving your true potential and from living in your zone of genius. What if you chose today to take one step towards overcoming this one thing? How could you break that into a tiny, first action and then take the next small action and continue with this until you look back and realize you have moved miles ahead of where you were originally.

Reshape your story.

Stories are shaped in our experiences, biases and perspectives.  There is also often more charge given to those stories of pain and struggle and therefore, we hold onto them in a deeper way.  These stories are the themes that run your life; your thoughts, your actions, and your results are all created based upon these internal stories. What if the narrative isn’t quite right? What if you are reinforcing negativity and limitations into your story that are impacting all that you could experience? You will make happen whatever truth you choose to cling to. This is a truth older than time itself. Spend time and energy on shifting your limiting stories to empowering stories and watch your habits, patterns and experiences shift.

Recondition your limiting beliefs.

As success guru Tony Robbins shares “Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. Human beings have the awesome ability to take any experience of their lives and create a meaning that disempowers them or one that can literally save their lives.” If you spent some time to write down the top list of limiting beliefs that hold you back and then replaced each one with an empowering thought, what results would you achieve? What emotion did you just experience when you thought of that possibility?  Limiting beliefs can cripple relationships and results. Limiting beliefs have the power to limit potential in every aspect of your life and business. Take the time to truly reflect and choose to shift and recondition your beliefs.

My husband and I were headed out for an “escape” and celebration on a Saturday evening.  He had made reservations at a tiny Italian restaurant that he had read great things about…quaint, quiet, romantic and exciting.  We love to try new places when we go out and always feel exhilarated as we head out for a new adventure.

We arrived at our destination and entered into an already busy restaurant – we had made reservations and were just asked to arrive before 6pm as it was going to be tough to fit us in after that…it was 5:35pm.  We were ignored for a few minutes before a harsh voice asked “do you have reservations” and after finding that we did, he signalled us to a cozy table at the front by the fireplace.  In my plain view, he checked the reservation book, threw his pen and started to rant about how busy it was and “who did all these people think they were”…then he went to the kitchen and brought out another person to help him.  The phone rang and the person he brought out from the kitchen answered, while the other started huffing as this person was calling for a reservation.  It was quite the “scene” really.  I started my career in hospitality and this was the first grown up “hissy fit” that I had experienced.  We were ignored for a few minutes and I could feel my body tense up as the energy in the room was not friendly – not exactly the relaxing and wonderful night out we were hoping for.  At that moment, my husband said “let’s go – it’s obvious that we are not welcome here”.  As we stood up the person responsible for us leaving basically thanked us for leaving, I guess we were making his job easier, for the moment!

It made me sad as we left – for an opportunity lost for both the restaurant and ourselves.  In today’s competitive environment, with the many choices that people have, it is the customer experience that is the key to differentiating your business – and yourself!  A simple smile and warm greeting from this person would have made all the difference.

Customer Experience Tip:  Hire the best…you want “people on fire” with passion and desire to be working for your organization and living your brand. 

How many people will we share this experience with?  What can you do to ensure that this isn’t your business?  

No I don’t want fries with that…

In a business world focused on driving revenue, increasing dollar spend per client, and upselling…I find “Customer Laurie” feeling like a checklist for customer service people.  Creating a connection and being treated like a unique individual have been lost in the sea of building consistent approaches instead.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m the first to support the necessity of processes in order to drive efficiencies and effectiveness but couldn’t we find a way to do that and treat our customers like they really matter to us? 

Diet coke used to be a part of my daily routine and being on the road quite often, I would find myself going through a popular drive through to get my favourite drink.  I don’t order anything else and yet am consistently asked if I would like “fries” with that.  Wouldn’t it make sense that I would order food first?  If you thought of buying habits, and weren’t given a script to follow, what might you ask me instead?

It’s time to get back to the foundational ways that people connect with each other:

Truly Listen to the Customer and adjust your conversation to what they are saying.  Yes, you have to ensure that you have timeliness and business opportunity top of mind…when you listen you actually have the opportunity to really help your customer buy something else versus being turned off by your approach.  What if you said something instead like…we have incredible warm blueberry pies that would go great with that drink today, are you interested?  Still simple and yet, more effective!!!

Ask Relevant Questions to the situation so that you can connect with your customer personally.  Connect with the customer’s needs by asking questions versus trying to tell/sell on your ideas.  Human nature is to want to share your thoughts and yet the person asking the questions is actually the one that is truly in control of the conversation and therefore the outcomes.

Create Processes that Allow for Human Flexibility.  Training and development are so important and creating processes that drive your business effectiveness and a huge part of what you develop your people on.  The potential risk is that there is no freedom for being authentic and connecting with your customers.  Ensure that you teach people how to be real and think through every interaction they have experience.

Reflection:

What can you do differently to truly connect with your customers and drive longer term loyalty?