CHANNEL INSIDER
Glyn Yates is Principle Consultant, GTM International. In this monthly column for
Intelligent Tech Channels, he shares his expertise and views on the channel and partner community.
DISCLAIMER: I have walked many roads and worn many hats and, although my experience and expertise can be valuable, my outlook on the world at large is my own and does not necessarily represent that of ITC.
How sales skills are
critical to win with
today’s ‘new’ customer
There has been a shift, we all agree, in
buyer behaviour and sentiment, with
greater focus on value, operational
efficiency and cost control being at the
forefront. Vendors and partners have had
to reflect on how they operate and make
necessary change, and COVID, while awful,
has given us the time to do so. Those that
drive change will flourish, those that don’t
change will find times increasingly difficult.
We now need to re-assess the ‘new’
customer – who may be the same people as
before, in the same roles, but as customers,
they will have different behaviour and
priorities now. So, if we understand our
customer has changed, then we must
determine sales strategies must change
too – and salesmanship must be elevated to
a higher level . . . focused on aligning to the
‘new’ customer needs.
I do believe that relationships are
important in the sales process, but I am
absolutely certain that relationships should
only be one factor, with wider salesmanship
excellence being the primary goal of any
salesman – establishing business needs,
building value, supporting stakeholder
professional and personal goals and focusing
on enhancing real tangible value.
Here’s the thing. There has always been
too strong a reliance throughout the region
and a celebration of relationships as the
By looking at the channel, this
is easily understandable, there
are few sales trainings conducted
and of the training that is provided
it is focused on technology feature
and functionality suites driven
by vendors.
Glyn Yates, Principle Consultant, GTM International
only key needed to unlock a door – but that
creates a HUGE elephant in the room . . .
what if your competitor has a better, deeper,
stronger relationship than you! Do you walk
or do you find a way to create greater value?
By looking at the channel, this is easily
understandable, there are few sales trainings
conducted and of the training that is
provided it is focused on technology feature
and functionality suites driven by vendors,
supplemented by speed/feed ‘battlecards’
and competitive mudslinging.
Without value development, the
customer decision making tends to be left to
feature versus price comparisons between
competing technologies – value disappears,
margins are eroded as discounts skyrocket,
closing ratios worsen, forecasting becomes
more hope than science and value-based
loyalty of the customer disappears.
So, what can be done – as a salesperson,
invest in yourself. Understand sales skills,
read, try, fail, try again, develop and
understand more complete salesmanship –
all the things around the actual sales process
that a salesman needs. Make yourself
imminently more valuable, more successful
and more employable.
As a channel partner, take the time
to invest in your sales people – it is no
coincidence that of all the monies spent
on your sales team, sales training has the
greatest ROI and companies committed to
constant develop of sales teams see a high
multiple return.
In today’s uber competitive market
you need to be as equipped as possible to
survive and thrive. •
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