The Alexander Group (AGI) held its Sales Strategy Forum in New York City at the Princeton Club on May 3 – 4. We met to explore two important questions:
Here are four top-line insights we took away from that discussion.
Customers Expect Deep Business Insight
A keynote speaker captured it best with a single quote. He said that today’s most successful sales organizations “bring insights that help customers solve problems for their customers.” Sellers look beyond the transaction to the customer need that drives it. Examples include:
Great sales organizations find ways to help their customers run their businesses better. One of the best ways to deliver value is to help sales organizations serve their customers. AGI calls this emerging expectation the “new customer contract.”
A New Contract Requires a New Type of Seller
The Forum explored how this “new contract” is delivered. What manner of salesperson does it take to know a customer’s business so well that they can offer insight and advice on top of products and services? Several examples of what such sellers bring to the table emerged:
Successful sellers leverage resources to impact customer thinking from early on when the customer begins “thinking about purchase” to when they are “leveraging their investment” after the sale. It is complex and requires skill; but for the value-centric customer, it is worth it.
Expensive Sales Resources Need Focus
All customers will not bear the cost of such expert coverage. In fact, according to AGI’s 2016 Sales Pulse Survey, about 68 percent of buyers value either solutions or highly differentiated products. The remainder, about 32 percent, are motivated primarily by price. The moral of the story is: a) deliver expertise only where it matters, and b) cover price-oriented customers with highly efficient resources. To do this, sales leaders need to develop or leverage expertise in:
A New Path for Sales Leaders
Today’s top sales executives combine expertise in multiple areas: company strategy, customer needs, product innovation, market segmentation and customer care on top of more traditional sales management responsibilities. As several executives at the Strategy Forum noted, such experience generally produces individuals who are well suited for general management duties up to and including the CEO. For companies that seek a “customer first culture” to power their growth, a general management team infused with sales leadership experience may be just what is needed.
Learn more about other upcoming CSE Forums.
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