Six Business Trends Every Salesperson Must Know: Part II

By Daniel Burrus, CEO, Burrus Research

Six new trends you might want to be aware of have emerged in the business world. Last month Daniel Burrus introduced you to the first three, this month the CEO of Burrus Research will inform you of the other three trends that could help you, as he said in August’s Farm Forum, “reap the rewards of a successful sales career.”

Trend #4: We are shifting from the Information Age to the Communication Age. (Communicating is more valuable than informing.)

Many salespeople rely on marketing tools such as a company website, flyers, and sales letters. But all these things are static, meaning they are merely informing people. You hope your sales messages will entice the prospect to call, but it’s still a one-way interface. A better way is to have your sales messages create action to engage prospects with your sales and marketing efforts. For example, you could have a contest that encourages people to go to your website and enter. So instead of just saying that you want people to buy your snack product, for instance, you can tell customers that they can go online and create or vote for the next new flavor. Now you get them involved in your product. The key is to generate communication, engagement, and involvement through your sales and marketing efforts. If you call someone and just talk to them and aren’t creating dynamic dialog, then you’re really just giving information. You want to give people consultative advice. You want to listen and speak and create dialog. Only then do you truly capture your prospects’ interests and convert them into paying clients.

Trend #5: Solutions to present problems become obsolete faster. (Be pre-active to future known events.)

Almost every salesperson has been told to be proactive, which means to be taking positive action. How do you know if a certain action is positive? You wait and see. That sounds like a crap shoot with bad odds. Therefore, you need to be pre-active to future known events. To determine pre-known events, you need to look at your customer segment and identify what types of events you are certain they will be experiencing soon. You then focus your actions on what will be happening rather than on what is happening. Being pre-active also means that you change the way people think. For example, if you put out a new product or service and hope it catches on, you’ll quickly learn that it can take a long time because you’re not actively changing the way people think about how the product can be used or how it might change their lives. Therefore, constantly educate your customers on the value you and your products and/or services offer so they begin to rethink the results they can achieve and the value you provide.

Trend #6: The value you bring today is forgotten faster. (Sell the future benefit of what you do.)

Most salespeople sell the current benefits of what they do. But your customers already know the current benefit you offer. One of the reasons customers leave you for a competitor is that you haven’t cemented the future benefit you can bring them. Your goal as a salesperson should be to establish a long-term, problem-solving relationship with customers rather than a short-term transaction. Your most profitable customer is a repeat customer. Therefore, you want customers to see the benefit you can give them over time, not just in the present. You want to show how the products and services you offer are going to be evolving with their needs. In other words, you want to sell the evolution of your products or services. Unfortunately, most salespeople don’t know their future benefit. Therefore, you need to sit down with your fellow salespeople and create a list of future benefits that you have for your customers. Also, talk to the people developing the products and services and get an idea of where they’re taking them. Realize that you’re more likely to deliver future benefits if you think of them ahead of time. As a side benefit, this kind of dialog will also help internal communications within the company.

More Sales in Your Future

Successful salespeople know that in order to stay on top they need to keep abreast of trends and changes in their industries. Only then can they stand out and be true solutions providers for their prospects and customers. Therefore, the more you understand and adapt to today’s current business trends, the better your sales will be—today and in the future.

(Daniel Burrus, author of six books including the international best seller “Technotrends,” is one of the world's leading technology forecasters and business strategists, who has established a worldwide reputation for accurately predicting technology driven trends and their impact on the world of business.)

Posted: Friday, September 26, 2008 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Friday, September 26, 2008 9:49:43 AM.

(317) 875-5250 - Indianapolis | (202) 628-1558 - Washington, D.C.

Contact NAMIC | Press | Advertise | Sponsor

We are 1,400 property/casualty insurance companies serving more than 135 million auto, home and business policyholders, with more than $196 billion in premiums accounting for 50 percent of the automobile/homeowners market and 31 percent of the business insurance market. We are the largest and most diverse property/casualty trade association in the country, with regional and local mutual insurance companies on main streets across America joining many of the country’s largest national insurers who also call NAMIC their home. More than 200,000 people are employed by NAMIC members.