The Market Changed. Did Your Sales Team?

The market has changed at an unprecedented rate, your customers have changed, but a lot of print sales behaviors haven't. But with change, comes opportunity. The potential now lies in the ability and desire of the management team to refocus the direction of the sales organization, to better align with company goals and marketplace expectations.

We see this play out in many of the top organizations as they appoint senior leaders into the important positions of realigning and redirecting the sales effort. You may know them by their titles – CSO, chief sales officers, CGO, chief growth officers or even CRO chief revenue officers. And while the titles may differ, the intent remains steadfast. It’s up to the folks in these positions to move proactively and realign this critical function with the reality of today’s business landscape and opportunities.

As I look around, there are three things I see that separate the winners from everyone else as they work to change the sales dynamics. These include data driven prospecting, multi-channel sequencing, and consultative discovery practices. So, what could this look like in the real world? Here are a few examples, and by the way, you may already be doing some of these:

Data-Driven Prospecting: A sales or business development rep that’s targeting a regional retailer probably doesn’t start with a cold call. She may notice the company just posted three new marketing coordinator jobs which could signal a ramping up of that department. She then checks their direct mail history through a service like Who’s Mailing What and sees that they ran a catalog last year around this time. She checked out their LinkedIn page and sees a new VP of Marketing was hired six months ago. Based on that, here’s what they know: new marketing leader, growing team and a known print history. This went from a cold call an informed conversation that gives them a reason to contact them – now. The data is out there, make sure that your reps are looking in the right places to find it.

Multi-Channel Sequencing: It’s not an email, then a call, then a LinkedIn request all sent out without a plan. Each of these touches should add context and continue to tell a story. For example, week one could be a LinkedIn connection request with a note referencing something specific about their business, or their work history. The next touch could be an email that reinforces a campaign trend in their industry. Make sure not to make it seem like a capabilities brochure or pictures of your new press. The next touch could be a phone call that opens with “I sent you a note last week about....” and have a specific question at the ready – not a pitch. The next touch could be a short video message or a piece of relevant content sent to their inbox. Remember, each touch references the last, and each one moves the conversation slightly forward – leading to a meaningful conversation. None of them lead with “we print everything from business cards to large format. Do you want to buy any?”

Consultative Discovery This is the one that’s hardest to get right, particularly for those reps who have been doing this a long time. Most reps ask about print specs, but the winning reps ask about their end goals. They ask, “what does success look like for this campaign, or how are you measuring response rate rates right now, or who else is involved in the decision-making process when you choose a new print partner.” And finally, they may ask “what does your timeline looks like and what’s driving it.” A high performing sales representative sitting across from a marketing director at a midsize manufacturer isn’t there to talk about printing presses. She’s there to understand whether the client is trying to drive showroom traffic, support a sales team in the field, or retain existing customers with their upcoming projects. The print recommendation and guidance follows that conversation. It doesn’t lead it.

Like everything else, all of this starts from the top. If the way we run the business rewards activity over outcomes, then your reps may be doing exactly what you are rewarding. To change this, it may be a simple as changing what you’re looking at relative to activity. Start by moving from the lagging indicators to leading indicators. The leading indicators could be the amount of meaningful conversations the reps have had with qualified prospects, on a weekly basis. The leading indicators could also be the amount of new prospects that fit your ideal client profile and that have been entered into the prospect pipeline this week. These may seem minor, but they begin to reshape the expectations of the sales team.

Take a look around, if you feel that your team needs a refresh in order to take advantage of the changes to the marketplace, now is the time to act. If you are the CEO and are leading the sales initiatives, make sure that you’re giving it the priority it deserves. If you can’t give it the time necessary, put somebody into place who can lead that charge. It may sound easy to do, but it’s not. This is hard, this is about behavioral change, this is about paradigm shifts, and this is about deciding that once and for all you’re going to do something different so that the results are different at the end of the period.

Mike Philie helps owners and CEOs in the Graphic communications industry validate what’s working, identify what needs to change, and create a practical path forward.

PhilieGroup | mphilie@philiegroup.com | Linkedin

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions. Artificial Intelligence may have been used in part to create or edit this content.