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We need to reimagine that sales is for our businesses going forward. If you believe, as I do, that the best strategies are designed to be those closely aligned to our customers we need to have a discussion about how we view are sales and business development efforts going forward. For professional service firms this might actually be easier in some regards than more traditionally structured sales organizations.
It might seem unlikely, but, younger generations of business people are even more skeptical of #salespeople. I was shocked at the information and research in this great whitepaper from Gartner: The Future of Sales Effectiveness. In short, millennials are 2.2x more likely to be skeptical than baby boomers.
That being the case increasingly, how can you adapt your view of business development in a manner that will result in business growth with enhanced customer retention? Break some silos:
"The small number of organizations that have intentionally merged their sales and marketing capabilities (as well as customer success management and support) have embraced a more seamless digital go-to-market model with far more intelligent and harmonized touch points. These organizations are poised to accelerate sales results over organizations hesitant to embrace a digital-first sales model." From "How the Future of B2B Buying Will Rewrite the Rules of Effective Selling" by Gartner.
Very few professional service firms have formally titles 'salespeople'. They have partners and business development leaders that lead the growth of the firm through personal relationships, industry groups and community involvement. This is what made you what you are today and it isn't going away. However, it isn't going to be enough.
You and your business need to take everything that works for you right now and transition it to digital and you need to start with mindset. Your teams already know how to work together in the different departments that deliver your services...now we need to do the same thing with your business development.
My associate, Kevin Milne, had a tremendous quote about this:
"If the end result of any business ends with winning business and onboarding new clients, shouldn’t everyone have that goal and thought process and be included in that journey to get there.??"
That is your #mindset to ensure success. On #socialmedia, when you enable your entire team, everyone is in #sales without looking like they are #salespeople. They are just doing a much better form of sales by facilitating the customers buying process better via social. Done well, #digitalfirst, means people first.
All the research is confirming what some of us have seen happening in the marketplace for the past 5 years: Companies are struggling with change (even more so in the past year of course).
The best firms (CPA, Law & Financial Services) are going to embrace the shift to #digital before their customers do (if they want to keep them) so that they can stay in the 'first chair' at the table of advisors and suppliers. This shift to #social as the buying ground is not a threat to you...it is an opportunity.
How to proceed? Get some outside perspective and work on strategy. Our Social Selling & Influence program is proven in the marketplace and our methodology works across your organization. We don't do the 'quick fix' training that so many offer. Training and coaching requires time and insight to deliver the ROI that you deserve.
Ready to go?!? Schedule a call/Zoom to discuss the opportunities you and your organization can leverage to dominate your chosen area.
Related: Rethinking Is What Will Allow Advisors To Win Through Digital Dominance