What's New in Sales This Year?
Or, if it was good last year, they make a 14% (pick a number) goal over what they achieved.
Not me. I do not resolve, nor do I goal. I observe, I listen, and I study. I try to see what’s new, and compare it to what has happened in the past and what is happening now. That helps me see what is likely to be—the trend—and helps me define my market, understand my customers, document my opportunities, and stay on the cutting edge of my business sector.
Here’s what I perceive is happening in sales. You decide
how it will affect you and your business, and what you need
to do to stay in a leadership position:
1. 2008 is the year of the Internet—with or without
your participation. Oh, the Internet has been around for
20 years, but the sophistication level is growing by quantum
leaps, and consumer RELIANCE is as evident as business
reliance. This year will dwarf all other years, both
in use and purchasing.
FACT: Internet acceptance happened five years ago. We have now reached reliance. Dependence. Addiction.
FACT: If your email is down for an hour, you go nuts. You have a Blackberry and instant access to messages. You’re compelled to thumb answers at all hours of the day, within minutes of receipt.
FACT: If your Internet service is interrupted or goes down, you go nuts. Online access must be available at all times.
FACT: It’s easier to click the “buy now” button than it is to get in the car, fight traffic, find a parking place, walk into the mall in the rain, and be told by a clerk, “Sorry, but we’re out of stock.”
You go online to get news and information, buy stuff for yourself, buy stuff for others, do research, check the weather, book a plane ticket, buy something on Amazon, bid on something on eBay, and on and on—online.
Get it? No, I don’t think you do. The question you need
to ask yourself is are you keeping up with the technology that
can make you money?
2. Invest in technology that leads to more leads and more sales.
Look at your website. What is it doing for your business? Does it make your phone ring? Are you making sales online? Are people returning to your site because you have valuable information? What do you WISH your site was?
3. Customers are smarter. Respect them, engage them, and earn their respect — or lose them. Gone are the days of salespeople being smarter than customers. Internet search engines have shrunk time and space to a few strokes on a keyboard.
FACTS: Customers are better informed. They know what they want, they have lots of resources to get it, and they’re way more sophisticated than you give them credit for. They believe your product knowledge is a given, and they want help, more profit, and less problems.
Study your present customers. Go to their place of business and work for a day or two. Get on the inside. Be a resource. Learn their needs and do something about them. The more you study your existing customers, the faster you will be able to sell prospective customers.
4. Send an email value message
to every one of your customers and
prospects every week. Email magazines,
e-zines, are becoming more
prevalent. Not many are compelling,
but the few that are have loyal subscribers
(customers).
4.5. Learn buying motives. Knowing why customers buy is more powerful than knowing how to sell, and trying to sell the customer. Old-world sales tactics are over. If you learn why customers buy, you’ll out-sell everyone.
Why do customers buy? Why don’t
you ask them and find out. 
Jeffrey Gitomer is author of The Little Red Book of Selling and The Little Red Book of Sales Answers.
P | 704.333.1112
E | salesman@gitomer.com