{"id":11605,"date":"2016-03-18T12:52:02","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T12:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perpetos.com\/?p=11605"},"modified":"2024-10-07T20:36:14","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T20:36:14","slug":"three-answers-every-sales-rep-needs-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/en\/sales-performance\/three-answers-every-sales-rep-needs-know\/","title":{"rendered":"3 answers that every Sales rep needs to know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Every day we\u2019re being confronted with increasing sales costs and margins under greater and greater pressure. In this blog, we explain why this is happening and look at the solution in detail.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Increasing sales costs and greater pressure on margins are usually the result of<strong> inadequate or non-existent internal sales training and supervision<\/strong>. There are also a few die-hard habits that many companies and sales reps cling on to which can cause even bigger problems for sales performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Directors will already be familiar with the changed buying behaviour and understand the impact it has on their sales and marketing organisation. The fact that up to 75% of decision-making criteria are influenced online means it\u2019s important for us to allow sales to start a dialogue with customers at different times and with different messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If sales is forced to wait until customers are \u2018ready-to-buy\u2019 or in the quotation stage before they spring into action, it\u2019s impossible to sell customer value, so:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Margins continue to fall<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Products and services are experienced as <em>commodities<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This habit comes from:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Managers being mainly interested in the time frame that deals are agreed in<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sales who think it\u2019s a waste of time to enter into a buying process early, and prefer to wait for ready-to-buy leads from marketing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sales who are willing to start the buying process early and influence the customer, but don\u2019t have the necessary skills and messages to appeal to customers in this early stage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4>The solution: do the right thing at the right time with the right person<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Management behaviour and how to direct sales teams is crucial here, although that\u2019s a separate topic just in itself. But how can we arm sales to face these new challenges?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Train sales to detect and facilitate the entire buying process<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"linked-text\" href=\"https:\/\/ma.perpetos.com\/ebook-7-criteria-for-a-sales-process\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Implement a sales process<\/strong><\/a><\/span> that allows your team to document opportunities based on the customer\u2019s willingness to buy (buying process) \u2013 and embed this in the CRM.  <a href=\"https:\/\/ma.perpetos.com\/ebook-7-criteria-for-a-sales-process\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"linked-text\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Read our eBook &#8220;7 criteria for a Sales Process Your Sales Team will actually use&#8221;<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Document messages for each product-market combination, and teach sales to use these messages at the right time in their comfort zone using \u2018how to sell\u2019 training with role plays<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/B2B-Buyer-Journey-.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11626\" srcset=\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/B2B-Buyer-Journey-.jpg 720w, https:\/\/perpetos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/B2B-Buyer-Journey--200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/perpetos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/B2B-Buyer-Journey--540x304.jpg 540w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>The buying process in figure 1 shows the complete customer journey. Whether it\u2019s for existing or new customers determines how sales deals with it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4>For existing customers, sales mainly need to convey \u2018why customers need to stay\u2019<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Combined with behaviour that we label as \u2018account development\u2019 rather than \u2018account management\u2019. With existing relationships, detailed knowledge of the customer and their environment provides a great opportunity for increasing the value perception, and so embedding the relationship more deeply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4>For non-customers, the first question is: \u2018Has the customer already decided to change?\u2019<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Has the customer not decided to change yet? Then it\u2019s best to base your messages and interactions on breaking the status quo, and so increasing the willingness to change. Customers aren\u2019t usually aware of what improvements are possible. Or the customer thinks the risks that come with the change look too big. Or they\u2019re not familiar enough with exactly what\u2019s required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These \u2018why change\u2019 messages assume the customer\u2019s point of view and are the best way of developing prospects. And this is where the biggest challenge is identified in terms of sales performance. Various studies and analyses of our customers show that up to 60% of opportunities simply disappear from the forecast without any decision being made by the customer. The biggest competitor isn\u2019t another supplier, but the customers themselves simply not deciding to buy anything. So messages about how good your company and its solutions are, or the extra benefits that you can offer, won\u2019t help stimulate the buying process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Has the customer already decided to buy? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Then the next question is of course: who should I buy what from, and how much for? Sales responds to this with messages that underline why the customer should choose them. These <strong>\u2018why us\u2019 messages<\/strong> are most effective at this point in time. Most companies and a large proportion of sales reps score quite to very highly in this area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video autoplay controls loop preload=\"auto\" src=\"http:\/\/perpetos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Buyer_Jouney_Messaging_web.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Video shows when these three types of messages are most effective from a sales perspective<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>In summary, we therefore need to enable sales to convey three different types of messages convincingly according to the situation and depending on the product-market combination:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong> Why change<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong> Why choose us<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong> Why stay with us<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:80px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"boxed-layout padding-2x cta-blog-section\">\n    <div class=\"rock-promotion-box\">\n        <div class=\"promotion-box-content\" style=\"color:#353535;\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/en\/sales-performance-benchmark\/?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-7747 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Empowered-Customer-1140_1080-200x150.jpg\" alt=\"Sales Performance Benchmark\" style=\"max-width:200px;\"><\/a>\n            <h3><span style=\"color: #606060\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/en\/sales-performance-benchmark\/?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sales Performance Benchmark<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n            <p>\n                <span style=\"color: #606060\">How much do your sales convey these three sets of messages? <br>And to what extent can they discuss them with the customer at the right time? <br><b>Compare your sales performance and customer orientation with best in class companies.<\/b><\/span>\n            <\/p><\/div>\n        <div class=\"promotion-box-button\">\n            <div class=\"promotion-box-button-container\">\n                <div class=\"azoom-button-wrapper\" style=\"display:block;\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/en\/sales-performance-benchmark\/?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"background: #0ba298 none repeat scroll 0% 0%; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\" class=\"escapea button azoom-transition button-block\" data-button-js-colors=\"true\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Take the test now<\/a>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Avoid increasing sales costs and margins under pressure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":25558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,4],"tags":[61,90,52,153,58,99,303,48,51,62,82,55,494,492,493],"department":[509],"media":[545],"topic":[516,522],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.13 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>3 answers that every Sales rep needs to know - Perpetos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"3 answers that every Sales rep needs to know - Perpetos\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/en\/sales-performance\/three-answers-every-sales-rep-needs-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 answers that every Sales rep needs to know - Perpetos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"3 answers that every Sales rep needs to know - Perpetos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/en\/sales-performance\/three-answers-every-sales-rep-needs-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Perpetos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-18T12:52:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-07T20:36:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Whiteboard-work-5-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1371\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pascal Persyn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pascal Persyn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/en\/sales-performance\/three-answers-every-sales-rep-needs-know\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/en\/sales-performance\/three-answers-every-sales-rep-needs-know\/\",\"name\":\"3 answers that every Sales rep needs to know - Perpetos\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-18T12:52:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-07T20:36:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cccebf6f6bfb94de0ea198002c0ab079\"},\"description\":\"3 answers that every Sales rep needs to know - Perpetos\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/en\/sales-performance\/three-answers-every-sales-rep-needs-know\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/en\/sales-performance\/three-answers-every-sales-rep-needs-know\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/en\/sales-performance\/three-answers-every-sales-rep-needs-know\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"3 answers that every Sales rep needs to know\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/\",\"name\":\"Perpetos\",\"description\":\"Sales and Commercial Excellence\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/perpetos.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cccebf6f6bfb94de0ea198002c0ab079\",\"name\":\"Pascal Persyn\",\"description\":\"Pascal supports organisations in delivering commercial excellence in the areas of Sales Enablement, Content Strategy and Buyer Journey Enablement. 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