What will have the biggest impact on your sales results?

Hello Sales Reset Community

I’m assuming you’d like to improve your sales results. 😃

What’s the one thing that will have the biggest impact on your sales results?

I’m sure you won’t be surprised when I recommend you achieve your best sales results by staying focused on delivering results for your customers.

However, I know that in the real world, it can be really hard to focus on prioritising customer outcomes in every selling conversation.

This week. I’ll explain why this is so tough and what you can do to stay focused on what your products and services can do for your customers.

How you'll improve sales results this week

• Why is it so hard to prioritise customer outcomes?

  • Conventional sales training and sales processes

  • Our priorities are different

  • Incentives and commissions

  • Sales reporting

• How to stay focused on delivering customer results

• Potential Challenges

• How to practice prioritising customer outcomes thi …

• End of Week - Reflective Practice

Why is it so hard to prioritise customer outcomes?

Conventional sales training and sales processes

Conventional sales training prioritises winning the order. The advice of so many influencers on LinkedIn and YouTube focuses on how to get customers to buy from you. It’s all about how to persuade customers to give you the order using a range of “sales tips and tricks”.

The most glaring example is when salespeople are trained and practice “how to overcome objections”.

Our priorities are different

At Sales Reset, our priorities are different. We’re convinced the best priority is to focus on delivering customer outcomes.

We know that when we prioritise the outcomes that our products and services will deliver for our customers, it’s much more likely we’ll retain their business in the long term. And it’s much more likely they’ll recommend us to other people.

But with so many people prioritising “winning the order,” it can be hard to stay focused on the success your customer will achieve using what you sell. It can be tough to remember that delivering customer outcomes comes first.

Incentives and commissions

Even the way that most salespeople are rewarded emphasises the importance of “winning the order”.

How many salespeople do you know whose commission structure is based on their customers achieving the outcomes they need?

Currently, the vast majority of salespeople are incentivised based on when the order is confirmed, not on when customers achieve the outcomes they need.

Sales reporting

It’s very likely that all your sales reporting is about the value of the business in your pipeline and what you’ve won, not about evidence of customer outcomes identified and delivered.

All too often, deal and pipeline conversations with managers are about “what’s going to close this week”?

For all these reasons and more, most salespeople are currently under constant pressure to prioritise “winning the business”.

At Sales Reset, we’re convinced this will change in the years ahead. The evidence is clear. The future of selling belongs to customers!!

To improve your sales results, how can you get ahead and prioritise delivering customer outcomes today?

How to stay focused on delivering customer results

I know what I’m about to say sounds kind of obvious, but…

The best way to stay focused on delivering customer outcomes is, well, staying focused on delivering customer outcomes!

What is the focus of your conversations with customers and your sales proposals?

Are your conversations and proposals all about what you’re selling and the quality of your products and services? Or are your conversations and proposals primarily about the outcomes your customers need?

Have a look through some of your recent emails, meeting notes and proposals.

How much of the content of your proposals is about what you’re selling? And how much of your proposal content is about the outcomes your customers need from your products and services?

Potential Challenges

What else makes it so hard to stay focused on the outcomes your customers will achieve with what you’re selling?

Customers want to talk about what you’re selling: It can be tough to coach your customers about outcomes when all they want to talk about is your products and services.

Defining outcomes can be hard. Even when you get the conversation onto the subject of outcomes, it can be hard. Predicting the future isn’t easy! Clarifying the goals and objectives of a potential investment for a range of stakeholders is a challenge.

Your sales manager seems to prioritise winning the business. Although they might say they believe in prioritising customer outcomes, it might seem that most of their questions are about “winning the business”!

How to practice prioritising customer outcomes this week

In every conversation this week, keep at the front of your thinking:

The most important part of my selling conversations and proposals is what my products and services will do for my customers.

Stay focused on your need to come out of every conversation with customers with clearly defined customer outcomes.

Then, put these customer outcomes at the centre of your proposals.

Anything you say about your company and what you’re selling is simply supporting material to increase your customer’s confidence they’ll achieve their outcomes.

Before you send them, check through your proposals.

How much of your proposal is about what you’re selling? And how much of your proposal is about the outcomes and results your customers need?

End of Week - Reflective Practice

At the end of this week, ask yourself these key questions:

We hope you’ve found this Weekly Sales Reset valuable.

Have a great week!

The Sales Reset Team

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