Tactics to Help B-to-B Sales Reps Shine

Selling will be one of those areas of change. The sales department has been slow to alter for a number of reasons:

• Personnel: The good times prior to the recession focused less on people and more on process.
• Leadership: There are numerous theories on selling, many don't know whom to follow or trust.
• Training: Many believe that training is the best strategy to alter selling patterns, but have found little in the way of return on investment.
• Customers: Many selling professionals and managers believe that customers buying patterns haven't changed.

With over 28 years in the field, I find there are tremendous modifications in consumer buying patterns, customer behaviors and selling processes. Years ago, selling required on-site demonstrations and live presentations. Today, customer conversations are conducted over the internet and demonstrations are arranged with apps and cloud computing. In fact, a large segment of prospects have full access to vendor information and products. They self-educate due to lack of time and budgets.