I care a lot about sales technology, and what it can do for sales teams. But for one day, I am going to stop talking about it. Why? Because for a large number of sales teams, technology is completely irrelevant.
There are now hundreds, if not thousands, of sales technology solutions on the market. From CRMs to training platforms to call recording apps, name an aspect of sales, and there’s a technology (or twenty) for it.
We’re practically drowning in technology, yet sales effectiveness hasn’t improved over the past ten years. This is crazy. Yet, the reason is actually quite simple.
The sales technologies haven’t helped us, because we haven’t gotten any better at the job of sales.
What I mean by that is, the vast majority of sales teams are still using old fashioned sales techniques that have been proven to be ineffective. And they are making the same mistakes, over and over again. When the sales techniques are wrong, all the technology will do is amplify the wrongness.
It’s been decades since effective sales approaches like solution selling came to be understood, yet many sales teams are still engaging in ages-old snake oil techniques that simply don’t work. Here are a few:
This list is certainly not exhausting. In fact, you can probably name another dozen old-fashioned mistakes you’ve seen salespeople make just in the past week. And please do–I’d love to hear about them in the comments.
Technology isn’t going to help anyone as long as salespeople continue to make really basic mistakes and pursue old-fashioned techniques that simply don’t work. So instead of focusing on technology, the first thing sales organizations need to do is develop strategies that are effective for their market, and then get their salespeople on board.
The core approach that works in most cases is some version of a value-based sale. This can take many forms, and there are many methodologies that can help get your team on the same page with your approach. But here are the basic elements of a standard value-based selling approach:
Sales teams that master the basics of value-based selling will always outperform teams that rely on old, ineffective approaches, regardless of the technologies implemented.
Combine effective sales methods with the right technology and you’ll leap ahead of the competition. When you’re ready to find technology that really supports great sales strategy and execution, check out the Membrain Editions - turn-key sales playbooks - created in collaboration with some of the world’s greatest sales experts. Sales methodology and technology in perfect harmony!
George is the founder & CEO of Membrain, the Sales Enablement CRM that makes it easy to execute your sales strategy. A life-long entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in the software space and a passion for sales and marketing. With the life motto "Don't settle for mainstream", he is always looking for new ways to achieve improved business results using innovative software, skills, and processes. George is also the author of the book Stop Killing Deals and the host of the Stop Killing Deals webinar and podcast series.
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