How To Better Understand New Sales Technology

Transcription

1 How To Better Understand New Sales Technology

2 Sales technology advances so rapidly that it can be exhausting and even overwhelming for salespeople to try to keep up. With the risk of time and energy being invested into something that won t work, stress levels increase, thus distracting salespeople from their main objectives. Only 40% of sales reps are satisfied with their CRM technology so it s understandable that 50% of salespeople don t bother using new CRM technology when it s presented to them. But it s important to understand how to use new technology in order to improve sales tactics. It has been projected that by 2020, North America will house over 6 million inside and outside salespeople. This market growth will bring about a surge in new sales technologies. In order to stay ahead of the game, it s imperative to know the best practices on how to adapt to them. At the moment there is a lack of knowledge when it comes to integrating them. So how does one go about better understanding them in order to increase revenue? Well, there are clear-cut steps that can be taken to make sure you re getting the best bang for your buck and aren t wasting any time on the technological duds. Determine The Purpose The general purpose of new sales technology is to improve selling quality, not hinder it. Therefore, the main reason for its implementation is a noted weakness in the office s selling strategy. So when faced with a new piece of technology, start by understanding which aspect of the sale it focuses on. With that in mind you can determine how its specific purpose relates to you. The most likely reason why your manager has chosen to integrate it into your sales team is because it contains a solution to a problem in the office. Think back to what your manager has criticized your team for. Does your team have a universal problem that your manager has taken note of? Or maybe there is an overarching issue that the salespeople in your company have complained about. If so, then this new upgrade might be implemented to counteract these problems. Once you figure that out, you have a better chance at understanding the solution. This will give you a stronger perspective on what you re dealing with and what this piece of technology can help you with. 1

3 The reason why this information will help you better understand new sales technology is because you need to know the purpose of it in order to dive deeper into what it can actually do for you and how you can harness it. Identify The Familiar If you have been in the sales field for a few years, there s a good chance some aspect of a new piece of technology will resemble that of an old one you used to use. Just between 2012 and 2014, spending on sales enablement technology increased by 69% so it doesn t take being in the business very long for you to grow knowledgeable about past technological systems. It s like when you get a new smartphone, it has the same general capabilities, but the settings are more advanced. Take your knowledge of past practices and use that as a jumping off point. Apply this mentality to your training. Take what you already know about this type of technology and use it to translate what you re being taught. Maybe the interface is different, but there are still similar labels. Or maybe it s on a different device, but the goal of what it does is still the same. Things will become clearer for you once you can put them into a familiar context. What helps this is the use of a visual aid so make sure to ask if one can be used during training. It will help you piece things together in your mind. 2

4 If you haven t been in the industry that long or you re being introduced to something completely different, it can be a harder concept to grasp, but you can still use your past knowledge to help you. The previous decades have seen a big technological boom. We ve witnessed the introduction of a million different devices and hundreds of their upgrades. It has been projected that by 2020 over $1 trillion will be generated by new technology. So you have a bigger grasp on this concept than you think, you just need to realize it. Think about the devices, programs, and apps that you use each day. Now compare them to the new sales technology that you re trying to understand. There are plenty of differences, but can you spot any similarities? Even if they re just format similarities, you can use that to help you navigate it. These small pieces of familiarity will both make it seem familiar as well as give you the encouragement to keep trying to figure it out. Commit To It It s going to take some time to understand a new piece of technology and you re never going to get anywhere with it if you use it once, decide it doesn t work or that you ll never understand it, and then toss it aside. High performing sales people use 3 times more sales technology than underperforming salespeople so it s worth the time and effort. Give yourself a reasonable deadline to determine how long it will take to understand it without wasting time. Then set aside a certain amount of time each morning that s dedicated to figuring out how to implement and use it. That way you have a plan and won t get stressed out as much and are less likely to give up on it before you get the chance to understand it. Depending on what industry you re in or what type of technology you re dealing with, it could take some time for new technology to be implemented. 68% of salespeople say the process takes too long, but if it seems like your coworkers are benefitting from it and you re still struggling, you might be doing something wrong or missing an important aspect of it. Don t be afraid to speak up and ask for help, but it s important to be able to identify an issue yourself. Backtrack and start from the beginning to find out what exactly you re doing wrong. Maybe you didn t allocate enough time to really investigate every aspects of the new piece of technology. You shouldn t be timid towards exploring each part of the technology. Managers will most likely provide 3

5 a demonstration when implementing something new, but that doesn t mean they are covering everything. They may only glance over certain parts because they don t have the time to go into every detail that pertains to it. At that point it s up to you to take the time to go over it yourself. With the time you put aside to understand the new sales technology, go through each and every tab so that you make sure you aren t missing anything important. Figure Out If You Really Need To Use It There s no need to waste more time than you need to on something that isn t helpful to your selling process. Just because something new has been introduced into the office does not mean it s the best fit for you. Salespeople have different selling tactics and with them comes different strengths and weaknesses so what might be helpful to one person does not necessarily mean it will be helpful to you. So it s important to identify whether a new piece of sales technology is worth using. When you spend your time figuring out the new technology and believe that you understand the basics of what it s meant for, but you don t feel yourself performing any better or it s not upping your productivity, then it s time to take a second look at things. Take a few days to switch off between using the new piece of technology and going back to how you worked before. At the end of the week compare what worked best for you as well as what seemed to work best for your customers. Keep in mind that this isn t just about you, it s also about the people on the other end of that phone call. If something doesn t make your job easier, but it improves things for the customer, it s a product that you need to use. 4

6 What happens if it s something that is helpful to you, but not helpful to the customer? Does that mean it s not worthy of your effort, or does it remain vital? The truth is, if a new piece of technology is helpful to you, it s going to have a positive impact on your customers. Even if it s not a direct impact, the easier it is for a salesperson to do their job, the better they are going to be able to sell. The better they sell, the happier the customer is to buy the product. 70% of information that buyers gather is found on their own so technology that helps the salesperson narrow their targets is going to be good for both ends. In the unlikely case a sales person likes a new piece of technology that hinders the customer s experience, that particular technology needs to be retired. There is nothing more important than the relationship with the customer and it should not be jeopardized for something so trivial. 5

7 Ask For Help The bottom line is, if you ve gone through the steps and are still not able to understand the new technology, it s time to ask for help. At this stage there are three options at your disposal. The first one is asking a coworker. Someone who you recognize as being good with new pieces of technology and has the time to help you out. Talking with someone who shares your sales perspective can be extremely valuable. They are more likely to explain it in a way you can understand, but make sure you don t ask just any salesman. The wrong person can leave you even more confused than you were before. If you don t want your coworkers to know that you re struggling, maybe you have a little healthy competition in the sales department, then this option is not for you, but if you want to get the perspective of a peer, this is your best bet. High performing sales teams are 8 times more likely to be heavy technology adopters so your coworkers could have some valuable knowledge to share based on the amount of experience they have. The second option is to ask the person who trained to quickly go back over the most important aspects of the training. The American Society for Training and Development reported that continuous training brings about a 50% increase in net sales per employee. It s a more reliable choice than asking a coworker because you know that they fully understand the subject. Keep in mind the parts that confused you during the original meeting and ask if they could be explained in a different way. Try not to feel like you can t go to them for help. They want you to succeed because your success means more revenue for the business, which is everyone s ultimate goal. The third option is to call customer service for the company that makes the piece of technology. You may think a customer service number is mainly for people who are having greater issues than how to get something to work, but that s not true. If you have a question on how to use their product, and you explain what you have tried and what you re still confused about, then they will either help you on the spot or they will direct you to a source that can provide the information you re looking for. This is a much faster route because all you have to do is pick up the phone and ask some questions. It can be complicated since it s not an in-person conversation, but these people are trained to explain things via phone calls so it shouldn t be too much of an imposition. It s important to better understand new technology because it can have a lasting impact on your sales. With these tips implemented into your learning strategy, you should gain a positive response the next time you are called in to train for something. Keep in mind that not every piece of new technology will work for you, but there is no guarantee it won t until you try it out correctly. 6

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