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"You must stay relevant to your client at all times; they don’t have time for anything else."
That’s according to Jill Konrath, author of numerous game-changing sales books, including her most popular, SNAP Selling. Konrath is widely recognized as one of today’s leading sales strategists and I had the opportunity to sit down and get her thoughts on social selling, overcoming failure and yes, sales.
We covered a lot of ground in the exclusive interview. Here are three of the biggest takeaways:
One of the first lessons any salesperson must learn (and quickly) to be successful is dealing with failure. You need thick skin to face the consistent flow of rejections, pressures, and complexities that are naturally part of the job. Konrath disagrees and suggests that failure is just a frame of reference and should really be seen as learning opportunities:
"I really believe that a lot of people get really discouraged in sales because they view what’s happening as a failure. Like somebody doesn’t call them back: it’s a failure. They don’t get the business: it’s a failure. And to me and what I see in the top salespeople is anybody who does that gets discouraged and loses their oomph. But the agile seller, the person who’s doing well, says okay, that didn’t work. This was a valuable learning experience. What can I get from that? What did I learn? So a person who’s agile is constantly in a learning mode."
That learning mode that Konrach suggested is a key tactic to reframe the perspective on failure. Doing so helps sales professionals build thicker skin and get better at their craft. Konrath calls this approach to failure “agile selling" and her new book of the same name will highlight how to deal with these challenges.
With the surplus of information on the Web and organizations’ willingness to become more and more transparent, traditional salespeople are becoming a thing of the past. Purchasers no longer have to depend on sales for information. A quick Google search will typically produce answers. This creates a challenge and opportunity for salespeople. In Konrath’s words:
"Salespeople need to develop a rich depth of expertise, so that they can work with clients as a valuable resource themselves. And so they become the differentiator. They have to become more knowledgeable about their products. I have to understand my customers’ trends, their industry, where they’re going. When you meet with me, you get something out of it."
An opportunity exists for those in sales that are willing to attain a depth of knowledge about their products, customer challenges, industry and trends. Cultivating a specialized understanding will differentiate you as a salesperson. This expertise will transform you into a trusted resource that consults with customers and solves problems, not a commoditized product pusher. By becoming trusted, useful and valued, you will close more business.
The widespread adoption of social media technologies has changed the way salespeople connect, engage and are perceived by customers. Purposefully using these tools can have a tremendous impact on your organization’s success. Again, according to Konrath:
"LinkedIn is a gold mine of information, and anybody who’s not leveraging LinkedIn is missing out on a huge opportunity to find out more about their customer and the specific decision- makers, and to look for connections and ways into accounts to see if there’s any commonality. A smart and savvy salesperson will look at their LinkedIn profile and realize it is part of their professional presence. And what they should be doing is creating a customer-focused LinkedIn profile."
Showcase your expertise and professional chops on LinkedIn. Prospects and customers will be using social channels to not only validate your organization, but your personal credentials as an individual. Furthermore, these tools should be used to learn about prospective accounts, their business challenges and the people you’re connecting with. If you’re not gathering all the intelligence you can, you can assume that the next salesperson is.
Watch the entire interview to get additional tips from Konrath on topics that span marketing and sales alignment, social selling, presentations, and much more.
Brad Miller serves as Director of Business Development for Fathom and has more than ten years of experience in digital marketing with expertise in search, social, analytics and lead generation. He has worked in multiple capacities throughout his career including roles in production, management, consulting, and sales. Miller currently leads Fathom’s strategic partnership efforts.
Get more tips from a widely recognized group of sales experts by downloading this free e-book.
