Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
Not since the financial crash of 2008 have SMEs faced such a daunting landscape to sell in. With many organisations furloughing staff and shutting up shop, waiting for the worst of the storm to pass, forecasts and plans for 2020 are hastily being re-evaluated. So what does this mean for sales staff and small business owners who are involved with selling their product/service?
Budgets will be adjusted; marketing teams will be demanding increased ROI before committing to any investment; buyers will be less accessible; many owners will be in survival mode. Your sales team will need to be sharper, more flexible and more effective than ever before. They will also need to be empathetic, re-evaluating proposals with prospects that will most likely have changed from 80 per cent chance of success, to 80 per cent chance of failure. The need for highly skilled sales staff is clear.
The need for high quality training has never been more evident.
Worryingly, The Objective Management Group assessed over one million sales professionals worldwide a couple of years ago and released an incredible study. It demonstrated that:
74 per cent of all salespeople are weak/ineffective sellers
Only 7 per cent of sales