![\"l](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/the-rules-of-engagement_articles_sm-300x168.jpg\")
There\u2019s a giant disconnect between salespeople and the people they want to sell to. Both are having conversations online about managed IT services and printing hardware. That\u2019s a good thing. Those conversations aren\u2019t with each other. That\u2019s not a good thing.<\/p>\n
According to HubSpot research, what customers want to talk about in the first sales meeting is NOT what the reps want to talk about. Both sides are talking about the same things, but in different ways. Here\u2019s what office technology reps are talking about:<\/p>\n
These are questions that need to be answered so that salespeople can understand what their prospects need. However, hitting a prospect over the head with these questions may not be the right approach, because prospects want to talk about something different:<\/p>\n
Remember, this is the FIRST CALL. In the past, sales reps held the keys to the kingdom of knowledge. They were able to listen to a prospect\u2019s pains and spout out all the recommendations that would fit the prospect\u2019s pain points. That knowledge gap rarely exists in today\u2019s buying process.<\/p>\n
Today, the prospect has already done research and made an alignment of the product or service that best solves their company\u2019s pain based on their research. True story: This past weekend, we decided to stop by the pool store in my town to look at the solar covers. On the way there, I started discussing how I\u2019d like to ask a store employee about the different types of solar covers. My husband stopped me immediately. \u201cLindz, do NOT ask the guy in the store. He\u2019s going to sell you their brand or whatever they\u2019re trying to make the most money on. Get your phone and do some research first, then you\u2019ll know what to look for.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was absolutely right. I had a world of information at my fingertips–no need to engage with the store employee until I was closer to my decision. I knew what I was looking for within 10 minutes.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the same for your prospects – they look online for their answers. Think about your website and the office technology industry in general. Let\u2019s look at how the rules of sales engagement have changed.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
Today:<\/p>\n
Google has fundamentally changed sales because consumers are ALWAYS connected. According to Anderson Jones PR, 93 percent of the business-to-business buying process starts with an online search. And, according to Forrester, 74 percent of business buyers conduct more than half of their research online before making an offline purchase.<\/p>\n
Prospects Get Frustrated<\/strong> Tools Are WAY Better<\/strong> Let\u2019s Start Here: How Can You Engage Your Audience in Today\u2019s Business Environment?<\/strong> However, think about all the opportunities companies or individual reps can share the knowledge in their heads:<\/p>\n Something to keep in mind: You are human. Your buyer is human. Engage online like a human\u2026 not a cyborg. When you\u2019re answering questions, answer them in your words, like a human. You\u2019re creating a digital soul to connect with.<\/p>\n Top 5 questions you need to answer for your target audience to find you online:<\/p>\n What will answering these types of questions on my website do for my sales growth? Folks buy from people the know, like, and trust. So get them to trust you, in the place where they are spending time doing the research–online. What do you think that will do for you in a competitive situation? They do a search on Google, you answer their question, they begin to trust you. It\u2019s that simple.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s a giant disconnect between salespeople and the people they want to sell to. Both are having conversations online about managed IT services and printing hardware. That\u2019s a good thing. Those conversations aren\u2019t with each other. That\u2019s not a good thing. According to HubSpot research, what customers want to talk about in the first sales meeting is NOT what the reps want to talk about. Both sides are talking about the same things, but in different ways. Here\u2019s what office technology reps are talking about: Why is the company purchasing? What the company is trying to achieve with the purchase? What are the company\u2019s overall goals? These are questions that need to be answered so that salespeople can understand what their prospects need. However, hitting a prospect over the head with these questions may not be the right approach, because prospects want to talk about something different: Price A demo Case studies for how others have successful used the product or service Remember, this is the FIRST CALL. In the past, sales reps held the keys to the kingdom of knowledge. They were able to listen to a prospect\u2019s pains and spout out all the recommendations that would fit the prospect\u2019s pain points. That knowledge gap rarely exists in today\u2019s buying process. Today, the prospect has already done research and made an alignment of the product or service that best solves their company\u2019s pain based on their research. True story: This past weekend, we decided to stop by the pool store in my town to look at the solar covers. On the way there, I started discussing how I\u2019d like to ask a store employee about the different types of solar covers. My husband stopped me immediately. \u201cLindz, do NOT ask the guy in the store. He\u2019s going to sell you their brand or whatever they\u2019re trying to make the most money on. Get your phone and do some research first, then you\u2019ll know what to look for.\u201d He was absolutely right. I had a world of information at my fingertips–no need to engage with the store employee until I was closer to my decision. I knew what I was looking for within 10 minutes. It\u2019s the same for your prospects – they look online for their answers. Think about your website and the office technology industry in general. Let\u2019s look at how the rules of sales engagement have changed. Then: Cold calls were answered. Drop-ins were successful and resulted in immediate meetings. Sales reps educated the prospects on the products and services. Today: Many evolved buyers don\u2019t answer their phone at all \u2013 e.g., gatekeepers, caller ID. Elevators don\u2019t have buttons \u2013 they have guards with digital keys to get you to your desired floor. Google is their sales rep. Google has fundamentally changed sales because consumers are ALWAYS connected. According to Anderson Jones PR, 93 percent of the business-to-business buying process starts with an online search. And, according to Forrester, 74 percent of business buyers conduct more than half of their research online before making an offline purchase. Prospects Get Frustrated We are conditioned now to get exactly what we want when we want it. Technology has spoiled us. Your prospects are experiencing that right now. Our industry has exceptional sales people and they are trained to the hilt. But our prospects no longer want to be called or receive direct mail. They want answers and they want them now. Imagine the delight they\u2019ll feel about YOU when you\u2019re the one answering their questions. Tools Are WAY Better Think about 10 years ago\u2026 the iPhone didn\u2019t exist yet. You couldn\u2019t take a photo and post it to Facebook or Instagram immediately. Our tools and technology evolved since then, and we evolved with them. We have expectations that we can get what we want when we want it from anyplace. So why haven\u2019t we evolved how we sell to meet the evolving landscape of how buyers buy? I don\u2019t know. Let\u2019s Start Here: How Can You Engage Your Audience in Today\u2019s Business Environment? First, do NOT stop cold calling. Most folks think if they start getting leads coming in through the website that they don\u2019t have to cold call anymore. Wrong. Until you have more inbound leads coming from your website than you can handle in your funnel, then cold calling still needs to be done. However, think about all the opportunities companies or individual reps can share the knowledge in their heads: Company blog Social networks LinkedIn long-format posts Company website Personal blog Instagram (yes – you can use Instagram for telling a story of a client, a service or anything really\u2026 example: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/xerox\/) Pinterest Snapchat Facebook Something to keep in mind: You are human. Your buyer is human. Engage online like a human\u2026 not a cyborg. When you\u2019re answering questions, answer them in your words, like a human. You\u2019re creating a digital soul to connect with. Top 5 questions you need to answer for your target audience to find you online: Price\/Cost questions. – I know, I know – you can\u2019t list the monthly cost per seat for your Managed IT Services program or what an MFP costs (however, any of you who have heard me speak know that I won\u2019t let any of our customers use \u201cMFP\u201d\u2026it\u2019s a copier to your prospect, so call it a copier online). But prospects are Googling the question \u201cHow much does a copier cost?\u201d If you aren\u2019t addressing it at least in ballpark, rough estimates, then you\u2019re not coming up in the search results. If you\u2019re not, then who is? Problems and Issues. When researching, prospects will research which machines could be problematic for them. A typical question might be “Which copier is the most high maintenance?” Versus\/Comparison Questions. These questions often come up in the middle of the researcher\u2019s process as ways to start gathering information to make an educated decision. An appropriate one would be: \u201cWhat\u2019s the difference between an In-house copier lease vs. third-party copier lease?\u201d or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1650,87,1638],"tags":[2849],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21152"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21152"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21156,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21152\/revisions\/21156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWe are conditioned now to get exactly what we want when we want it. Technology has spoiled us. Your prospects are experiencing that right now. Our industry has exceptional sales people and they are trained to the hilt. But our prospects no longer want to be called or receive direct mail. They want answers and they want them now. Imagine the delight they\u2019ll feel about YOU when you\u2019re the one answering their questions.<\/p>\n
\nThink about 10 years ago\u2026 the iPhone didn\u2019t exist yet. You couldn\u2019t take a photo and post it to Facebook or Instagram immediately. Our tools and technology evolved since then, and we evolved with them. We have expectations that we can get what we want when we want it from anyplace. So why haven\u2019t we evolved how we sell to meet the evolving landscape of how buyers buy? I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
\nFirst, do NOT stop cold calling. Most folks think if they start getting leads coming in through the website that they don\u2019t have to cold call anymore. Wrong. Until you have more inbound leads coming from your website than you can handle in your funnel, then cold calling still needs to be done.<\/p>\n\n
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