6 Business Trends Every
Salesperson Must
Know

By Daniel Burrus, Technology Forecaster and
Business Strategist

Every industry and profession goes through
changes, and the sales profession is no
different. Just because a certain sales technique
or mindset worked in the past doesn't mean it'll
work today. To be a top performing salesperson,
today and in the future, you need to continually
adapt to both market and social conditions.

With that in mind, there are six new business
trends taking place - all of which affect
salespeople in every industry. Understand what
the trends are and how to maximize them so
you can reap the rewards of a successful sales
career.

Trend #1: Your Past Success Will Increasingly
Hold You Back (Past Success Is the Enemy)

People who are in sales long-term tend to be
successful. Realize, though, that success is
your worst enemy. When you're at the top and
doing well, you're really just trying to keep up
and meet demand. Having so many sales
knocking at your door lulls you into a false
sense of security. As such, you're not looking at
enough future opportunities because you're too
busy reaping the rewards of the current
opportunities. You're not sowing the seeds of
future success, and that's setting you up for a
fall. An old saying goes, "If it isn't broke, don't fix
it." In today's world we need to rework that
statement to be: "If it works, it's obsolete." For
example, if you just bought the latest laptop, is
the next newer and better version already in
existence and about to be released to the
public? You bet! Remember that rapid
obsolescence isn't just about products. It's
about how we do our business too.

Trend #2: Technology-Driven Change Will
Dramatically Accelerate (Rapid Change Is Your
Best Friend)

It's human nature to protect and defend the
status quo. However, you have to understand
that technology is changing the future, your
customers' behavior and your company's reality.
That means if you don't change, you'll soon be
out of a job. As a salesperson, you need to
embrace change and make it your best friend
rather than fight it and hold tight to the way
things were. So how do you make rapid change
your best friend? You spend some time thinking
about where the changes that are impacting you
and your customers are going.

Remember that change causes uncertainty in
customers' minds. You can bring certainty to
your customers when you are confident in where
change is going. You can lead your customers
through the change, causing them to view you
as more than just a salesperson, but as a
solutions provider and trusted advisor.

Trend #3: Time Is Increasing in Value (Time Is
the Currency of the 21st Century)

Increasingly time is becoming more and more
important to people. Why? We have an aging
demographic in the United States, with 78 million
Baby Boomers. And time gets more valuable as
you get older because you have less of it.
Additionally, the world has become more
complex with much more for people to do with
their time. Today, we have iPods, cell phones,
the Internet and a host of other technologies that
didn't exist when the Baby Boomers were
babies. There's so much more going on and
we're connected in so many more ways, that
everyone is increasingly strapped for time. With
that in mind, the last thing you want to do in
sales is seem like you're taking someone's time.
Instead, you want to be giving them time. You
want your customers to feel that talking to you is
actually saving them time. Think about all the
time wasters your customers might experience:
Long wait times for service, long hold times on
the phone, long delivery times for products...the
list is virtually endless. Such time wasters hurt
your sales and profits. Therefore, make sure you
have the processes in place that will keep
customers from wasting time. When you can
prove that you're a time saver, people will
choose you over the competition every time.

More on 6 Business Trends Every Salesperson
Must Know Below

More on 6 Business Trends Every Salesperson
Must Know Below

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Great to watch Ron apply his theory to the real
world by making live calls. The only sales
training that I've been to that showed the theory
in action.
Mike D., Account Manager

The live calls were very helpful. To see the
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reinforcement of the workshop's concepts.
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More on 6 Business Trends Every
Salesperson Must Know

Trend #4: We Are Shifting from the Information
Age to the Communication Age (Communicating
Is More Valuable than Informing)

Many salespeople rely on such marketing tools
as a company website, flyers and sales letters.
But all these things are static, meaning they are
merely informing people. You hope your sales
messages will entice the prospect to call, but it's
still a one-way interface. A better way is to have
your sales messages create action. One way to
do that is to engage prospects with your sales
and marketing efforts. For example, you could
have a contest that encourages people to go to
your site and enter. So instead of just saying that
you want people to buy your snack product, for
instance, you can tell customers that they can go
online and create or vote for the next new flavor.
Now you get them involved in your product. The
key is to generate communication, engagement
and involvement through your sales and
marketing efforts. If you call someone and just
talk to them and aren't creating dynamic dialog,
then you're really just giving information. You
want to give people consultative advice. You
want to listen and speak, and create dialog. Only
then do you truly capture your prospects' interest
and convert them into paying clients.

Trend #5: Solutions to Present Problems
Become Obsolete Faster (be Pre-Active to
Future Known Events)

Almost every salesperson has been told to be
proactive, which means to be taking positive
action. How do you know if a certain action is
positive? You wait and see. That sounds like a
crapshoot with bad odds. Therefore, you need to
be pre-active to future known events. To
determine pre-known events, you need to look at
your customer segment and identify what types
of events you are certain they will be
experiencing soon. You then focus your actions
on what 'will be' happening rather than on what
'is' happening. Being pre-active also means that
you change the way people think. For example, if
you put out a new product or service and hope it
catches on, you'll quickly learn that it can take a
long time because you're not actively changing
the way people think about how the product can
be used or how it might change their life.
Therefore, constantly educate your customers on
the value you and your products and/or services
offer, so they begin to rethink the results they
can achieve and the value you provide.

Trend #6: The Value You Bring Today Is
Forgotten Faster (Sell the Future Benefit of What
You Do)

Most salespeople sell the current benefits of
what they do. But your customers already know
the current benefit you offer. One of the reasons
customers leave you for a competitor is that you
haven't cemented the future benefit you can
bring them. Your goal as a salesperson should
be to establish a long-term, problem-solving
relationship with customers rather than a short-
term transaction. Your most profitable customer
is a repeat customer. Therefore, you want
customers to see the benefit you can give them
over time, not just in the present. You want to
show how the products and services you offer
are going to be evolving with their needs. In
other words, you want to sell the evolution of
your products or services. Unfortunately, most
salespeople don't know their future benefit.

Therefore, you need to sit down with your fellow
salespeople and create a list of future benefits
that you have for your customers. Also, talk to
the people developing the products and services
and get an idea of where they're taking them.
Realize that you're more likely to deliver future
benefits if you think of them ahead of time. As a
side benefit, this kind of dialog will also help
internal communications within the company.

More Sales in Your Future

Successful salespeople know that in order to
stay on top, they need to keep abreast of trends
and changes in their industry. Only then can they
stand out and be a true solutions provider for
their prospects and customers. Therefore, the
more you understand and adapt to today's
current business trends, the better your sales will
be - today and in the future.

Daniel Burrus, author of six books, including the
international best seller 'Technotrends,' is one of
the world's leading technology forecasters and
business strategists. He has established a
worldwide reputation for accurately predicting
technology-driven trends and their impact on the
world of business. For article feedback, contact
Daniel at office@burrus.com.

Hope you found this informative, see you next time.

Until then. . .

Make it a great day and a successful week!

Ron

Member of the American Society for Training and Development (c) 2008 by Accelerated Sales Training, Inc. - Live Cold Call Sales Training Workshops. All rights reserved. www.ast-incorp.com

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