Sometimes articles literally write themselves. This is one of those cases.
As an aficionado and consumer of research and data, I pulled some statistics from interviews conducted with a significant cross section of sales professionals and small business leaders reflecting on 2023. The question at hand was what they thought of the sales profession and its value in 2023. My go-to resource for this specific research and data is HubSpot with additional input from Gartner, McKinsey & Co. and Harvard Business.
Suffice it to say, the results they found are credible and worthy of further thought. We will discuss the responses/opinions of sales professionals and small business leaders relative to the tech arena. Then, we will editorialize on their responses and propose follow-up questions.
So, put your thinking caps on and buckle up…
This Year in Sales
We can begin with over 50% of sales professionals saying that selling is “harder in 2023 than in previous years.” Of course, this begs the follow-up question from those on the outside looking in as to why. Experienced salespeople will say that sales is rarely easy but that accepted what makes salespeople opine that it is harder today? The following data points may suggest many of the reasons which we will discuss in the article.
Historically, salespeople were looked upon as the primary source of information. This resulted in what we call the reliance factor. If a customer wanted to be informed, they simply had to engage with a salesperson. Today, just shy of 100% of salespeople who were interviewed responded that prospects do their own research before talking to a human sales rep — and nearly 75% prefer to just do their own research instead of talking to a rep.
Adding to this, the majority of salespeople noted that customers over the last decade are increasingly using self-serve tools year over year. The reliance factor on salespeople is no longer as obvious to buyers as it once was when necessitating a new sales approach and needing to provide value in the eyes of the customer beyond the show-and-tell information and specifications on a product.
In the good old days of disruptive technologies and radical improvements over previous models tech, salespeople could show up and lead with a new or improved product, and a sale was (all else being equal) eminent. Not anymore…
The Changing Nature of Sales
Today, the key concept of sales is adding value in the eyes of the buyer. The value a salesperson brings has changed. Today, the value resides in the information, insights and actions a salesperson brings to a buyer that they can’t easily find on their own. Ask yourself before a sales call, “What are the top three or four things my prospective customer is concerned about today, and (don’t drink your Kool aid) see what the best companies are doing to fix them?” Research shows the pervasive concerns are — drum roll please — solving problems, time and staff constraints, customer satisfaction, (and the crescendo) profit.
Also, historically speaking, a salesperson dealt with two or three stakeholders (decision-makers) on a project. Current research shows that there is an average of five (and up to 10 or more!) decision-makers involved in most sales processes today. Digging a little deeper into the psyche of the customer, over 30% of salespeople reported that lengthy sales process is the biggest reason prospects back out of deals.
In short, customers are increasingly time sensitive with so much on their proverbial plates. They assess the ROI on time spent with salespeople at levels not seen heretofore.
Sales and Relationship Building
Over 80% of salespeople reported that building relationships and connecting with people is both the most important part of selling — and the most enjoyable part of their job. In other words, they feel it is still a relationships business. However, sales reps only spend two to three hours per day actually selling. Sales reps also claim they spend one to two hours per day on administrative tasks. Nearly 50% of sales pros say they are overwhelmed by the number of tools in their tech stack.
For context, I will use professional football as an example of time spent in action and inaction. A regular NFL game consists of four quarters of 15 minutes each, but because the typical play only lasts about four seconds, the ratio of inaction to action is approximately 10 to 1. This is misleading as this ratio does not apply to all the prep time and activities leading up to the game. Relate this thinking to sales where the prep time required is much greater (or should be) than the two to three hours per day that the “in action” or “in the game” would indicate. What this all boils down to, in football and in sales, is the quality of time spent in preparation and translating that to “action on the field.” This is the umbrella under which complex sales reside today. As Bob Dylan sang so many years ago, “times, they are a changing.”
The old phrase “nothing ventured, nothing gained” involves risk as a precursor to growth. From a risk/required perspective, over 60% of salespeople say their organization is taking fewer risks in 2023 than in 2022. Additionally, 70% say budgets are more scrutinized in 2023 than in 2022. In some cases, a conservative approach is warranted and too much risk is just that — too much. However, doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results is definitely, a form of insanity.
Looking to New Strategies
Salespeople report that 72% of company revenue comes from existing customers, with 28% coming from new customers. A company certainly needs to focus on retaining existing customers, but to attract new customers, and in many cases retaining current customers, changes need to be made. In some cases, changes need to be considered in the products sold and more than anything else, changes need to take place in marketing and sales along with finding new ways to communicate and sell by adding value. In essence, the goal is to avoid business stagnation.
Here is the bottom line: When the growth of your business slows down or stops completely, it is on the precipice of business stagnation. Left unaddressed, this is the beginning of going out of business. A growing business focuses on making improvements, discards unproductive or irrelevant ideas, and adapts to the environment in which it operates to maximize its profits and thrive among its competitors.
Let the discussions begin…
