If you’re still selling like it’s 2010, you’re already losing clients. Here’s what the winners are doing instead.
Average salespeople often lose deals they could have won. One of the main reasons this happens is because they fail to project that they have something more to offer their clients.
We are selling in a time when clients are demanding something more from the buying process. Instead of a peddler, they want a trusted authority who can lead them into the future. They need a business advisor who knows more about their industry than they do. Your contacts and clients want to meet with someone who can help them understand the root causes of their problems and see something they cannot.
From Average Sales Rep to Trusted Authority: The Modern Shift in B2B Sales
The challenge for sales organizations and their sales reps is that they are trying to sell. This impulse gets in the way of proving that they belong in the room where decision-makers are making rare, high-stakes decisions about their future. Your contacts are concerned about executing their strategy and getting the results they need. Any pitch you make about your offering cannot compete with that.
Today’s buyer isn’t evaluating vendors. They’re choosing their future. And they can’t afford to get it wrong.
Why Your Sales Team Might Not Belong in the Room
Imagine a salesperson prepares for a first meeting by preparing a slide deck that opens with a slide about their company’s history, complete with a photo of headquarters. Next up is a slide displaying the logos of big-name clients. This is followed by a slide titled “Why Us?” that lists the features and benefits of the offering. Just as the contacts begin to doze off, the salesperson starts their product demo to show off the features and benefits they just described.
Thirty minutes into the meeting, the salesperson hasn’t even gotten to the questions yet, but the main contact cuts them off. “We’re out of time, but we’ll call you if we have questions.”
“Should we set up a meeting next week to pick up where we left off?” the salesperson asks.
“Sure,” says the main contact. “We’ll call you to set something up.”
The salesperson did exactly what they were trained to, but they have a feeling that the contacts aren’t going to call. They’re left wondering what they did wrong.
Selling Has Evolved
Selling has evolved away from talk tracks about the salesperson’s company, their client list, and a product demo. It has moved toward salespeople taking the role of a guide, an authority, a strategic partner.
Now, consider a top salesperson skilled in modern sales techniques. Instead of cueing up a slide deck, they bring an executive briefing to review with their contacts. This salesperson prepared for the meeting by researching the client’s industry, talking to other clients about their experiences, and reading up on the opportunities and headwinds in the current business landscape. This sets the stage for a discussion about strategy because it focuses on the context your client is trying to succeed in.
Who can pull this off? Industry experts with the experience and authority to lead their contacts to greater outcomes. Evolved salespeople do the reading and research to know things their clients don’t. Their value is that they are able to teach their clients something important. Salespeople who can only talk about their company and their solution will fail.
This is especially true in sales organizations pursuing enterprise-level deals, where the cost of a poor decision is measured in millions.
Most Onboarding Prepares Reps to Sell—Not Lead
Having sat through a number of onboarding sessions, it’s easy to understand why so many reps fail to win at a greater percentage. What passes for onboarding often includes a historical overview of the company, product training, a bloated slide deck, and a business-card handoff. Decision makers don’t care about these topics, and they don’t establish a salesperson as an expert.
Aside from industry research, what’s missing? Training on how to command the room. How to facilitate complex decisions. How to provide certainty in uncertain environments.
The Sales Floor Is Gone. So Is Peer Learning.
In a time when there are very few sales floors, most salespeople do not learn from others who have mastered the sales conversation. This leaves reps alone—expected to transform into a trusted authority without any guidance.
Sales is about relationships and conversations with other people, so training needs to be collaborative. Salespeople—especially those early in their career—need to learn from more experienced colleagues. They need to role play, listen in on skilled conversations, and ask high performers about what works.
Sales Leaders: Your Job Is to Build Strategic Experts
Sales leaders and sales managers must shift their focus so they can help their salespeople develop the skills they need for the modern sales world.
You’re no longer just building a team of quota hitters. You’re developing a field of client-facing experts who:
- Provide clarity when things are complex.
- Offer certainty when stakes are high.
- Deliver confidence when decisions are critical.
The reps who do this? They win.
Ask Yourself—and Your Sales Org—This Question
Does our onboarding create trusted authorities—or just trained reps?
Developing high performers means sales leaders must set the stage by creating onboarding that helps salespeople focus on their clients and their clients’ industry. Sales managers must create an environment where their team can interact, overhear one another, ask questions, and practice their skills. They must also hire carefully and require their salespeople to do the work to constantly learn about their prospects and their industry.
If you’re not building experts, you’re falling behind.
