There are few things more tedious than sitting through a bad sales pitch. Humanity has not yet evolved past the need for an emotional connection, and therefore when confronted with a robotic run-down of a product’s features, we become inevitably bored and disinterested, no matter how amazing the product may be.
The sales management field has developed in incredible leaps. With powerful sales management apps it is now possible to not only effectively manage your sales force, but to have a wealth of useful information at your fingertips to drive your decisions. However, once all the elements are in place and you have your sales process working like a charm, it is still as important as ever to have that human connection.
Sales is a tough game
There are many different factors that make a good sales executive. There is the formal education, intuition, resilience, background knowledge and the sophistication of their sales management system etc. I would like to focus on one specific area: passion.
To have a passion for something is far deeper than just a certain degree of fondness. It speaks to the very core of someone’s humanity, and is associated with something they truly believe in. However, sales executives often find themselves demotivated, overworked and embattled in their positions. Sales is not an easy line of work to be in and honing in on the power of being passionate about sales can help motivate even the most stressed out sales executive.
Admin
One of the key problems which cause dispassionate salespeople, is a classic mismatch between their talents and job requirements. Sales executives tend to be more outgoing, and relationship-focused. However, an important function of a business, is keeping a close eye on the sales funnel. This translates to admin on the part of the sales rep. Should the rep focus on getting the admin right, he / she can become bored, frustrated and demotivated. Should they purely focus on selling, the business can suffer by not having accurate information and become too reliant on one specific sales rep, instead of ensuring continuity.
Walking in Cold
Another factor that dramatically affects sales forces, causing passionate sales pitches to wane, is a lack of confidence. Confidence can be clearly identified, and when a sales rep is not armed with accurate, up to date information, they are at an immediate disadvantage. We live in a very connected world where almost any answer can be “Googled” within seconds. If your sales force walks into a meeting without any knowledge of the client or the past interaction history, the deal is doomed before it even started.
Red Tape
Another big obstacle faced in many medium to large enterprise, is an excessive amount of rules and regulations. Understandably organisations need to be in touch with their workforce and know whether their time is productively spent. However, salespeople tend to be focused on relationships and these are often at odds with strict protocols. Salespeople often feel entangled in complex systems and processes, which dampens the necessary exuberant spirit needed to drive a tough sale home.
Simplicity and Transparency
Thankfully, technology does provide a simple and transparent solution to bridge these difficulties in the modern worksphere. Simple sales force management applications have evolved to a point where admin functions are automated, and data from clients are stored in the cloud, ready for immediate use anytime and anywhere. These sales management apps also simplify processes, and not only saves time for the sales forces, but helps management to be in touch with what their sales force is up to.
Simple, feature rich apps such as Field Office’s Honeybee (now Skynamo) provides a tool for businesses that not only simplifies sales and makes sales forces more productive, it helps to bring passion back into selling.