Heightened Competition Driving Creative Sales Approaches
Heightened Competition Driving Creative Sales Approaches
The information industry has recently surpassed the auto industry to become the world's largest industry-and everyone's scrambling to get into the act! Government and defense contractors are entering the commercial marketplace while new and evolving Internet technologies have spawned a whole new set of virtual companies competing for a slice of the pie.
Indeed, increased competition and improved technologies have lead to very short product life cycles and a constant barrage of new products. Firms who have been differentiating themselves based on the unique features of their software, hardware or service offerings are finding that these differentiation strategies no longer work as unique features can often be copied or improved upon by the competition within a period of weeks or months. As a result, high-tech companies are developing a variety of innovative sales, marketing and service approaches as a means to differentiate themselves from their competition and boost their sales and profit levels.
INTEGRATED SALES AND MARKETING
Measuring the true effects of monies invested in advertising, public relations, direct mail and other forms of marketing is a challenge for most businesses. However, several firms are taking advantage of more sophisticated software to track each lead they receive and to determine the number of leads and volume of revenues produced by each ad, mailing and marketing program. This information helps firms better invest its marketing dollars to achieve higher rates of return and to learn more about their marketplace.
CONSISTENT SALES PROCESS
Firms are discovering why many of their sales hires fail. Rather than modifying their individual sales process to fit the products and markets of their new employer, new sales hires typically stick to the sales process they used at their last employer. After all, their previous sales process made them successful, so why change?
Recognizing the potential for high salesperson turnover, poor sales results and customer complaints, several high-tech firms have developed and implemented a consistent, sales and marketing process. What they have found is that a uniform sales process produces both improved and predictable results. In addition, customers, who are comforted by knowing what to expect from vendor employees, develop higher levels of commitment and are often willing to pay more for what they perceive to be a high level of service and professionalism.
NON-TRADITIONAL SUCCESS METRICS
In several instances, the pressure felt by salespeople to make their quotas and "get the order" means that customers and prospects feel pressured to buy or are promised things that they never get. Smart companies recognize that more profit is made on repeat business than on initial orders and that customers who are not 100% satisfied have a number of other options.
A few firms are using customer satisfaction, as measured by blind surveys or management "check up calls," as a key element in determining sales commissions and bonuses. In other words, salespeople who merely achieve their revenue goals without attaining acceptable levels of customer satisfaction may sacrifice 20, 30 or even 50% of their commissions.
INNOVATIVE SALES TOOLS AND APPROACHES
Rather than selling their product merits, which are often short-term differentiators, enlightened businesses are focusing on long-term differentiation by grooming a new breed of sales and service professionals. These non-stereotypical sales types are able to capture the interest of customers and prospects by discussing how they can increase the customers' profits or reduce their expenses.
Developing and using sales tools like qualification and financial justification instruments, these sales and service people are highly effective in cultivating and nurturing business relationships. Instead of acting like salespeople, they act as business consultants. Even technical support and customer service people, due to their high levels of customer contact, are being trained and motivated to use these approaches to improve the quality of customer relationships as well as help to sell other products and services while interacting with customers on a daily basis.
NEW METHODS OF PRODUCT DISTRIBUTION
Firms are teaming up with networks of retail stores, resellers and independent sales representatives to improve the distribution of software, hardware and service offerings. Increasingly, the Internet is being used as a mechanism for generating leads and distributing information that later leads to sales. In several cases, orders are being taken over the Internet and software that is purchased is being downloaded. Without a doubt, improved distribution systems and technologies will play a key role in the development of effective sales and marketing programs.
Increased competition and rapid technological change is forcing firms, who once relied on their product or service attributes to garner sales, to differentiate themselves through innovative sales and marketing strategies. It has frequently been said that the firm with the best product or technology can often lose a sale to a firm that has a superior sales and marketing program. While good products and services are necessary to sustain long-term relationships, it is clear that the ultimate success of high-tech firms will be based on their sales and marketing prowess.
Craig Arnoff is the founder and President of The Sales Alliance Inc, a San Diego-based firm that helps over 150 companies optimize their revenues and profitability through innovative sales process development, training, compensation, staffing and sales management programs(www.sales-alliance.com).
Heightened Competition Driving Creative Sales Approaches - To learn more about this author, visit Craig Arnoff's Website.
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While consumers are benefiting from declining computer software and hardware prices, technology firms are scrambling to recapture their once-robust profit margin levels. Behind both the downward push on prices and the growth of the industry is increasing competition.
The information industry has recently surpassed the auto industry to become the world's largest industry-and everyone's scrambling to get into the act! Government and defense contractors are entering the commercial marketplace while new and evolving Internet technologies have spawned a whole new set of virtual companies competing for a slice of the pie.
Indeed, increased competition and improved technologies have lead to very short product life cycles and a constant barrage of new products. Firms who have been differentiating themselves based on the unique features of their software, hardware or service offerings are finding that these differentiation strategies no longer work as unique features can often be copied or improved upon by the competition within a period of weeks or months. As a result, high-tech companies are developing a variety of innovative sales, marketing and service approaches as a means to differentiate themselves from their competition and boost their sales and profit levels.
INTEGRATED SALES AND MARKETING
Measuring the true effects of monies invested in advertising, public relations, direct mail and other forms of marketing is a challenge for most businesses. However, several firms are taking advantage of more sophisticated software to track each lead they receive and to determine the number of leads and volume of revenues produced by each ad, mailing and marketing program. This information helps firms better invest its marketing dollars to achieve higher rates of return and to learn more about their marketplace.
CONSISTENT SALES PROCESS
Firms are discovering why many of their sales hires fail. Rather than modifying their individual sales process to fit the products and markets of their new employer, new sales hires typically stick to the sales process they used at their last employer. After all, their previous sales process made them successful, so why change?
Recognizing the potential for high salesperson turnover, poor sales results and customer complaints, several high-tech firms have developed and implemented a consistent, sales and marketing process. What they have found is that a uniform sales process produces both improved and predictable results. In addition, customers, who are comforted by knowing what to expect from vendor employees, develop higher levels of commitment and are often willing to pay more for what they perceive to be a high level of service and professionalism.
NON-TRADITIONAL SUCCESS METRICS
In several instances, the pressure felt by salespeople to make their quotas and "get the order" means that customers and prospects feel pressured to buy or are promised things that they never get. Smart companies recognize that more profit is made on repeat business than on initial orders and that customers who are not 100% satisfied have a number of other options.
A few firms are using customer satisfaction, as measured by blind surveys or management "check up calls," as a key element in determining sales commissions and bonuses. In other words, salespeople who merely achieve their revenue goals without attaining acceptable levels of customer satisfaction may sacrifice 20, 30 or even 50% of their commissions.
INNOVATIVE SALES TOOLS AND APPROACHES
Rather than selling their product merits, which are often short-term differentiators, enlightened businesses are focusing on long-term differentiation by grooming a new breed of sales and service professionals. These non-stereotypical sales types are able to capture the interest of customers and prospects by discussing how they can increase the customers' profits or reduce their expenses.
Developing and using sales tools like qualification and financial justification instruments, these sales and service people are highly effective in cultivating and nurturing business relationships. Instead of acting like salespeople, they act as business consultants. Even technical support and customer service people, due to their high levels of customer contact, are being trained and motivated to use these approaches to improve the quality of customer relationships as well as help to sell other products and services while interacting with customers on a daily basis.
NEW METHODS OF PRODUCT DISTRIBUTION
Firms are teaming up with networks of retail stores, resellers and independent sales representatives to improve the distribution of software, hardware and service offerings. Increasingly, the Internet is being used as a mechanism for generating leads and distributing information that later leads to sales. In several cases, orders are being taken over the Internet and software that is purchased is being downloaded. Without a doubt, improved distribution systems and technologies will play a key role in the development of effective sales and marketing programs.
Increased competition and rapid technological change is forcing firms, who once relied on their product or service attributes to garner sales, to differentiate themselves through innovative sales and marketing strategies. It has frequently been said that the firm with the best product or technology can often lose a sale to a firm that has a superior sales and marketing program. While good products and services are necessary to sustain long-term relationships, it is clear that the ultimate success of high-tech firms will be based on their sales and marketing prowess.
Craig Arnoff is the founder and President of The Sales Alliance Inc, a San Diego-based firm that helps over 150 companies optimize their revenues and profitability through innovative sales process development, training, compensation, staffing and sales management programs(www.sales-alliance.com).
Heightened Competition Driving Creative Sales Approaches - To learn more about this author, visit Craig Arnoff's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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