Top 3 FOCUS AREAS and ACTIVITIES which really matter in SW SALES life

This morning, before disassembling my Christmas tree and looking at the last 3 presents remaining (yes, this also happens with Covid restrictions) I asked myself:

What would be the TOP 3 FOCUS AREAS and ACTIVITIES which really matter in SW SALES life?

I know, is funny how thoughts come together sometime…and I know, I'm not sharing any shocking trick here, but I'm sure that each of us got distracted sometime from basic concepts and simple things which really matter in SW sales life…feel free to comment and share your view!

1) ENGAGE YOUR CUSTOMERS

a. First and foremost, know how to sell your staff: what challenges you solve, to which industry and target persona, what benefits you provide, which capabilities you enable and why the customer should engage with you.

b. Know your territory and build a funnel: which customers you want to focus on and how you can get access to them. PLAN accounts and PRIORITIZE.

c. Ensure you know and have your sales tools and processes. Being creative in sales is fine, but never forget you should have key tools for each step of your sales cycle you should adopt.

2) CLOSE DEALS WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS

a. Ensure you have the right sponsor buying in into your staff and you raise interest leveraging on your value prop - 1)a. above. It might not be mandatorily a C-level person initially, but very soon ensure that your sponsor has a trusted relationship with his management and is able and willing to open their offices doors and wallets to validate your proposition.

b. Execute, don't let your sponsor waiting for you, and show them that you know what to do to satisfy their needs, never forgetting to differentiate yourself from competition and argument WHY they should buy NOW and from YOU.

c. Agree on an opportunity plan with your customer (which of course drive you to closure). They know you are there to sell, and if they are really interested they would also love to follow and agree on a plan! If not, you probably did not succeed yet on 2)a above.

3) DRIVE BUSINESS GROWTH

a. Do not agree on an opportunity plan only with your customers, but also on a SUCCESS plan, as early as possible. It may sounds obvious, but this is often forgot and is a key tool to drive expansions as well as renewals in a modern, scalable (e.g. Cloud) and consumption based (Everything as a Service) economy!

b. You can't make it alone: yes, we are all individually contributing and following our own successes, but you will never grow and succeed long term if you don't connect and collaborate with cross-functional teams driving knowledge sharing and allowing reusability. We should (almost) always LEARN and SHARE something new from each customer engagement!

c. Last but not least, be honest: stress what you know and is valuable and recognize where you need help; be transparent on what you do (using collaborative tools); be agile: don't forget and don't be scared to review and adjust on a regular basis both your territory - 1)b. above - and opportunity - 2)c. above - plans.

 Happy weekend and whish you all a fantastic 2021!