This is a quote from a recent Gartner webinar.
Panel Discussion: 8 Questions to Prepare CSOs for Postpandemic Success
Which you can access here, Steve Herz, Maria Boulden and Dave Egloff from Gartner talk about companies that have a "digital hope" strategy.
Do you have the salesforce that will get you to digital?
In this webinar, Gartner talks about the buyers "digital first" journey and the number of "digital first touch points". Website, content, social media, etc. Often businesses assume that the buying process starts at first contact, but as Gartner say, buyers have a "digital first" buying process now.
Do not send the 2019 salesperson into a 2021 firestorm! (I changed the quote to 2022 as we are nearly there!)
What is your 2022 sales plan looking like?
Gartner recommend that you need to build a new strategy. Why? Because at the moment you are letting Covid and then pandemic manage you and you need to flip that.
And building out your sales plan for the next 18 months only, because nobody knows what is going to happen after that.
Refresh the Sales Strategy for the next 12-18 months.
Gartner also recommend that you complete a full risk assessment, that MUST have a plan for digital and social. Gartner's recommendation is that you must have a plan for digital and social by 2022 at the latest. As they say, the leading indicators show the world has changed and as leaders we need to be presenting a plan to our businesses that shows we are changing to.
What does data driven sales look like?
Gartner also say that the plan, must be data driven, in this blog I explain what digital measures look like and in this blog I explain what the outcome of a digital sales project looks like.
For example leading indicators such as pipeline velocity, leading indicators of demand, stage velocity is starting to pick up, all of these indicators can be got from your sales team on social. See the blogs above for more information.
As Gartner say "we cannot wing it as a leader". CFOs are looking for data from their sales leader, they are not looking for antidote.
The sales process WILL change - The sales process HAS changed in the last 18 months
Gartner, make the point that the sales process has changed, they make the great point that we have all learned to use Zoom over the last 18 months, so you cannot say that sales had NOT changed.
Don't throw everything at sales enablement
Sales enablement need to reconsider new processes and Gartner say that sales enablement MUST embrace digital selling. Gartner recommend that sales leaders do not "throw it all at sales enablement" you have to get outside third parties in to supplement even the best sales enablement teams.
Gartner do say that as a sales leader you need to be crystal clear as the skills your team need to have to execute and of course, Gartner say these need to be digital skills.
Some of your sales team won't come with you on the digital journey and this is OK
Gartner also say that when you announce the need to be digital "some people will self select out of your organisation and you need to let them go. Even though this is a really difficult time to look for talent. You are better to let the people go without the digital skills you need to compete."
"You need to look in non-traditional places for the sales people of the future. Also don't choose sales people based on past experience. There is nothing about the past that is teaching us to sell today. You cannot just poach your competitors people. You need digital dexterity".
Give space to the team learn and adjust. Let them exercise their own judgement on what they see. Let them be creative. Recognize the talent in individuals and teach your sellers to be digital savvy.
How should sales teams look in 2002?
Gartner predict that in 2022 that sales teams need to be smaller as there will be less travel, so teams will be more efficient.
Sales teams will also need to be digital savvy.
The parting thought from Gartner was that sales leaders should see this move to digital as an opportunity and those that embrace digital will be the winners.
They also said "Careers will be made in the next 18 months".
So who's doing this?
In case you missed it, the Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch have banned cold calling and have moved all their people to social selling. This isn't some trendy tech company that might have decided to do this on a whim, this is a very conservative financial services company that has made a decision based on data.
But surely cold calling has a better ROI than social selling? Not according to Merrill Lynch.
"They will also be encouraged to contact prospects over LinkedIn, which has a higher hit rate than cold calling"
The CRO (chief revenue officer), Richard Eltham of Namos Solutions, of one of clients posted a comment on LinkedIn about social selling. See here.
“Social selling is not an option now it is the way of the world and you either learn and execute it or fear getting left behind”
Kevin Murray who is the Head of Sales at MacArtney Underwater Technology recently posted about his success with social selling here and wrote an article about the transformation that has happened in sales here.
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