The world is open for business again, but it’s a changed world. Sales leaders today must re-examine their strategy to ensure it’s evolving as fast as their customers and clients are, or risk getting left behind.
We asked some of our sales experts to share advice on how to best navigate this new complex sales realm and re-optimize sales channels for a post-pandemic world.
Looking for more information on this topic? Contact us to learn more about our speakers and what they can bring to your next event.
Empathy
Fotini Iconomopoulos
Negotiation and Communication Expert
Expert communicator Fotini Iconomopoulos shares the principles of persuasion and negotiation to help audiences better navigate high-stake scenarios..
If anything, the pandemic has taught the world how to have empathy and that is one of the most valuable tools in any sales interaction. Before starting any conversation tap into that empathy and ask yourself, “What is this person going through and how can I help them?”
A common sales mistake is to start a monologue about what you have to offer. But, without pausing to consider the other person’s circumstances, you’ll likely be wasting your breath. You as an individual are not dealing with a company; you’re dealing with a person. Consider their needs, then consider how your offer fits their needs.
The world had time to re-prioritize and re-evaluate and if you take the time to get to know the other person’s priorities, and genuinely take interest in learning about them, then you’ll open a world of opportunities.
Consistency, Relevancy, and Currency
Mark Bowden
Expert in Body Language, Human Behaviour, and Communication
As the #1 body language professional in the world, Mark Bowden shows audiences how to add impact, power, and presence to their sales communication.
Post-pandemic you may be thinking, even hoping, that the most valuable sales conversations on your horizon are face to face. Although you are right in that there is nothing more powerful than meeting your clients and prospects in-person, right now great sales teams are also standing out from their competition by using a powerful tool — video email.
Showing up once a week or more in your prospects’ email boxes in a 30-second video message will help your audience to quickly feel they know and can trust you. The communication secret is consistency, relevancy, and currency.
Consistently showing up for prospects with a very current video message about them and those most important to them will win you trust faster than anyone using standard email. More specifically, consistently showing up as a moving image in their inbox will trigger a sense of familiarity meaning prospects are more likely to feel like they know you and can trust you. In addition, delivering a message immediately relevant to them will show that you understand their business, and using currency about the most important issues and people in their lives will connect you to them instantly.
Nothing will ever replace the power of a face-to-face meeting, but right now you can encourage prospects to commit faster to that in-person meeting by nurturing those relationships with video messages.
Read more tips from Mark Bowden on how to exude confidence in social situations.
Out-Care Your Competition
Riaz Meghji
Human Connection Expert | Author of Every Conversation Counts
In an age of polarization and disconnection, Riaz Meghji believes every professional needs to know how to build and maintain genuine relationships with clients and colleagues alike. A human connection expert, he explores the power of candid conversations and how to put it into practice.
To stand out to your customers and optimize sales in this new era of business, I believe the solution starts with prioritizing meaningful human connection by focusing on one vital approach: out-care your competition.
How? By getting curious about their new context in a post-pandemic world. How well do you know the person behind the “prospect”? What do they need right now that they don’t already have? What do they feel is impossible right now? What would make it possible?
With an ask first, talk second approach, your empathetic curiosity can reveal the clues that will allow you to deepen the relationship, build trust with your genuine care to serve, and create emotionally connected customers.
Read more from Riaz on how to restart that social engine.
Engage IRL
Nicole Verkindt
Tech Entrepreneur | Angel Investor | CEO, Buggy
Nicole Verkindt is the CEO of Buggy, a rapid grocery and essentials delivery business. Drawing from real-world data, she breaks down today’s biggest consumer trends to help audiences adapt their sales and marketing strategies to excel in this new world of retail.
Right now, it’s critical to remember some of the traditional sales channels that worked for you in the past — hosting events, having both casual and formal meals with clients, engaging one on one with strategic partners, attending conferences, traveling for important meetings, and relationship building was and is continuing to be in vogue. I would argue that employing these traditional methods will give you an advantage today in comparison to some of your competitors who may still be relying strictly on video calls for relationship development.
In my current role, I am meeting with as many strategic brands and partners in person. We’ve hosted several events in different cities, and I’m spending as much time as I can engaging in real life — something we’ve all been missing these past couple of years.
Contact us to learn more about our experts and how they prepare audiences to compete and win business in this new complex sales realm.
