Saw this question in one of the LinkedIn groups I participate in. I thought I would share my thoughts with you …
Why Do Sales Teams Struggle Selling New Ideas & Innovation?
Lord don’t get me started! My experience in designing and delivering sales training courses for the last 20+ years tells me the answer to the question posed is multifaceted and anything but simple. Possible causes could be;
1. R&D/Marketing or whoever came up with the product did a poor job of vetting the product with the market and/or the sales team to see if their truly was a need. Not enough of the right types of product gates, or the gates weren’t enforced, in the innovation process.
2. No study, or a poor study done in determining the ROI of the new product when used or if there was a solid study done the ROI doesn’t overcome the cost of risk associated with change enough for the customer to take that risk.
3. The sales team is spending the bulk of its time in the supplier/vendor category with clients instead of developing partner/advisor relationships so there isn’t enough trust/credibility capital built up for the customer to be willing to take the risk of trying something new.
4. The sales team isn’t being intentional about building a client base of ideal clients who have as a part of their “ideal client avatar” profile that they are open to innovation when that innovation solves their business issues and helps them grow their business.
5. The sales team doesn’t know how to sell value and is caught in the price trap and wouldn’t even begin to know how to talk ROI for a new and innovative solution.
6. The company hasn’t invested in providing the sales team with the strategies, tactics, skills and mindset necessary to sell innovation, solutions, problem solving for clients and on and on and on …
I think the right clients (ideal client profiles) welcome change and innovation when we as sales people bring them an opportunity and have a well defined value proposition we articulate well!
So … why does your sales team struggle to sell innovation? Why would you as a sales rep struggle selling innovation? Hard to tell without a lot of discussion. It could be any of the above or something we haven’t even pointed out yet. That said 4 things would help any sales professional be more successful …
- Execute a consistent sales process that is designed to deliver bottom line results …
- Be intentional about building partner/advisor relationships …
- Learn to sell value and get out of “the price trap” …
- Take some time to develop your “ideal client avatar” and work to grow more of that type of client! They are a lot easier to sell to and a lot more receptive to hearing new ideas from you …
Let me know if you have any questions by responding in the Comments section below or go to www.thesalesgladiators.com/qif and let us know what we can help you grow the sales career, and life, you want!
Jim Jacobus
www.jjacobus.com