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G2 CRO Mike Weir recently joined BoostUp CEO Sharad Verma for a Fireside Chat about insight-driven selling and how it would impact the future of sales. Besides benefits like a more accurate forecast and real-time insights, the two discussed how insight-driven selling promises to help sellers succeed in the future, and how salespeople can utilize it.
Here are five ways that sellers can use insight-driven selling to overcome difficult markets and increased competition and be successful in 2022 and beyond.
Use Insight-Driven Selling to Be Consultative and Deliver Value
Today, every single market is more competitive than ever, and product differentiation is not enough. Sellers must differentiate themselves from the competition, and their method of selling is the best way to accomplish that.
Mike points out that buyers are willing to change immediately to solutions that provide them with the business outcome that they want, oftentimes regardless of contracts or deals. “Selling never stops,” says Sharad. Insight-driven selling provides the data that sellers can use to capitalize on the right moments to engage with potential buyers. Sellers should pay close attention to what contacts are doing, what they are researching, and the questions they are trying to answer. Attempt to deliver value through answering those questions at the right moment.
Focus on The Committee
Purchasing no longer falls on a single, high-level leader. The average buying committee contains six different roles, who all may be seeking to derive their value from a given platform.
To increase the chances of a successful sale, each one of these individuals should be addressed, and engaged with the value that your solution can deliver them. However, these contacts may not be obvious from the beginning or suddenly be involved during the later stages. Sellers should use insight-driven selling to identify and engage with each of these individuals. They can gather data around what they are looking for, and what they need so they can customize their value to them.
Deliver Impact in a Short Amount of Time
Time to value is crucial, not only when a product is implemented, but during the sales process as well.
Sellers need to deliver valuable information to their prospects as early in the sales cycle as possible. How? Mike says sellers must keep their eyes open. Don’t rely on your own innate or even company information. Research for yourself, understand where buyers see you in the market, see the value they are trying to get. This earns seller’s credibility and positions them as advisors.
This method of understanding the product and what you can deliver shifts the conversation away from the cost of purchase, to the value it provides.
Be Open to Feedback
The role of sales leaders is shifting from an inspection focus to a coaching-focused one. Mike says that at G2, coaching and development are a massive part of their strategy. If your organization is providing you with ways to get better, take advantage of them.
The benefits of insight-driven selling don't stop at sales and forecasting. In fact, engagement data can be used for coaching and improvement performance as well. Sellers should leverage this data to understand where they can improve their sales strategies.
Use Insight Data
An insight-driven selling program provides sellers with data that salespeople can leverage to build trust and deliver value. With it, sellers can come to every meeting armed with the knowledge of what their buyers are looking for.
Insight-driven selling gives deep insights into what a buyer is searching for, how they are using the information, and what it means for the buying process. From there, salespeople should use this information to take a consultative approach and dedicate themselves to solving the needs of the prospect.
To watch the entire fireside chat with Mike Weir, click the link below.
