Dear readers, we are thankful for the interest you have shown towards the articles we have published during the year. The team at Prima Resource hopes that these articles have been useful to you, whether you are a business leader, entrepreneur, sales manager or sales representative.

Some articles have sparked more curiosity and we have compiled them for you to discover them or to rediscover them a second time.

Sales transformation is more than a trend or a buzzword, it is an inevitable shift dictated by the conditions of the economy, changes in behaviors, and expectations. Sales have changed much more in the last 5 years than in the previous 25 years!

Among the conditions that require companies to transform themselves is the predominance of the web and the access to information everywhere and at all times.

Today, sales reps no longer hold the information that decision-makers are looking for and that is why we are contacting them much later in the buying process. Comparing different suppliers has become child's play and competition is now worldwide for many products and services.

In many companies and across multiple industries, representatives face enormous pressure to quickly provide their price and present their offer even before having a real conversation with their potential customer. Unfortunately for them, many tend to actually provide these prices, which represents a significant error in their sales process. Thereafter, they often find themselves stuck in a conversation that focuses only on the price and they immediately enter into a negotiation process with their prospect.

Thus, the question is: Is negotiation a step in the sales process? My answer to this question is mitigated. However, as a general rule, if a consultative sales approach is followed and in particular, the baseline selling methodology, a representative should never have to negotiate during the sales process.

In this type of approach, negotiating is not part of an effective sales process. However, if a negotiation is to take place, the time at which it takes place is a determining factor for the profitability of the sale.

I often talk about consultative selling and the fact that it is the sales approach that elite sellers systematically use. We help sales leaders implement consultative selling within their companies to increase profitability and accelerate growth.

On the other hand, I talk less often about transactional sales. Very often, in my mandates, I find that B2B sales forces approach sales in a transactional way when a consultative method is required in order to achieve their objectives. But in rare cases, the opposite situation occurs and representatives work too hard on simple sales.

Sales representatives have this tendency of jumping on large sales opportunities, which is fine because you can often make a lot of money out of them. Aren’t we all attracted by big, shiny, new objects anyways?

Though the real question should be: are you handling those large sales opportunities the right way? While they might provide large revenues, they are can be a tremendous waste of time and resources. Therefore, if you are dealing with a large company, you must remain realistic through the entire sales process, because otherwise, that opportunity might turn into your worst nightmare.

Recently on our blog we’ve been putting a huge emphasis on the value of asking open-ended questions. The ability to get right to the point is the difference between a long or short sales process.

To ask your client a lot of questions can sometimes be off-putting for both of you, and so it helps if you can figure out a way for them to grasp the importance of them.

Proposing too early. The scenario is easy to imagine, having surely gone through this yourself.

The hunt had finally paid off and you’d secured an appointment with a prospect. You were new to the game, and so you didn’t quite know how to control your emotions and you probably had a high need for approval. You found yourself in front of this person who had shown interest in hearing you out.

Selling has changed since 2008.

As Objective Management Group (OMG) states, the most significant changes are that:

• It's more challenging to reach prospects
• Prospects don't have time to meet
• There's greater resistance
• Salespeople tend to be invited in later in the sales cycle
• There's more price sensitivity
• Prospects are more cautious and conservative on what they spend their money
• There's a greater need to differentiate

Consultative Selling is a sales approach that helps salespeople deal with those changes.

Are salespeople threatened by the arrival of artificial intelligence?

At Prima Resource, we advocate the science behind the sale. However, a component of this science which is growing in importance is the technological aspect, and in particular, the future of artificial intelligence (AI).

Let’s further explore the topic to measure its impact.

At the end of my sales trainings, the majority of representatives come to realize that they ask their potential clients too few questions. Even when they're aware of the importance of asking questions during their sales conversations, they recognize that they still emphasize their presentations. They tend to deliver their message without listening or learning about the real needs of their contact.

On the other hand, others don't hesitate to ask several questions. However, these questions aren't always relevant and don't help their sales process.