When selling in a crowded market, the sales strategy is the foundation on which the success will be built, by using relationship-focused sales techniques. However, when developing a strategy to answer the question of how to penetrate the market with a new product, a company must also consider product positioning and publicity.
The salespeople are integral to the process of positioning the product and marketing it. They know company’s target customer, and have built meaningful client relationships. Encourage the salespeople to also know and understand the competition, how they position their products, and the strategies they are using. This information becomes invaluable when positioning a new product.
Releasing a new product is always an anxious exercise. Every member of the sales team should benefit from product demonstrations, so they fully understand its features and benefits. This will help them to sell solutions to problems confidently.
Conventional wisdom says that sales training is achieved by ‘push’ – for example, by telling the
salespeople about the what, why and how of new products. Sales managers need to coach as well as
train, and encourage an environment where salespeople take responsibility for their own learning.
Ask the salespeople to assess product pitches, and question what is working and what is not working,
and to combine their experience and best practices to produce a sales strategy for the new product
that will reflect its value and enable them to communicate this to customers.
Focus on enabling salespeople to share their experiences of both success and failure in selling the new product. Provide methods, places, and time for exchange of information between salespeople, in an environment that encourages continuous learning.
Value propositions will help salespeople to target existing customers, driving leads among existing customers who may have gone stale and need to be re-engaged. If key elements were missing from previous products, the new product launch could be the perfect opportunity to upsell.
Using the knowledge and experience of the company salespeople, will be able to devise a strategy that achieves three components of product positioning:
With your product positioning strategy given definition and clarity, you will be prepared to create your marketing plan. Create buzz on social media, combining this with email messaging and more traditional forms of advertising, and promotions at trade fairs. All your marketing materials and messages should:
With positioning and publicity now in place, the time has come to roll out to the market. With the right
strategy and utilizing your sales strength to the max, you needn’t be starting from scratch. However, it
will be time to get back to basics. This is where the seven characteristics of a successful
salesperson come fully into play.
Selling a new product is most easily done by a salesperson who is liked and trusted, and when sold
to those existing customers with whom the salesperson has developed a strong business
relationship. When strong sales skills are combined with high emotional intelligence and back-to-
basics techniques, the result is a cocktail of powerful selling ability that will ignite sales.
Sales managers must ensure that their sales teams understand the new product, how it is positioned
in the market, and the key benefits it offers to new and existing customers. Therefore, it is incumbent
on sales managers to provide adequate training in the lead-in to a new product launch, as, ultimately,
it will be the sales team that drives success.
Still, there will be resistance to ‘trialing’ a new product. Salespeople, who are adept at gaining trust,
and connecting not only with needs and wants but also on a greater emotional level, will be able to
position the sale as what it is: early-stage access to a great new product. By requesting the client’s
valuable feedback and listening to it before taking appropriate actions, your company will be best
placed to evolve its product placement and publicity strategies to take full advantage of the real
market potential.
The better you are at understanding your market, and the closer your salespeople get to your
customers, the better you will position your new product. And a well-positioned new product markets
itself.
Successful salespeople exhibit the qualities of character that make their customers like them and
their bosses love them: these seven characteristics will ignite sales.
Is it only about selling with noble purpose?
the salespeople that sold with a sense of purpose sold best. The real power sales were made by
those that had what the company termed a ‘noble purpose’ – they wanted to make a real difference to
their clients and were not focused solely on profit.
But how does this translate into the characteristics of a successful salesperson?
Customers buy the solution to a problem not the product
When someone buys a hammer, they don’t necessarily want the hammer; rather, they need a nail in a
wall. They have a wall, a picture, and a nail. The problem they have is getting the nail in the wall: the
hammer is the solution to that problem.
Customers buy from someone they like and trust
Having established that people buy a solution to their problem, the next step is to understand that, no
matter the solution, people buy from people. A person will deal with someone they like and trust. If
this doesn’t exist, the sale will fall through no matter how good the product.