The journey of the supersellers

This article is about the book “The journey of the supersellers”, written by Rafael Machín and Jorge García in 2018, because it has been very interesting for me, both to assess my experience in consultative selling, and to do self-criticism and continue improving.

The work sheds light on what are the key attributes (the relationship is extensive) for sellers, their managers and organizations to develop an outstanding commercial work in front of increasingly demanding and informed clients. For this reason, it is also recommended for professionals in the company who, in one way or another, interact with clients within their journey through it.

The book mainly compiles in a very well structured way the experience and opinion of a relevant sample of professionals in this area in Spain. It is the result of a vast investigation that is endorsed by the academic facet and as consultants of both authors.

Below you can read some of the conclusions that I have been able to draw.

The client always decides

The consultative sales process is unique, flexible, complex, where the power of decision is in the hands of the client. He is a trained, professional, digital, super-informed, cosmopolitan, demanding, complex and unfaithful buyer, who consciously or unconsciously has a preconceived idea of ​​how he/she wants to live his experience with us.

For this reason, many times we end up developing value proposals together with them, and it requires a lot of customization. We present them as unique solutions based on differential advantages but which must be adapted to each case.

Because satisfying the need or desire of the client, even the most personal, solving his/her problem or incidence, is the objective that our product or service must pursue. </ Strong>

Normally we are faced with a decision-making unit made up of several people and where there are multiple motivations, including professional and personal goals. That they can deal with their own employability, professional career, business aspirations, etc.

And in addition, all this in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous context for both parties, in which both the definition of the need and the purchase decision are framed.

For this reason it is essential that the commercial organization and its proposals or solutions empathize, think and speak the same language as the client, be useful, personalized, anticipate objections and limit the risks that the client perceives before the proposal.< /strong>

Nor should we forget to address key aspects such as the justification, profitability, return, savings or growth that the investment/expenditure will imply, and also reach a win-win agreement regarding contracting conditions. Both aspects for which the organization or the commercial sometimes do not have a good preparation.

In the end, it is about promises between people, between which links are created, and in which, therefore, emotion and subjectivity also play a key factor. In my opinion in that not only underlies the buyer’s decision, but also the commitment and the ability of the seller to generate them. If we get these links, it will be easier to retain and have the recommendation of a client.

In short, when customers choose our ability to offer them the right solution is at stake: Whether it provides them with generic value, whether it is also personalized, and if they expect to have a good experience with us, in every way.

Seller attributes that make the difference

According to the conclusions contained in “The journey of the supercommercials”, the sales managers, when referring to attributes that make the difference between the members of their team, highlight transversal commercial talent. That is, that set of attributes that can be useful in different sectors, products or services, instead of responding only to a specialization.

This responds to a paradigm shift in commercial strategy: from selling by markets or by categories or products, to selling person-to-person solutions.

However, the conclusions of the study reflect a great contradiction, because experience in a specific sector or product is one of the main requirements for 2 out of 3 sales managers when it comes to incorporating talent into the organization. Confirming that in the short term it is a way of having commercials tailored to their clients, although many recognize that this does not guarantee success.

In what seems to be no doubt, is that among the transversal differential attributes of a consultative sales “super seller”, their ability to listen is outstanding. That is when it uses the relevant information and the needs that the client identifies, through their key questions, transforming it into high value proposals.

Active listening fosters human relationship and allows the salesperson to lead the customer’s purchase process, identifying the decision maker or decision unit, communicating effectively, and adapting the message in a didactic way.

In another order we find the attributes related to the commitment, work capacity and performance of the “super seller”. In this way he knows how to use his time in an optimal, structured, methodical, systematic, consistent, persevering and tenacious way, with the aim of prospecting and dedicating his quality time to potential or current clients.

In addition, another of the attributes of the “super seller” would be their decision-making capacity and creative intelligence to introduce improvements, to innovate, and to bring order to a messy environment. That of the client himself, who sometimes does not know what he wants or how he wants it, or of his own organization, where sometimes he can contribute in strategic matters, even if they are not very profitable in the short term.

Within the concept of selling between people, the ability to manage emotions in the relationship with the client, the famous “neuromarketing”, also stands out. With his emotional intelligence, he not only becomes a trusted partner with ethics, values ​​and commitment, but also knows how to manage objections, reorient the client towards the focus of interest in terms of value proposition or subtly pressure him to turn the proposal into a sale.

In the end, the “super seller”, once the client’s trust has been gained, thus manages to become the visible head in the defense of the client’s interests within the organization, also during the provision of the service, allowing other colleagues along the way within their area to also interact with it.

Sales managers and commercial organizations that make a difference

Without detracting from all of the above, the book refers to other less important attributes within the “ranking”, from the basic to the most differential ones. In my opinion, the conclusions of the survey reflect certain contradictions and paradoxes (beyond the one mentioned above) about the role of sales representatives compared to that of their managers and that of the organization itself.

In my opinion, I believe that the attributes prioritized by those surveyed in the study, although salesperson’s pride of belonging and motivation for internal recognition are mentioned, those would offer a rather individualistic image of the commercial as the main owner and actor of his/her performance, business, success and reward.

On the one hand, the salesperson’s expectations that his/her achievements will also depend on his ability to achieve a high level of collaboration with his superior or with the rest of the team within the organization (salesperson, operations, administration, legal, management, etc.)

For me that coordination is a fundamental part of the work method in consultative selling. We all sell. In addition, good references and the prestige of those who are finally going to provide the service are key. For all this, I think that offering an isolated view of the salesperson’s activity should be avoided.

In this sense, I am struck by how the book refers to the fact that the sales function would be reviled by other profiles within organizations with a technological bias. It may not be possible to generalize, but I do believe that it is an interesting topic that deserves a good reflection on its own.

In any case, the book does rightly defend the need to design the organization based on the client, not inbredly based on its own products or objectives. To take care of the customer journey within it.

On the other hand, the point of view of his/her superiors regarding what is attributable to the success of the “superseller” would collide with the latter’s attributes in terms of his need to also count on the fact that manager’s key functions are delivered. It refers to accompaniment, supervision, training, team defense, planning, access to information, performance assessment, career plan proposal, mentoring, etc.

Fortunately, the work apart from the results of the survey does defend the role of the sales manager with respect to these functions. Also emphasizing the need to prove their leadership and “authority” by example of habits, method and competence to “make sell”; to promote quality, to know and adapt to the maturity of each collaborator; to promote trust, and freedom of thought.