Ensuring we have effective sales conversations in this era of fast paced technology

1. We have been told that one possible future of B2B selling is for technology
to manage transactions rather salespeople, for example Gartner have
suggested that in some sectors 85% of buying transactions will be carried
out without talking to a human by 2020. Clearly there is a need to adapt in
order to survive and thrive in the changing world. However, when I spend
time working with sales people in many
businesses now I observe that some good
basic capabilities are being lost in this
rush to adopt technology and cope with
the challenges of the new order. As the
use of virtual communication and social
media in selling increases, and at the
same time the focus on the technical and
specialist knowledge and insights that a sales person can bring to a potential
customer becomes increasingly valued, there is a danger that we lose the
ability to conduct effective face to face conversations. Without these skills as
sellers we will lose the ability to build trust, strengthen connections with
human decision makers and assist in the complexity of the decision making
process.
The world of selling is no longer as it once was; in fact that
world is probably long dead. The old skills that relied on
hard work and the charisma of a sales person have
passed. However in our technologically driven, fast-paced
world we can sometimes forget our ability to use good
human communication at the heart of our sales activity.
Putting the human back into
selling
The Value of Being
Human
Steve has had a career in front line
sales, sales leadership and board
level roles primarily in the
medical technology sector
engaging with the NHS at senior
levels. He has also worked for an
international sales development
consultancy helping businesses in
the UK, Europe, Middle East &
US build sales performance.
Having trained as an executive
coach, Steve believes in taking a
coaching philosophy to sales
performance, and that we need to
focus on the effectiveness of our
sales conversations.
Steve Potiphar,
Director of
Performance.
Spring 2018

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For human beings the difference between just
communication and effective conversation is in the
subtlety and nuance. It’s easy to miss this unless we
truly pay attention which requires avoidance of all
those distractions around us (in particular the tech
ones like our smart phones) and to really listen and
observe. In her book We Need to Talk, Celeste Headlee
suggests that a typical worker toady is interrupted
every three minutes by calls, texts, email or social
media. She also provides evidence that the mere
presence of technology reduces the quality of
relationships and impairs trust and empathy. We all
experience meeting people in our day to day
interactions where the phone sits on the table tempting
each of us to interact with it and missing that subtlety
that makes for good human conversation. Of course
we can’t make all this technology go away so we have
to both find a way to live with it but not to lose the
sense of being a human being. In my own
conversations I hear constant anecdotes that colleagues
and team members seem to be losing the art of
effective communication – we do, of course, need to
look in the mirror and reflect on our own behaviours
in this respect, as with most things in life, we can’t
change others but we can influence through our own
Let me ask you a question…are you and your team having enough effective sales
conversations? Regardless of the changing world of sales, virtually all high-value sales are
going to require people to converse with other people, and we need to remember that
communication is not conversation, with all its subtlety. The use of technology in both
business and life is all-pervasive but our understanding of its impact on our conversational
skills is not fully understood yet, but there is a sense that effective communication is being
harmed. (A review of studies carried out over the past 30 years has shown a decline in
empathy significantly since 2000).
Combine that with the sense that all of us are “in sales” in some sense (either as a sales
person, running our own business or having to influence and persuade others across our
organisation or client organisations), then we have a need for more people, not fewer to
be more effective in their conversations with greater risk that those conversations are
being made less effective through our relationship with technology.
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behaviour and how we can demonstrate effective
conversational skills.
Even without the challenges posed by the growing
presence of technological distractions, most of us have
plenty of room for improvement in our conversational
capabilities. Effective conversations (and therefore
effective sales conversations) don’t happen just by
chance. Yes, we can all communicate but we tend to go
through life without correcting the mistakes we have
been making for most of that time. There is research to
support the idea that we all over rate our own skills
but see the problems in others! We should encourage
feedback from those we converse with – talk about
what worked well or whether they felt if they were
understood.
The contention is that most of us are weaker in our
conversational skills than we would like to think, and
the world we are living in isn’t making it easier to
improve them. If our conversational skills are essential
for our work performance then we really need to get
feedback and coaching to improve that performance, of
the kind that I provide through Impact on
Performance.

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It is clear that effective sales conversations remain essential to achieving
sales performance even in the changing world of B2B selling with more of
the sales process taking place online and with virtual sales support
becoming more common place. In fact the place for face-to-face sales
communication increasingly focuses on complex and high value sales. There
is also increasing evidence that technology can be a distraction from the
focus and attention required for effective conversation and that our own
ability to assess the effectiveness is limited by own capabilities.
With a wider range of individuals engaged in “sales conversations” the need
to ensure that the essential skills required for the conversations to be
effective has never been greater. However, who is observing those sales
conversations and providing feedback to develop the skills required to be
effective in selling in a world where the hindrances to human-to-human
conversation get greater every year? Organisations might feel that by
recruiting “experienced” sales people or investing in some sales training
they are taking the appropriate action. It has been stated by Neil Rackham,
one of the leading authorities on the sales profession, that without coaching
to reinforce training, there is an 87% loss of the knowledge acquired through
the training. In larger organisations sales managers might exist who should
be active sales coaches – however nowadays such managers tend to spend
their time reporting and forecasting, problem solving for their team and
being reactive rather than proactive in the sales process.
An alternative is to invest in the experience of a skilled sales coach who can
focus specifically on the nature and effectiveness of the sales conversations
your team are having by observing customer facing activity, providing
detailed feedback and coaching to improve performance built around a
tangible return on that investment.
Effective sales conversations
don’t just happen, and even
when we think a
conversation has been
effective, do we really know
how it felt for the other
person?
- Check what the other
party’s expectations are
- Ensure that it’s a
conversation not an
interrogation (yes, use
open questions but in a
conversational style)
- Be present in thought
and in listening
- Don’t talk too much
- If you don’t know, say
you don’t (we don’t
always have answers)
- Use the time in the
conversation to
understand the other
person’s situation
- Go with the flow – don’t
make it scripted!
- Avoid directing the
conversation back onto
you and your
experience constantly
Some tips for
effective sales
conversations.
Who is coaching
effective sales
conversations in
your business?

4. As in business, conversational skills are key to building and sustaining
relationships in our lives. Gabriel By Your Side is a unique service for people
typically in mid life to support and guide them through the challenges of
forming and maintaining relationships. Using many of the same coaching
based approaches that improve performance in business, but with a focus on
helping men and women realise their personal relationship goals. There is
growing evidence that the quality of our relationships has a significant impact
on our overall wellbeing and as such making an investment in our relationship
wellbeing is vitally important. A significant and growing number of people in
the 45-65 year old age group are living alone and many otherwise successful
people find significant challenges with forming and maintaining relationships.
Gabriel By Your Side organises Relationship Masterclasses to promote
discussion, sharing and learning about dealing with these challenges. We know
that people in happy relationships are happy and effective employees, and that
excellent employers want to encourage wellbeing in their teams, so a free
master-class can be arranged for your team by contacting us.
Are your people investing in their
personal relationship wellbeing?
“I found Steve’s approach
open, honest & relaxed and I
feel that I can open up about
all kinds of things”
“Steve has provoked action
that I wouldn’t otherwise
have taken”
“Steve has encouraged me to
be more reflective”
Client feedback
Impact on Performance provide services in sales coaching, executive coaching and business
development consultancy
“The great enemy of conversation we find is the illusion of
it…we have talked enough, but we have not listened.”
How effective are your sales conversations?
Can we find time for a conversation about this?
Telephone: 07590 893012 Email: info@impactonperformance.com
www.impactonperformance.com
Telephone: 01423 209016 Email: enquiry@gabrielbyyourside.com
www.gabrielbyyourside.com