Got to thinking about the natural way of winning the hunt – or winning the new customer account. Since my partner is going to South Africa this week, I began to realize nature’s method for thriving and surviving in the wild.
Since the world of b2b sales has been described by many sales people as a jungle, I realized they were using the wrong traits for winning.
In the wilds of South Africa, the lions are the big winners. Why? Because they use the natural advantage of the pride. Yes, lions hunt as a team rather than alone. They make a group effort to hunt down their targets. These animals are smart and cunning – and they excel as a team.
The lesson from this analogy is – if you are still using lone wolf tactics to hunt and capture new accounts in the world of b2b sales, then you are not selling smart. A team approach is needed in today’s market place to win more business.
I believe their are x reasons for team selling. So let me share the reasons with you.
- Expertise
You have limited time as a personal resource, so unless you are willing to devote every spare minute to continuous learning you will not be able to maintain your expertise much less expand or grow your expertise. A team allows you to recruit or select team members with specialized knowledge and expertise to work with your customers and prospects. - Security
Most large corporate accounts want a strong feeling of security with the partners and providers they choose to work with over time. The more secure they feel with you and your organization, the more willing they become to change over or commit to your solutions or offerings. - Safety
This is another element necessary for the large corporate customer to accept your offering. They general concept is no corporate decision maker will ever say yes in a decision unless they feel others – responsible executives – would make the same decision. Thus, the feeling of safety in numbers becomes one of the variables in their decision process. If they only meet and see one person during the entire sales process and buying cycle, then the less likely a favorable decision will be made. - Coverage
Here again the more players on your team, the better the overall coverage within the customer’s organization. You will want full coverage – from top to bottom of both organizations. Think how much easier it is to have an high level officer discussing the need for a business arrangement between the two organizations. Then technical people talking tech to each other as well as financial types talking to financial types – in their own world of tech and finance. - Commitment
Earlier I mentioned having a higher level officer meeting with their peers at the customer or prospect organization. When you can improve the quality of buy-in to the conceptual agreement of your offering, you will be closer to gaining a commitment from the prospect or customer. The top person from your organization can commitment resources to this customer relationship that you can not do on your own. When the big bosses are in agreement and commitment is strong, leadership is actually leading the way to greater b2b sales success.
There are the big five reasons for team selling. Join the ranks of the b2b sales superstars – sell as a team and win more accounts.
Voss Graham
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