When I started in sales, the mantra was “There are only two types of Sellers in the world, the quick, and the dead.” Whilst speed is still important today, you likely need to add flexible, creative, adaptable, and commercially savvy to that list.
As the list of skills a seller needs to be successful grows, the needs of the Buyers become ever more complex. Just as they become harder to engage.
There are two key challenges Sellers are grappling with today.
First, many Sellers are still struggling to adapt to a virtual selling environment, this is not just the experienced sellers who hanker after the good old days, but sellers earlier in their careers are realising that they often do not have the depth of relationships they need to overcome “economic” objections Customers are giving as the reason to delay signing or not commit at all.
Second, Buyers are distracted not only when on sales calls but with the demands of their day job. This means sellers are typically struggling to get the insight they require on discovery calls, and more concerning, maintaining Customer engagement once the meeting is over.
In this interview, we meet Richard Smith the VP of Sales EMEA for Allego the market-leading Sales Enablement platform. Richard is also the author of Problem Prospecting, a book packed full of actionable pipeline generation insights.
Key Areas of Discussions with Richard Smith, VP of Sales EMEA at Allego:
- What are the biggest challenges facing today’s Sellers?
- What can Sellers do to improve how they grab Customer’s attention when prospecting?
- How can Sellers maintain Customer’s attention during an online meeting?
- How can call recording help Sellers improve their approach to selling?
- How Sales Leaders can use call recording to improve their approach to performance management?
- How Sellers can use private “deal rooms” to maintain the engagement of Customers outside of meetings.
About Richard:
Richard Smith is an experienced VP of sales that has grown sales teams from start up, to exit and beyond. He currently leads the EMEA sales team for Allego, a market-leading sales enablement platform.
When he is not selling or coaching his sellers, he writes about Sales. You can check out his book Problem Prospecting, where he shares practical tips and tricks to engage customers with full inboxes.