2024 is here!
Here’s a New Year question for you: What would be an insane goal to achieve by 2024?
A six-figure sales month? Securing your first customer for your startup? The tech sales landscape in 2024 isn’t going to be cushy, especially if you thrived during the Covid boom. When times are easy, everyone succeeds without much effort. In challenging times, only the strongest thrive. The most resilient ones approach things differently, and and here are their newest sales tricks we’ve learnt from our friends in the industry:
1. Learn how to sell to the CFO
Don’t wait to be asked about the ROI of what you’re selling. Nowadays, CFOs are involved in every tech purchase and they prioritize the business case. New Salesforce recruits undergo extensive training, including role-playing and studying the company’s promotional materials, with a focus on “selling to the CFO.” They’ve also introduced a “savings calculator” on their website.
2. Be selective in your pursuits
Protect your time by not chasing the wrong buyers. Daniel Huang, an AE at HubSpot, advises sellers to confidently walk away from buyers who exhibit red flags: no-shows, constant rescheduling, failure to follow through on agreed actions, unreasonable demands, and a lack of transparency in their buying process. Huang notes*, “Buyers are rarely perfect. The more red flags that arise, the stronger the reason for a seller to proceed with caution and protect their time and energy.”
3. Adopt the buyer’s mindset
Maintaining minimum standards empowers you. In negotiations, the person with power in a negotiation is the person who can walk away if they don’t get what they want. The buyer is in the power position because they know what they want and are willing to walk away. If you are the seller, typically you’re not in a power position. Desperate sellers who agree to any terms without setting standards lack power. Be the “buyer”.
4. Let future goals guide your present decisions
So, what would be an insane goal to achieve by 2024? Remember the Cheshire Cat’s advice from “Alice in Wonderland”: “If you don’t know where you want to go, then it doesn’t matter which path you take.”
5. Help buyers paint the future state
Zig Ziglar said, “Stop selling, start helping.” Assist your buyers in envisioning their future tech implementation. Help them define the desired state and advocate for their case internally. Aiding them in choosing a solution can be invaluable. An effective method is to compare the current versus the desired state, creating a checklist your product can fulfill. Here’s an example of such a checklist for a contract solution like Oneflow. Feel free to customize it.
