I’m rarely lost for words, but this provocative question at last night’s Enterprise Sales Forum in NYC caused me to pause for a few minutes:
“What does the fact that most sellers don’t call themselves “salesperson” say about our clients’ perception of us, and what does this mean overall for the future of our profession?”
Answer: The fact that sellers feel they have to call themselves account managers, territory managers etc. means that TO THIS DAY buyers don’t trust salespeople and sellers don’t want to be seen as salespeople.
Which leads me to the answer to the second part of this question.
[bctt tweet=”The future of our profession is reserved for those who break through the perceptions above and develop deep trust with their prospects.” username=”EngageColleen”]
They will do this by:
- Delivering massive amounts of value BEFORE the buyer becomes a customer.
- Being generous thought leaders and experts.
- Comfortably sharing best practices and insightful solutions to their buyers even if it makes the conversation uncomfortable.
- Engaging, and creating communities of people that buyers want to be associated with.
- Treating their territories like their own business.
In short, the future is reserved for sellers who have transformed into trusted advisors whose expertise is so valuable that buyers seek them out and fight to stay close.
Have you started to make this transition?
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