AI may help salespeople … but only salespeople succeed
By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>
SALES roles are so competitive. Everyone wants to get ahead. But what are the best ways to do this?
Aaron Tighe, a sales coach who wrote What You Already Know & Don't …The B2B Sales Playbook knows there are some simple ways to go about this.
A lot of it would, of course, rely on the personality of the sales person, but Mr Tighe said a key strategy would be to use artificial intelligence (AI) to do research on prospective clients. “It’s a fast and efficient way of doing it,” he said.
“What we’re seeing now is the speed of access to that kind of information. It’s incredible with the likes of AI and your ability to get that information and educate yourself before and after you meet the customer,” Mr Tighe told Talking Business.
“In boosting sales, for me it’s all about speed and efficiency. So where you might spend an hour or so doing research on a company on the web, you can do that in minutes.
“So what does that mean for sales? You can work quicker, you can work more efficiently and there are no excuses for not being prepared when you go see a customer.
“All it means is there’s an efficiency to get there quicker. If I’ve got my sales hat on, I’m going to be using that to the best because I know that can give me an advantage.”
Circuitous route to sales
How did Mr Tighe end up in sales?
He actually started out as a footballer in England but at the age of 22, as happens with a lot of footballers, his career was coming to an end. So he ended up at the Macquarie Technology Group in WA.
He started out in the accounts department.
“I always remember doing the payroll and, in the payroll, I’d see these people called sales executives and they paid them commissions and bonuses and I thought: ‘How do I do that?” he said.
Mr Tighe said the other great skill sales reps need is the ability to listen. In other words, they should cut back on pitching and listen more closely. They need to articulate ahead and ask key questions.
“Listening in sales and in general is just so important. You have to be intently listening,” he said.
“You have to be motivated to listen and then observe
“It’s not just what the customer is talking about. It’s about thinking ahead to: ‘What else can I go to here? What else can I do to learn and understand from that customer about what they need?
“You might need to dig for that a little bit and go two, three, four layers down to understand what the customer really wanting and needs,” he said.
“It’s super important. It’s not just listening but taking it in and articulating back to the customer that you understand.”
Questions lead to answers you need
Mr Tighe said ‘listening’ means asking questions.
There are different types of questions that can be asked. Like factual stuff -- yes or no questions.
“Certainly ‘how’ and ‘what’ questions are super to come out with,” he said.
“And there are double barrelled questions. Like ‘tell me about that department’ …”
But,of course, everyone answers questions differently. Every person is unique.
“Again with the listening skills, you might have some who are very introverted and closed and give you shorter answers, so you have to work harder there to do that uncovering.”
Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness
https://shows.acast.com/talkingbusiness/episodes/talking-business-17-interview-with-aaron-tighe-sales-coach