There’s no denying it: we’re living in the new digital golden age.
We consume quickly and on-demand. Remote working is here to stay. And no one thinks twice about how words like ‘Zoom’ became part of our lexicon overnight.
Social media has made the world smaller by making our online community larger, enabling us to be more connected than ever before. The more friends and followers the better. The more likes and comments the greater the clout.
Dopamine is just a click away.
Yes, technology is rapidly evolving how we interact. But there is one form of communication at risk of becoming completely extinct, and it’s the very interaction at the crux of traditional selling: talking on the phone.
Forget speed dial. If you were born before a certain time, you didn’t just have a Rolodex of landlines sitting on your desk. You had the numbers of your nearest and dearest etched into your brain.
Remember how we’d use those numbers daily, picking up the phone, unannounced and unscheduled to either make plans or chat for sometimes hours at a time?
And yet, here we are in 2022 where 81% of millennials get apprehension anxiety when faced with the prospect of making a call. This aversion to phone communication is such a prevailing issue among millennials that they’ve been dubbed the ‘mute generation’.
When did the thought of someone answering on the other end with a simple ‘hello’ start filling us with dread?
Now, you might be wondering, what hope does the younger generation have of succeeding in sales if they can’t even muster the moxie to pick up the phone?
No wonder 40% of sales representatives today say that prospecting is the hardest part of their job.
The good news is that there are simple ways to apply tried-and-true classic techniques to the modern world of sales without a complete reinvention.
Do these techniques rely on the telephone? Not so much. But are there ways to leverage technology to drive home the principles of old-school sales training techniques? Absolutely.
As a sales manager, it’s your job to give your sales team the tools they need to be successful.
You might be worried that you come from a different generation than your younger team members. But, there are ways to engage millennials without coming across as a dinosaur.
All you need to do is:
After all, if you don’t have the right mindset, how will you be a manager that leads your team to success?
Here are five ways to instill time-honored sales techniques in innovative ways:
This one’s less of a technique and more of a tool that’s crucial to succeeding in today’s high-paced sales climate.
If you’re a sales manager, your process already includes Customer Relationship Management – a system by which you manage the interactions your team members have with customers and prospects. Investing in CRM software is a great way to use technology to your advantage.
CRM software provides you with an online system that helps you:
Time management and planning is half of your job as a sales manager and always has been. But now there are countless online tools to help you streamline your sales management process, which can result in a 17% increase in sales.
Sometimes it can seem like we’re playing catch-up. Especially, as we constantly attempt to keep up with new technologies and the latest sales techniques.
But the truth is, success isn’t defined by the sales techniques you apply, the best practices you implement, or the CRM software you use.
Your results are determined by your behavior, and your behavior is determined by your mindset. And mindset is timeless. So here’s the one thing you need to remember, no matter how the world is transforming around you:
The world has changed, but human behavior hasn’t.
As we mentioned earlier, the best thing you can do for your team is to invest in their ongoing training. The best kind of training focuses on shifting your mindset and changing your behavior instead of simply telling you what to do.
Because it’s only when you change your behavior that you can change the outcome. And we’re talking about the kind of change that lasts a lifetime.
It’s possible for you to have a team that is:
Want to transform your team for the better? Transform your team with Krauthammer.
Krauthammer training has a proven impact.
Our unique methodology provides participants with a set of processes that can be applied in any situation, making it a methodology that’s completely future-proof.
There are countless Krauthammer training programs to support your team’s learning journeys and bring about transformative change.