6 reasons to change your sales behaviors and techniques

Customer needs and behaviors evolve all the time, therefore, sales behaviors and techniques can’t be static - and must also follow suit.  

Adaptability is a key attribute that every salesperson should possess. The importance of being an adaptable and agile sales team is that it can quickly adjust to: 

• Different prospects
• Changing customer needs
• Market conditions 
• The competitive landscape

However, embracing change is not always easy, and often teams may grow comfortable with their current management style, behaviors, and techniques and will resist change.  

This can result in stagnation and limited growth potential for both them and the business. To stay competitive, it's crucial to remain open to new ideas and methods and prioritize continuous improvement and change.  

The benefits of encouraging change 

Consistency in sales is essential for bringing about any change. Adapting and evolving your sales behavior and techniques over time can provide numerous advantages for both your business and your team's personal development. These benefits include:

1. Boosting customer satisfaction  

It’s crucial for sales techniques to align with customer needs and preferences, continuously adapting and changing your sales tactics and behaviors to cater to your customers’ requirements will not only boost customer satisfaction but also drive sales.

To keep up with market trends and customer preferences, it is essential to regularly review and revise your sales strategies for maximum effectiveness.  

2. Preventing the sales team from stagnating  

Proactively changing techniques and behaviors over time can help sales teams improve their skills and boost their sales. As the evolution of AI in sales is on the rise, salespeople must follow modern practices.

Adapting to technological or any other change can be challenging, but over time it prevents stagnation among the sales team and ensures they stay ahead of the market and competition. 

3. Increase in sales revenue 

Being open to changing your sales behavior will inevitably increase your sales revenue. Constantly improving your messaging and behavior will help increase the number of customers you're selling to and enhance what you're selling.

Being adaptable to change also helps build a strong brand presence with customers, which can result in repeat business and higher customer loyalty. It’s also important to pay attention to customer feedback and make sure you’re delivering a product or service that meets their expectations. 

4. Helps with lead conversion 

It is important to tailor your approach to the individual customer and be willing to adjust your sales strategy according to their needs. Listening to your customers and understanding their needs is the key to successful selling.

Not all sales techniques will work for everyone, therefore being open to change mean that you can help develop strong relationships and convince your customers to buy your service or product.  

5. Helps to maintain industry competition 

Change can be scary, but it can also help with growth and lead to innovation. By changing and adapting your sales approach, you can make sure you stay ahead of the competition. Embracing change with an open mind can open up a world of opportunities for your business. 

6. Encouraging personal growth 

Encouraging the sales team to embrace change, particularly in their sales approaches and behaviors, can boost their motivation to enhance their skills and foster personal development. By promoting this change, your team will not only achieve higher sales goals but also continue to gain valuable knowledge and expertise so that they can be the best in the field.  

Encouraging changes in sales behavior and techniques is never easy, however, having a strong support system in place greatly helps the sales team adapt. Promoting open and honest conversations can also be valuable in making the transition easier. 

How to get your sales team on board 

An established plan can effectively encourage a new system adoption in your sales team, for example, a sales intelligence system.

Encouraging everyone on the team to immediately alter their behaviors and techniques may not be easy, however, implementing these steps can help you get started to achieve the desired change within your team. 

1. Define what behavior and techniques drive sales 

Before putting any changes in place and trying to get your team on board, it is important to do relevant research to see what behaviors and techniques drive more sales and KPIs.

Not only will this provide insight into what methods and actions bring in the best results, but it can also serve as evidence to motivate your team to change their behavior and techniques to drive more sales.

2. Provide sales training/coaching 

While change can seem daunting, scheduling regular training and coaching sessions can ease your team into the transition and aid their sales development. Providing your team with the necessary resources and support is crucial so that they can be more open to making changes. 

At sales-i, we understand the importance of training, and that’s why our new users can use our online training academy as well as our face-to-face training, so we can help them identify the areas they wish to focus on most, look at new sales techniques, help them understand their strengths and weaknesses and more.  

3. Using sales enablement to your advantage 

• Skills 
• Content  
• Facts and figures

4. Sales incentives  

Using sales incentives can be a great way to get your sales team involved in changing their sales behavior. Offering performance-based bonuses, or recognizing and rewarding employees for reaching key milestones, can go a long way in creating a positive team culture and keeping your team motivated.

Acknowledging and celebrating successes, offering flexible working arrangements, and providing opportunities for professional development are all great ways to show employees that their efforts are valued. 

5. Segmentation of prospects 

By segmenting employees, organizations can create reward plans that are tailored specifically to the needs and preferences of different groups, driving greater satisfaction and motivation.

Additionally, setting clear objectives and expectations is important to ensure the rewards are aligned with the goals of the business. This allows organizations to be more competitive in the job market, as they can offer attractive reward plans that are tailored to different groups of employees. 

6. Setting daily, monthly and yearly goals

Setting attainable goals that challenge the team to grow can help to keep morale and motivation high. One way to get the team motivated is by setting goals frequent goals that they can work towards achieving.

Change isn’t always easy, therefore setting goals and celebrating successes, no matter how small, can be an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved and to refocus on the next steps. 

Get in touch to find out if sales-i can help make the process easier for you and your team. 

If you’re a customer looking to increase the use of sales-i in your team, speak with your CSM to discuss how you can increase uptake.