Alyssa Merwin is Vice President of Global Sales Solutions at LinkedIn.
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The pandemic permanently disrupted the sales process as we once knew it, paving the way for a new era of digital-first go-to-market strategies. But now, just as sales organizations are getting back to a new normal, the macroeconomic environment is propelling leaders to refocus on gaining mind and market share as many organizations tighten budgets. While sales teams will certainly encounter more uncertainty, many companies are finding great success in turning from shallow sales to deep sales solutions as an option capable of helping them capture the tailwinds coming out of the current climate. As a disclosure, my company LinkedIn is one provider of deep sales solutions.
Shallow selling: Is your team stuck in the past?
First, let’s take a step back to reflect on how sales teams have managed through the flux over the past few years.
When virtual selling became the new norm in 2020, leaders responded by adding technology to help their teams reach buyers remotely. However, much of this technology, based on scaled outreach, not only introduced complexity to the sales tech stack but also led to inefficient sales processes because it was based on outdated and incorrect information. This resulted in both a significant increase in the velocity of sales outreach and a correlating decline in buyer engagement.
Today, companies are reevaluating many of these purchase decisions. The shortcomings of these technology investments have been compounded by a dated approach to sales in which sellers focus predominantly on reaching the most people, not the right people. They zero in on volume, looking at the “who” and “what” without paying much attention to the “when,” “when” or “how.”
And with only 5% of people in the market for a B2B product at any given time, more than 95% of outreach time is wasted. These numbers become even bleaker when there’s economic uneasiness, with many buyers saying “no” or “not right now” because of budget constraints, even if they have the need for a new product or service.
This approach of high-velocity outreach, with low specificity on who and how to engage, is shallow selling. If sales teams continue operating this way, they risk damaging their reputation and that of the companies they work for; they’ll continue to expend energy on activity that doesn’t produce the right outcomes, and they risk being ineffective in a time when no company can afford low productivity.
How can a team move to a deep sales solution?
It’s time to move away from a shallow sales strategy; sales organizations need to shift toward a new approach that works, especially in this environment.
Variability in the sales process is the biggest threat to consistent and predictable performance, so to start, leaders need to identify the best habits of their top sellers, then codify them into a playbook that can be consistently used by everyone.
Our research shows that top performers spend 10% less time selling than the average performer. How do they spend less time selling but produce better results? Top performers across all industries display three habits that set them apart from average performers.
1. They prioritize the best accounts, and they qualify and disqualify more quickly.
2. They act on signals of interest and intent more readily.
3. They find hidden allies (former customers, former colleagues, etc.).
They dedicate more time to researching and understanding their prospects, mapping out the key relationships and best ways to break into those accounts. These habits, coupled with access to the right tools to support them, create the foundation of deep sales.
What should leaders seek when choosing a tool to support their deep sales?
When considering a tool to support the implementation of a deep sales strategy, here are three qualities sellers should seek out in a potential solution.
1. It should enable more accurate prioritization.
First-party data provides the critical foundation for sales teams to identify white space and prioritize their territories based on accounts with the most opportunity for growth.
2. It should result in increased productivity.
With shallow sales, technology is used to drive more outreach. A deep sales technology solution should enable you to prioritize quality over quantity. Look for tools that provide signals showing which accounts are most interested in products and services at any given time so sellers can prioritize those opportunities for outreach and engage when these buyers are in the market.
3. It should help your team achieve faster paths in stronger relationships and better outcomes.
Top performers build relationships early by prioritizing trust and credibility as inputs to the sale, not outputs. They identify the relevant stakeholders, map out key relationships and connections, and figure out how to best approach them. When reps leverage referrals, find hidden allies or get warm introductions from their network, they see better outcomes like faster win rates and higher average sales prices.
Used well, a deep sales approach can optimize your team’s performance.
When sellers eliminate shallow selling and adopt a deep sales playbook, they are better equipped to prioritize the companies that are in-market today, drive more engagement with buyers and build trust and credibility, enabling better outcomes more quickly.
Navigating this next wave of uncertainty requires a change. I hope this article will provide some valuable insight for strategic organizations considering optimizing their team’s performance through a deep sales solution.
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