There is no doubt that the Sales department in any organization plays a significant role in the continuous generation and growth of organizational revenue. With most sales reps and sales teams only winning around 19% of the deals they pursue (Trent, 2022), it’s understandable that an organizations sales department is on the constant look-out for tools and techniques that will assist them in boosting their sales and giving them an edge above their competitors.
We investigate 4 sales techniques growing in adoption and popularity amongst sales teams:
Sales Gamification:
Sales gamification is the integration of game elements into sales processes, carried out with the intention of increasing motivation and engagement within sales teams (Needle, 2021). This is done by incorporating a number of game elements into sales activities like leader boards, rewards and challenges.
The Advantages: Increased motivation, enhanced team engagement and improved learning and skills development amongst all team members (Needle, 2021).
The Disadvantages: An increased potential for unhealthy competition if this technique is not monitored correctly and inaccurate performance measurement if gamified metrics are the only metrics used to measure performance (Shapiro, 2020).
The rise of Social Selling:
Newberry & Olafson (2023) define social selling as the practice of utilizing social media platforms to connect, engage with and build relationships with potential customers. It involves sharing customer-relevant content, participating in conversations and using social media tools to generate leads and drive sales.
The Advantages: The ability to reach customers far beyond physical borders, an additional means of building relationships with customers and immediate access to customer insights (Indeed, 2023).
The Disadvantages: Time-consuming, difficult to measure your ROI and an increased potential for privacy and security risks if customer data is not handled correctly, states Indeed (2023).
Emotional Intelligence as a sales tool:
Emotional intelligence refers to a person’s ability to recognize and understand their own emotions and the emotions of others and to use this to “understand, interpret, and respond” to emotions shared by others, explains Cherry (2023). In the context of sales, emotional intelligence plays a crucial role in building relationships, understanding customer needs and closing deals.
The Advantages: Stronger customer relationships and an increased understanding of those customers’ verbal and non-verbal cues (Marketing Samuari, 2021).
The Disadvantages: Emotional fatigue from continuously empathizing with customers and the possibility of emotional manipulation being carried out (Profile Tree, 2018).
Sales Enablement and Technology Adoption:
Sales enablement refers to equipping sales teams with the right tools, resources and training in order to give them the greatest opportunity to close deals (HubSpot, 2023). This involves the leveraging of technology and the adoption of sales enablement strategies to improve sales numbers.
The Advantages: Streamlined sales processes due to task automation tools being implemented, giving sales people the ability to make sales more speedily (Scribe, 2022).
The Disadvantages: Rejection from sales teams if they are not trained to use the new technologies correctly (Scribe, 2022) and data security risks if the handling and storage of customer data is not carried out correctly (BBC, 2023).
References:
BBC. (2023). Advantages and disadvantages of using new technology for businesses – technological influence on Business Activity – Eduqas – GCSE Business Revision – Eduqas – BBC Bitesize. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z4bjjhv/revision/6
Cherry, K. (2023, May 2). How emotionally intelligent are you?. PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-emotional-intelligence-2795423
HubSpot. (2023). What is sales enablement?. HubSpot. https://www.hubspot.com/sales-enablement
Indeed. (2023, March 11). 7 pros and cons of social media marketing – job search | indeed. Career development. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/pros-and-cons-of-social-media-marketing
Marketing Samuari. (2021). How Marketers Use Emotional Intelligence to Improve Their Content. Digital Marketing Agency | Marketing Samurai LLC. https://marketing-samurai.com/how-marketers-use-emotional-intelligence-to-improve-their-content/#:~:text=Using%20EI%20to%20Build%20Your,Make%20your%20marketing%20automation%20stronger
Needle, F. (2021, March 17). The Psychology of Sales Gamification & How to implement it, according to sales leaders. HubSpot Blog. https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/the-psychology-of-sales-gamification
Newberry, C., & Olafson, K. (2023, March 23). Social Selling explained: A 2023 Guide to Social Media Sales. Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. https://blog.hootsuite.com/what-is-social-selling/
Profile Tree. (2018, August 8). Emotional intelligence in the workplace: Your head vs your heart. ProfileTree Web Design and Digital Marketing. https://profiletree.com/emotional-intelligence-in-the-workplace/
Scribe. (2022, October 17). Technology adoption – benefits, Challenges & How to create it. Scribehow. https://scribehow.com/library/technology-adoption
Shapiro. (2020). The benefits and pitfalls of Gamification for Sales Team training. Shapiro Negotiations. https://www.shapironegotiations.com/benefits-pitfalls-gamification-sales-team-training/
Trent, C. (2022, February 7). 15 sales closing statistics to help you win more deals in 2022. Dooly. https://www.dooly.ai/blog/sales-closing-statistics/
