How to Succeed at Team Selling

BY Kathy Crosett
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If you’re now engaged in more team selling meetings, you’re not alone. In fact, increased team selling is one of the top challenges sales reps will face this year. The latest Richardson Selling Challenges report, which is summarized on the Salesforce​.com blog by Andrea Grodnitzky, describes several other challenges you may encounter in 2017.

Productivity

Reps all across the country are feeling the pressure to get more done this year. Productivity isn’t just about how much direct selling you do. It’s also about how you manage your time. Like many reps, you may find it hard to shift gears from engaging with a prospect to taking care of administrative details. The problem is, if you don’t track those details, you may forget to make a key follow-​up call or send out an important proposal.

If you’re fortunate enough to have administrative support to help you with these tasks, use the talents of these people. If you’re on your own, use the in-​house system or set up a system to stay organized. Reserve the same period of time each day to enter data into your worksheet or CRM about the meetings you've had or who the new contact person is at one of your big accounts.

Tending to these tasks for 30 minutes at the start of every day can be a great way to organize your work and make sure nothing falls through the cracks. Following that, you can focus on selling.

Team Selling

Solutions today are more likely to include a technology component that requires an expert's explanation. On top of that, the technology component, for example – software-​as-​a-​service – frequently changes. It can be nearly impossible for sales reps to stay current on the technical underpinnings of these products. In addition, the clients you’re selling to likely already have a legacy system on board. When they start thinking about making a change, the first thing they’ll want to know is how your system will port over their existing data. Prospects might also want to know how your system mesh with their internal accounting or CRM system. These selling scenarios are giving rise to more team selling situations — in that you'll bring a technical expert or two into phone discussions or meetings, in order to provide answers and support.

Before you approach the prospect, make sure the rest of your team understands the process. Each individual should play a specific role. You may need to practice your presentations together to prepare for the best outcome. If you’re leading the effort, it will also be your responsibility to hold regular meetings as the prospect gets further down the funnel. Remind team members about what they need to bring to the table for the next meeting. At the end of the sales process, hold a regroup meeting to discuss what is working well and what should change as you prepare to engage the next prospect.

Sales is not a stagnant profession. As you encounter industry challenges, take the time to understand them and adapt your approach.


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