Everyone has priorities and challenges; leaders have more than their share to overcome. So, how do leaders create the right balance to make progress inside their organization? Many believe they can only control what they control. This may mean cleaning out their inbox and accomplishing activities based on demand. As a salesperson today, you must learn to cut through the noise and help buyers notice. You can cut through the noise. How? Focus on possibilities.
Buyer decision-makers recognize that the key to success today is focusing on what they control and what matters most for their internal and external customers. Unfortunately, the latter has become more difficult today because of the often-hidden roadblocks that create barriers to prioritization and execution. It feels like many prospects are in “survival mode.” That makes them unwilling to explore something new. You have to figure out how to help them see something new is possible.
How do you help prospects spend their precious time figuring out how they can do something different to get better results?
Help Prospects Find the Right Balance
When you do that and learn over time, you will likely learn that our prospects are often reactive. They have very little time to be proactive. What if you helped them be more aggressive? To think things through? To get ahead of challenges? What would that look like?
Help Prospects Balance Trade-Offs
What about the team they lead?
When you think about it, you won’t be able to know “exactly.” However, you can make assumptions. Think about our company. What do WE struggle with? What do our leaders have challenges with? What do you need to be successful? What do your leaders need help with?
Most prospects must define their priorities in advance, and tradeoffs will almost certainly arise. There is the tradeoff of doing nothing vs. changing something, the tradeoff between taking action now or waiting.
And often, your prospect will have to decide what they will not do (because they lack the understanding or capacity).
Your prospects can deprioritize activities that are based on being reactive and spend more time on optimization and innovating, but this might not always seem feasible. However, that’s why they’re in a leadership role! They must make the best decision that balances these trade-offs and have confidence in that decision. Salespeople (like you) can help them see what decisions to make.
Think about this. Your prospects will also provide visibility to the rest of your team, their peers, and their leadership. They will have to communicate a lot about everything that’s happening. They’re required to give certain people visibility into the things they don’t have the time to do or the ability to see.
They make trade-offs between what is possible and what is impossible. Your job is to help them see what’s possible in their challenging environment.
Help Your Prospects Be Successful
Without action or the desire for action, you won’t be able to help your prospects see what’s possible. Without that, you cannot create an opportunity to help them be successful. Without that, you cannot explain how Elastic can help them be successful.
What do you do?
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How can you influence a meeting they are about to have?
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How do you help them figure stuff out?
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How do you help them prepare for meetings where they will discuss upcoming initiatives?
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How will you help them communicate internally?
There are many more ways to help if you can get outside your needs and find ways to serve them. It’s also helpful to reflect on what they must do to protect their time — especially since their current time allocation looks different than their ideal time allocation. That means what they want to do, isn’t what they are doing. How can you help them with that?
