Why robots can't sell.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to hit headlines, with investment in robotics consistently growing. Millions of jobs have already become automated and taken over by machinery and AI is going to bring about another wave of redundant humans. 

The good news? If you work in sales, it's unlikely that your job is ever going to be automated. Why? Because you possess complex soft skills, traits and behaviour that a robot is simply never going to be able to duplicate. Think Data from Star Trek or C3PO from Star Wars; they might be likeable but could they read buyer behaviour, understand complex customer needs or use intuition to navigate a sale? Sales is simply a complex skillset which can't be programmed. 

So what can you do to continue safeguarding your career? Make sure that your sales techniques and processes are at their peak. Show the industry just how much value you bring and how irreplaceable your team are. 

Sales is the driving force of any organisation or company, so your team can’t be neglected. By investing in your team you can stay ahead of the game and bring your business right into the forefront of your industry. 

To help you hit your targets and smash your KPI’s, we’ve rounded up the ways you can boost your bottom line in 2018. From sales training to increasing your ROI whilst growing your team, we can help.

Review your performance and processes

Take the time to look at your team in detail, and uncover those areas where change might be necessary. This is something you should do throughout the year, but by checking your processes for issues in time for the New Year, you can help your team get off to a healthy start.

Look at the journey of your sales team and identify places where performance is low or sales are falling through. Once you’ve identified these problematic areas, you can start to take action.

A bottleneck in sales can be caused by a number of things. Whether you’ve got a full team, but skills are lacking, or you’ve got a hard working group who are stretched too far, gaps can have substantial impact on your performance. Once you’re aware of these issues, you can get to work on reshaping your team for 2018.

To speed up this process, call in Pareto. We’ll assess and review your team and offer you bespoke solutions to suit your business’ individual needs.

Sharpen up your skills

Training your team is essential to instilling confidence in your employees and taking their performance to the next level. Whether it’s a pitch, a negotiation or brushing up on the fundamentals, your team and your bottom line will always benefit from upskilling.

- Presentation skills. Winning business and making deals can often boil down to one thing – presentation skills. No matter how good your product, if you can’t deliver a confident, informative and persuasive presentation, you might be compromising your ability to make a sale. Upskill to help year team create a compelling case and lead the presentation with authority.

- Negotiation skills. Feel confident that your team can seal the deal when it’s needed most with negotiation skills training. You’ve put in all the hard work, but that final step of executing the pitch and agree the numbers can be a game changer. Put your whole team in a strong position from the word go and invest in training.

- Account Management. Keep your customers happy, manage multiple accounts and up-sell like a pro. Staying on top of all of your accounts can help you maintain your bottom line and help your team recognize new opportunities. Growing your accounts and building relationships is an excellent way of maximizing your sales profits.

- Sales Fundamentals. Taking on a new starter? Sharpen up their basic skills and build up their confidence from the word go. Not only will it help them get off to a flying start, it will help to boost your bottom line too.

The benefits of presentation training doesn’t just lie in upskilling. Investing in your employee’s professional development and helping them progress within your company shows you care about them and want them to achieve their goals. This approach will help to keep attrition rates down and maximise the success of the individuals in your team.

To provide the very best training available for your sales department, turn to Pareto. We’ve got a comprehensive range of courses for both teams and individuals. Over the past two decades, we’ve been right at the cutting edge of our industry and trained more than 120,000 sales people with the latest techniques and strategies. Transform your sales team with our sales training courses today.

Introduce entry level jobs

Bring new energy to your team and invest in the future of your company when you bring on entry-level graduates. Eager, ambitious and full of energy, a graduate can be another body on the sales floor and can up your performance with relatively little cost compared to hiring a more senior staff member. With a small investment, you can reap some big rewards, meaning your ROI will be greatly improved.

What’s more, when you hire a graduate through Pareto, you can guarantee you’re getting the best possible candidate. We filter out the most promising candidates so you only get the top 20%. We also provide them with 128 hours of training before they even start with you so they’re ready to take on whatever challenges you throw at them.

Stay ahead of the competition

Once you’ve sharpened up your team, the next step is staying ahead of the competition. Follow these top tips to improve your team now and in the future.

- Know your competition. Keep your competitors, and the way they operate in mind as you move forward. What are their USPs and where do they succeed? Learn from them to stay ahead.

- Look into new markets. Explore new opportunities and target different markets to expand your portfolio. This way you can increase your customer base and reduce your risk levels.

- Diversify your offering. Consider what you’re currently offering your clients and how you can expand on that, to give them the best possible service from your company. Don’t be afraid to look for upsell areas.

- Know your customer. To understand your customer’s needs, you have to stay abreast anything that could impact their behaviours. Study their industry and stay informed of any changes that may affect their likeliness to invest with you.

- Set your goals. Look to the future and set up KPI’s for your team and the company. With something to aim for, including time scales, you’ll have your eyes on the prize from day one.

Put these steps into motion and you could be on your way to making 2018 your best, most successful sales year yet.