Volatility should be the word of the year for 2022 sales teams. Interest hikes, post-pandemic adjustment, and resulting inflation threw the monkey wrench of all monkey wrenches into sales teams across industries. With a push of the reset button, determined sales teams have a chance to transform their systems and approaches to attract and retain top clients in 2023. Personalization and digitization reign supreme, and with the help of CSS ProSearch, your organization can leverage both.
CSS ProSearch is an expert sales and marketing recruitment firm delivering talent in the technology, consulting, and healthcare industries among others. Reach out here to learn more.
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Necessity breeds innovation
As unpredictable as this market has been, the salesperson will never be obsolete; their tools and processes just change. Understanding the selling landscape of 2023 within the context of staffing will be critical to success due to its unique requirements. Aptitudes like social selling and task delegation to AI and ML are crucial undertakings that salespeople need to execute for a profitable year.
“Necessity is the mother of invention, which is to say the digital buying nature of customers will bring success to the most innovative salespeople,” explains Jennifer Gladysz, CSS ProSearch Manager of Recruiting Operations.
Here are seven areas of innovation in 2023 for salespeople to master.
1. Expand your impact with value-based selling
Selling an isolated good or service doesn’t go as far in this economy as it did in years past, so tell and sell a story. Think about how your product or service will impact not only the immediate need of a client but how that sale introduces a host of added positive byproducts. Global News Wire found that 87 percent of high-growth sales organizations take a value-based approach to sales. Think about value-selling like this; staffing agency salespeople can add to a recruitment partnership proposition by including complementary industry data providing valuable insights on top of hiring.
2. Sell as the individual to master your social selling
Social selling is the salesperson’s parallel to influencer culture. Yes, you need your company’s content, reputation, and backing to attract clients, but you as a salesperson need to make that content your own. Engage with your audience on social media, specifically LinkedIn to make the biggest splash. Salespeople who sell themselves as an individual salesperson save money on advertising, establish themselves as industry thought leaders, and accelerate personal client relations.
3. Leverage automation and AI
The only thing moving faster than tech these days is light itself so if you’re not taking advantage of the tools at your disposal, you’re losing out to someone who is. Use automation to conquer mundane tasks like data entry without lifting a finger. Explore AI assistants for simple email writing as well as conversation optimization. Semrush found that 51 percent of eCommerce industry players have deployed automation technology in their sales teams to keep up with customer traffic.
A quick note on quantity versus quality here; find a balance between letting AI do everything and touching every piece of material yourself to balance output with quality. High outreach volume means absolutely nothing if the messaging isn’t personalized.
4. Master tighter bot screenings when reaching out to potential clients
A marginal note but a note nonetheless, practice and execute professional, polished introductions for gatekeeper bots that clients use to sift out garbage from quality outreach. A gatekeeper bot is AI that answers a phone for a client asking the caller to state their name and business. A top salesperson will have this intro dialed in to stand out amongst a deluge of cold and warm calls.
5. Step in front of the camera
Text in both short and long-form will never fizzle, but video selling is content salespeople need to utilize to attract modern clients. Think about video selling as an extension of social selling. You’re personalizing a message in today’s preferred short-form video format. Video is easier to digest, easier to understand, and generally more memorable than text. For denser material that needs to be consumed whenever wherever, text is still absolutely necessary, but the modern salesperson will have at least some video content.
6. Emphasize existing customer experience to maximize customer lifetime value
Specific to the bear market we find ourselves in, 2023 salespeople need to prioritize their current clients’ experience over untapped business prospects. Don’t take this as a notion to completely ignore the open market, but downturns like these should shift attention to the proverbial bird in hand to steady business. CleverTap found that acquiring a new customer is between 5 and 25 times as expensive as retaining an existing customer, so make your money stretch by watering the plants you already have.
7. Partner with CSS ProSearch today to build a team of expert salespeople with unmatched industry insight
To implement the best sales talent and leverage the most-comprehensive industry data, partner with CSS ProSearch, an organization with an extensive network of sales, marketing, and executive business professionals. With a focus on technology as well as consulting and healthcare verticals, CSS ProSearch provides the finest talent and opportunity through seamless recruitment processes. Connect with CSS ProSearch today to attract top sales and marketing talent!