As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of B2B sales, we must continually refine our strategies to stay ahead in a saturated look-alike, sound-alike market. When you think of any word that has the prefix "re" it suggests the original word no longer holds true. Repair, Replace, Remodel.

‍Sales is no different.‍

As sales professionals, we must continually iterate our process, our conversations, the value we provide and most importantly ourselves.

I was invited to be a speaker at a conference in Ottawa, Ontario on Redesigning Sales. My approach was the 5 Re's to Re-designing Sales. When you consider the art and science of sales, the 5 Re's represent the science, the structure that houses the content. The art is our unique approach, style, and individual execution of the topics. These will change as we change, buyers evolve, products morph etc. Change is the constant.

Here they are…

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🖼 Re-Frame

Our Purpose: Your "Why" is critical, if we don't know why we do what we do our conversations, outreach will be flat. We are operating from a place of uncertainty. Look inward, what lights us up, motivates us, excites us? This is contagious. Teams and customers want to be part of this.

Core Values: "Success is what we attract by who we become" Hal Elrod states this in his book, The Miracle Morning. The values that guided us to get to where we currently are, may not be enough to take us to that next level. We must become that person, what new values will support your journey of expansion?

Growth Mindset: How can we turn down the noise, the stories that don't serve us and lead with an unwavering sense of self-belief? Start by becoming aware of our thoughts. When do they start turning negative, what triggers us? What language are we using? This is a great starting point to get in front of them. How can we expect our prospects to believe in us if we don't? We project our thoughts and feelings - make sure they are helping not hindering.

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♻ Re-Invest

Professional Development: Do you have a personal brand? 95% of B2B buying decisions are influenced by content! Are you actively posting content, sharing ideas, and stories about what worked, and what didn't?

What is your point of view, what are you known for? Loud and proud, safe and small won't stop the scroll. Team: Do you have a diverse team? Studies show a diverse team far outperforms a homogeneous team. How are we creating safety for everyone to show up authentically? Share the wins and losses, and encourage the introverts to come forward. As leaders, we must model the behaviour, and be the change we want to see in others.

Technology: With all the tech stacks out there, we can't be using everything. What can we use to optimize our main currency - time?

Leverage AI: Learn more about how it can give us back more time, and allow it to support your approach. Ensure your revisions have a human touch, lined with empathy and authenticity, the things Alexa can't do.

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🛠 Re-Build

Sales Process/Buyer's Journey: Your sales process may have slightly changed in a hybrid world; however, the Buyer's journey most likely has changed. Are these processes aligned?

What advanced them through the stages before may be different, where is friction hiding? Are we adding it? This is a critical starting point. Onboarding Process: As sales reps, our role is to provide an experience for our buyers to confidently make a decision. The way we are onboarded has a direct correlation to this. If we are treated well and have a clear and detailed path forward, we will provide the same approach for our prospects. People remember how we made them feel, our team is no different.

Playbook: The techniques, tactics and approaches we use to move our buyers along a journey have changed and will continue to change. Do we have the tools to execute what is required at each stage to advance or are we leaving it up to the individual? Creating inconsistencies and confusion for our buyers. Provide a road map, remove the guesswork and show them what good looks like.

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🤗 Re-Think

Be Intentional: Do we still have the buyer at the center of our strategy? Are we considering their point of view, hopes, fears, and questions they may have? This is a way to differentiate ourselves, allowing them to feel heard and validated, answering the questions they didn't know to ask in our engagements.

Disarm Our Buyers: Are we leading with transparency or hiding from it? Letting them know upfront what we can and cannot do, speaking to the recall in the news, the poor review. Control the message before your competitors do. This builds trust, compresses the sales cycle and completely disarms them, sadly honesty and transparency are not the norm.

Impactful Questions: One of the best ways to disarm our prospects is to come prepared with thought-provoking, insightful questions that make them think. This is a pattern interrupt from the daily expected behaviours associated with average reps. Do the work. Leverage AI for insights, trends, and triggers. Lead with curiosity and have an inquisitive helpful tonality.

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📋 Re-Create

Build Trust: Make it about them, practice active listening, and do what you say you're going to do. Be in service and make it your goal to leave them better than they were before they met you, this makes for a memorable experience. The bar is low.

Radical Candor: Shift from asking to telling, remove indecision. Reduce options, we are the experts in our field they are the experts in theirs, take control of the experience. Leverage your source of authority.

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When we leverage these 5 Re's we Redesign Sales, this is the beauty we can make it whatever we want. Tap into our creativity, innovation and curiosity to stand out and be different and memorable.

Sales leaders, this is a great activity to involve your team, invite them to come up with examples to support the 5 Re's, align to your existing KPIs and customer expectations and track your progress.

You've got this!

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