Most economic indicators point to a strengthening economy, now that the pandemic is beginning to wane with the widespread rollout of vaccines. That begs the questions: Is your sales team ready to compete by creating value, not by describing product? Businesses are sitting on piles of cash. People are ready to spend now. But Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is real. Is your sales team truly ready to compete and win – or will you miss the coming wave? Integrity Solutions’ Chief Sales Officer, Bruce Wedderburn, explains what’s different today, including the role of the virtual selling environment and navigating inevitable distractions– and how what worked before won’t do the trick now.

Learn to differentiate through the human experience: Pretty soon most purchases – from small scale B2C to even some larger corporate B2B purchases, can be made through automation without even needing to talk to a sales person. This is the digitization and commoditization of all products and services. This can be bad news but also a tremendous opportunity for sales reps to rise to the occasion.

One of the things that COVID-19 taught us, especially in the early months of the pandemic, is the need for a human connection. The foundation for great sales performance is empathy, understanding and reassurance.

Sales reps need to become trusted consultants to buyers by solving their business challenges and sharing insights not selling products — and going beyond immediate needs. In 2021, your team will need to focus on building trust and rapport in an increasingly digital world while becoming intimately familiar with your buyers’ goals and pains. More and more products are being seen as a commodity so trying to differentiate through describing why you’re different is further putting you into the commodity basket – because that’s what your competitors are doing. Differentiation and sales performance will come from how well your team can deliver value throughout the buying journey, the customer experience, not by how well you can describe your product.