Johannesburg, 17 Jun 2021
The renowned composer and violinist Antonio Vivaldi was very prolific. Today he is best known by modern ears for his excellent Four Seasons, yet when he died, he could claim to have written over 800 different works, including 94 operas. But his real hustle was sales. Back then, a composer didn't have copyright protection. They were only as good - and profitable - as their last work.
Vivaldi didn't rest on his laurels. He spent much time building relationships with many different people, including Popes and Kings. He was a consummate hustler.
Successful people build relationships, especially in sales. Yet the power of communication for sales is often overlooked, explains Thabang Molapisi, Tarsus Distribution's Africa Sales Manager for the SADC region.
"A lot of people don't see the connection between sales and communication, and that lands them in hot water. Often, sales representatives feel they have well managed relationships with their customers, only to be left in the dark wondering when something goes wrong or when they have lost big on an account because of an assumption."
Building good and strong relationships is hard, and the pandemic's distancing measures blunted many sales strategies. Not only did the past 18 months cause ripples that sunk many companies and led to retrenchments. It also changed the dynamics of how we carry on our day-to-day work. Most businesses switched to virtual operations or working from home. These factors create a particularly tough situation for salespeople in the SADC region.
"SADC sales is not for the fainthearted," notes Molapisi. "It's where you get to see extraordinary things happen and customers asking for the impossible, or pulling out clever tactics to scrutinise for small discounts and squeeze some extra cash out in order to survive and keep afloat."
But if sales were easy, everyone would be doing it. Though the current environment is very tough, if salespeople are on top of their game and communicating properly, they can still be successful. Molapisi points to a few key aspects they should consider:
Know your customer
"Just responding to a request or e-mail does not mean you know your customer. Salespeople must invest in their regular key customers' needs and trends, in order to understand what they are going through. Constant contact with your key clients is vital. From time to time, call your customers and just check in. How are they doing? How is the family? How would they want you to best improve on a particular product or service? The answers will go a long way in achieving customer satisfaction. If you get customers to open up to you, they'll see your value not only in business."
People buy from people
"Remind your customers there is a person on the other side who takes an interest in them. Prompt responses to a customer's e-mail or call goes the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction. Hence the need to understand your customer and invest in knowing your customer a little bit more. It will increase your customer's confidence in your products and services."
Overcommunicate, overcommunicate, overcommunicate
"The world is disrupted and some economies are shrinking. Stock delivery and availability are big issues. Some major customers have to cancel orders, some lose credit cover and some are going out of businesses. It is very important to understand what your customers go through and the help they need. Open communication opens up doors for people and potential clients and referrals. You are able to notice some struggles and red flags on customers, and make business decisions or flags to protect both your clients and yourself."
Empathise
"A big part of effective communication is to understand what customers are going through and empathise with them. Support them and demonstrate customer centricity. Be the go-to person. You might not always have to sell what the customer wants to buy. But if a customer values you, they will come to you with anything because you are on the top of their mind. Be a visible brand that customers would want to be associated with."
Share sales problems
"It is a very tough environment out there for salespeople. The world has gone virtual and teams work from home across multiple countries. There is little physical or face-to-face interaction with other team members. Some team members might find themselves in tough situations. This can be stressful and increase anxiety. It is important from time to time to call your teammates for a chat and have a good laugh, just to appreciate how they are doing. Who knows - you might get a solution to some of the issues you encounter. It's these little things that people tend to overlook that go a long way."
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