Building Blocks to Successful Selling

By: Madhumita Basu, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, Nuvoco Vistas Corp.Ltd

Madhumita brings over 30 years of expertise in customer-centric processes, strategic planning, sales, marketing, business development, and IT. As the head of Sales and Marketing at Nuvoco, she also oversees Innovation, driving corporate goals in safety, growth, and performance. She leads the Construction Innovation Development Centre, advancing product development and partnerships in intelligent construction technologies, and manages sales for the cement business and residential housing segment.

“All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved” ~ Sun Tzu

Given a long career in sales, I have noticed that strategy and tactics get often blurred. Typically, when we look at competition and seek answers in market conditions, market prices and schemes we perpetuate confusion on this count. Sun Tzu’s quote rightly states that what we see as competitor’s strategy is actually only their tactical moves. To attempt to build a counter-strategy on such observations is therefore like walking on a treadmill. Finally, if you are chasing the competition, you are already twice removed from the consumer.

The picture gets further blurred in B2C business, where in normal course an organization has a high dependency on the channel or network to understand market conditions. A distribution or dealer network reads the market in the limited context of money flow and ROI. The channel invests in money and not necessarily in the consumer or your product.

Selling well and consistently meeting targets is also about remembering certain principles.

One, never wait for the right market conditions cause the market is like the river and will take its own course. Invest today in understanding and helping your customer. When a salesman listens to the customer's needs and pain points, the customer in turn is willing to listen to the solution offered by the product or service.

Two, hard work is not the panacea of all evils. It is lack of direction and seldom lack of time or effort that leaves us behind in achieving our goals.

Three, optimism is not blind faith; it is conviction based on true understanding of our customers, analytics that help us correlate prior experience and openness to experimenting.

Here's an ABC guide to help you look within when numbers are not up to your expectations.

Attitude - is often misunderstood. Many believe it is about being able to talk your way through - smoothly and confidently. Gift of the gab is a highly overrated salesman's skill. It is not how you carry yourself but how you carry your mind that matters! A growth mindset is essential attitude. A growth mindset, in turn, means:

***You believe that achievements are down to effort, not just inherent talent.

***You're willing to learn from your mistakes and find value in criticism.

***You believe that your intelligence and ability can be developed.

 (Credits: Dr Carol Dweck)

Behavior - respect towards processes, planning and diligence in chasing the lead indicators. When you externalize a problem - demand is low, money circulation is poor etc - you will never find the solution. When numbers are low get back to the basics. Dial up customer connect, shift gears to discussing the why and the how with the team and not the what (to do).

Confidence - must be explained, projected, and shared. Many salesmen postpone the difficult conversations. They remain "confident" about numbers till way past mid-month, insisting they are working hard and will meet the targets. Remember a goal properly set is halfway reached. Being able to articulate the problem and soliciting timely inputs, be it promotional support, discounts, market storming and, sometimes plain empathy, is a key responsibility of a sales manager. In that really difficult month at least make sure you explain well and early the situation in your market so others in the team can dial up measures and mitigate the shortfall.