By Stephen Borer. This article first appeared in the WRLA’s Yardstick Magazine, Issue 6, December 2020
Everyone has had to adapt due to COVID-19, but the inability for sales reps to travel has been a huge adjustment in the building materials industry. The transition to remote selling has taken some getting used to, but there have been new benefits discovered along the way.
While demand and supply chain issues is largely out of their control, the one thing salespeople can control is how quickly they can get up to speed with technology and maximize the opportunities to stay in touch without leaving the office.
“(Video conferencing) has been quite an asset because it eliminated the need to travel and to put more than a couple people in a room at any one time. Technology has made this (virus situation) a little more bearable,” says Gord Langley, sales manager at Kenroc Building Materials.
Beyond the typical Zoom, Microsoft Teams and GoToMeeting that everyone has now mastered, sales teams also had to learn online design tools, new customer ordering systems, customer relationship management tools and online signature tools. Plus, the use of social media and its never-ending thirst for content has helped some salespeople stand out from the crowd and further develop relationships.
It is the maximization of these tools that really differentiates the best sales representatives and managers from the rest. It is not simply about whether or not you can use the technology, but rather how you take advantage of each tool.
For example, one of my sales manager clients explained to me recently that by reducing travel time and replacing it with more meetings, he is actually driving productivity within his team without any detriment to customers because they all expect video conference meetings now. Less expenses plus more meetings have increased sales all because of the smart use of technology.
As Vince Baraniecz, sales manager with Duchesne says ‘”You can’t really go in and expect to change (a customer). You need to be able to demonstrate what the benefits are. With the dynamic we have now, we all have to adjust. The old sales call process used to be ‘I have to be there to get the PO.’ We must now use technology and do it from the digital space. But to do so, we have to show them beforehand what the value is, what the benefit is to them.”
The very basis of sales has not changed. What the best salespeople now understand is how to deliver good relationships and great service through technology. They grasp how to best utilize the tools at their disposal to make their customer’s day easier not harder.
Stephen Borer, Partner of DMC Recruitment Group, is a building materials industry recruiter with a track record of success in Canada and the US. Contact Stephen at [email protected] or 778-802-3530.
