With sales as competitive and a company’s success as critical as ever before, we at Workwolf have been diving into ways you can improve your sales tactics. And one of the most common themes that comes up time and again is the need for going beyond just selling in the sales industry.
Keith Snowden, for one, has been working in the med-tech industry for over 20 years and recognizes “This is not selling widgets” when it comes to live-saving technology. “What you’re dealing with,” he says, “is a very customer-concentric and patient-concentric business, which requires a high degree of technology and technical expertise.”
That is to say, technical sales is not for everybody. That is, even those with experience and expertise in selling in general may not be suitable for a position that requires a high level of understanding of the technology and related products and services they’re selling. But more than that, technical sales—especially in highly specialized and critical industries such as the med-tech industry—requires meaningful and lasting connections. Specifically, Snowden speaks of the vital importance of making connections between patients, fellow salespeople, medical staff in hospitals and other care facilities, and even with those performing research and using products and services like those he sells to continue to improve people’s lives.
So, how do you make such meaningful, crucial connections?
Lara, our marketing coordinator sat down with Snowden to learn what he has to offer in this area of expertise, and Snowden certainly delivered.
When Sales Requires More than Just Selling
While Snowden is, after more than two decades in the industry, far from a newbie to the field, he notes that working in technical sales specifically is itself an ongoing process. That is, you have to continually study and learn new technologies to be able to effectively deliver the products/services to your prospective clients. Otherwise, as Snowden notes, they will know what you don’t know.
What’s more: a typical sales pitch certainly will not work. That is, especially for such specialized sales work, you’ll need to spend time building trust and meaningful connections between yourself and your prospective clients.
After all, when it comes to live-saving technology and the like, you’re not simply selling a product or service; you’re selling your likability, trustworthiness, and what you’re promising to deliver through such a product/service. You’re selling a solution to a high-stress and high-demand circumstance.
“It’s not about counting numbers and cranking out [sales],” Snowden says. “It’s about the customer and the physicians, the staff, the nurses.” In this way, salespeople become a part of a whole team whose work can make live-changing solutions for practitioners and patients alike.
Here are some ways you can go beyond just selling to your clients to make such meaningful connections necessary for a long-term and successful career in technical sales.
Make Yourself Known to Your Clients
While Snowden has been, as we mentioned earlier, in the med-tech industry for over 20 years (!), he notes that what he experienced then is still true today: you have to have connections to get into the industry and really succeed.
So, for those looking to get into the business, Snowden suggests researching about those in the industry, learning who they might be, and connecting with them. Many of these connections, he says, he makes over LinkedIn. But crucially, it’s not enough to simply make yourself visible, or even reach out to others and start asking for favours or sales.
You’ll need to make a meaningful connection with both potential colleagues and clients alike. And doing so means allowing those audiences the ability to put a face to a name. Specifically, Snowden suggests using one-on-one calls or personalized videos, such as those one can create via VidYard, to make a more personalized introduction.
And crucially, let this technology really showcase your personality and abilities as a sales representative. Allow your personality and intelligence to shine through to show that you’re a personable, trustworthy, and hard-working person who can meet sales goals and further improve your clients’ lives.
Work with Patience and Persistence
As Snowden notes, a successful and fulfilling career in sales is by no means an overnight-process. It takes time, patience, and a thick-skin.
There will be many instances of rejection, he notes, but these should be opportunities for growth and learning. Specifically, you can use instances of rejection to turn a ‘no’ into a lesson: what did you miss the mark on this time? Were you really listening to what they needed? If not, how can you better respond to their needs moving forward?
Respond to Their Specific Needs
That brings us to our last point in going beyond selling: listening and responding accordingly to your client’s needs.
Unlike other sales positions, Snowden notes that the kinds of sales he does is absolutely not the area where one can simply push a product on a client. This kind of sales requires active listening to the client to hear their pain points. After all, you can only accurately resolve and therefore sell the solution to their pain points once you fully understand them.
So, listen carefully to their needs and if you face rejection, understand what aspect of their pain point is not being met with what you have to offer.
What It Takes to Build an Effective Sales Team
Of course, many of the skills that one builds up in their sales career are transferrable to other positions in the industry, including positions of leadership and mentorship. So, if you’re looking to take on such a role in a sales team, look no further than the following skills, which as Snowden suggests, are crucial for effective leadership.
1. Strong Leadership Skills
As Snowden suggests, “You manage resources, but you lead people.” So, show your team members their value and guide your team members to a collective success together. And showing your team members will contribute to their collective respect and trust towards you, which itself will further allow you to better lead them.
They have to know you, as Snowden notes, and like you and trust you in order to work cohesively.
2. Consistent and Reliable Follow-through
When taking on a leadership role, Snowden notes, one must be able to reliably and consistently act as they ask their team members to. That is, you should never ask your team members to do something you yourself wouldn’t do. And what better way to install trust in a process than doing and showing yourself?
So, take action and teach by doing.
3. A Healthy Sense of Humility
Lastly, of course, Snowden advocates for the ability to practice everyday skills with a sense of humility. While a role of leadership is indeed important, he notes that by no means does this mean one should work with a sense of entitlement or focus on the self.
Instead, Snowden suggests focusing on the team as a unit and how the team can deliver its products/services as best as they can. And sometimes, he notes, this means prioritizing others before yourself.
Summary
This blog, with expert advice from Keith Snowden, features three key ways of going beyond just selling in your sales career to make meaningful connections with mentees, clients, colleagues, and potential clients online and in-person. For those venturing into technical sales, Snowden suggests establishing trust and building meaningful connections with clients. After all, you’re not just selling a product or service; you’re offering a solution to critical, high-pressure situations.
Special thanks to Keith Snowden for the great insights that contributed to this blog post. If you’d like to connect with Keith, reach out to him via his LinkedIn page here and tell him we sent you.
If you have expert advice you’d like to offer us and be featured in a blog post like this one, let us know! Leave a comment on our latest LinkedIn post letting us know what expert advice you have to share.
We can’t wait to connect with you!
