Reaches out to Customers wherever they are

OUTGOING: Reaches out to Customers wherever they are

HQC Molecules’ pantry used to be a noisy place, on Monday mornings, dominated almost completely by the sales team. Animated voices discussed sales issues over chai, coffee, poha and sandwiches. Covid had changed all that.

Sitting a table away from his friend Jitesh, Relationship Manager Ranjit frowned. “It was difficult earlier. Now it’s become insanely tough” he declared.

Conversation is a gift with successful salespeople. Formal sales conversation however, isn’t simple small talk. Accomplished sales professionals know people have limited attention spans. So, they steer clear of distractions, and inspire attention, keeping the conversation focused and purposeful. They watch out to stay clear of..

Jitesh gave him a sympathetic smile.

“Come on Ranjit, when has sales been easy? Drink your tea and tell me about your weekend movie on Netflix”

Ranjit was in no mood to let go.

“It’s not sales Jitu” said Ranjit, his face darkening as he spoke “Getting appointments from health professionals has become almost impossible. Waiting with patients to be called in between for a quick detailing was still fine. Now, in our medical segment, even patients don’t get to see doctors face to face. So for people like us, even getting appointments is just endlessly frustrating. It is always a ‘not now.. let things improve’ – kind of a response”

“You are one of the most competent sales persons here, Ranjit. You can’t feel tied-up like this. Shake yourself up.. Reach out!”

“What do you mean?”

“Look Ranjit. One has to be outgoing about this. Outgoing is not ‘going out’ to meet Doctors. That is passe. Now, it is about ‘reaching out’ to make those meetings happen. See, Doctors cannot meet us the way they always did. That’s reality. Can we reach out to them, ask to meet them they way they are meeting their patients?”

“But how?”

“I have been so busy meeting Doctors last week, I’ve had to skip food and coffee breaks! You look puzzled! I met them all virtually. It took me some time to reach out to them, I had to send messages on whatsapp and email, had to share topics of current mutual interest, until the responses came trickling in. I had to keep at it. My calendar is blocked now for the next 4 days.. I have 6 - 8 video calls with doctors daily. Since I schedule them in their off-patient times, they are very relaxed too! That is a great advantage. Reach out has two challenges.. Firstly, one has to overcome the inertia, the hesitation to reach out. Two, one has to keep at it, because the trickle takes time to begin flowing. You can”

Market savvy sales professionals don’t hesitate to go virtual or use social media to spot, nurture and grow business relationships. They look for their Customers in the right places and spend time in groups where their prospects are. They know it’s the smart, new way to sell as you could otherwise, risk missing your Customers. Such sales pros also use 3 sure fire strategies for prospect-spotting : (1) They follow, on social media, buyers inclined evaluate their product line (2) They post content likely to be helpful in purchase / prescription decisions. (3) They get active in online interactions with key decision makers and influencers.

Whether in terms of time and place, or in terms of their buyers area of interest, outgoing sales professionals take business to where their Customers are.