As today's sales environment leans toward a more multifaceted atmosphere, salespeople must become strategists with a plan.

This plan requires more knowledge about the business, better relationships and better solutions. Once you have accumulated this knowledge, utilize it.

Develop your penetration strategy around the customer's pains. What challenges do they face on a day to day basis? How do they make money? Where can you provide value, increase their ability to make profit. (This does not include price reductions). Employ all the resources in your company that are necessary to accomplish your growth objectives.
 
Nowadays, salespeople must be problem solvers able to generate solutions for customers in their time of need.

Therefore, they must possess a great deal of knowledge about your customers' business. They must actually define what those needs are because the customer may not know, nor take the time to explain if they do know.

Customers want you to have the knowledge and intelligence to comprehend and analyze their problems before showing up at their door. Customers will listen and buy from the salesperson that finds the "pain" and takes it away." That means sales people have to become "Sales Strategists".

A Sales Strategy must define the objectives, timeline and resources required to meet the growth objectives of the business unit, department, branch or specific territory. It should also detail how the company will achieve growth, profit and product objectives.

Characteristics of an Effective Sales Strategy
 
There are three important attributes to a good Sales Strategy :

• An appropriate level of detail –  enough to guide the work, but not so much that it becomes overwhelming, confusing or unnecessarily constrains creativity
• A format that allows for periodic reports on progress toward the specific goals and objectives
• A structure that coincides with the company plan (whether it is strategic or a contingency plan)– the goal statements for the company plan and the sales plan are one in the same

Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution's "Leadership Strategist", founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that helps clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com. Don't forget to check out the Lead Wolf Series that can help you put more profit into your business.