Forecasting (and really all parts of selling) grows more successful when you communicate value. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Tom “The ROI Guy” Pisello. As an entrepreneur, speaker, and author of the book Evolved Selling™: Optimizing Sales Enablement in the Age of Frugalnomics, Tom specializes in value to get the most out of your efforts. Three big trends characterize the post-pandemic era of sales: First, there’s a tremendous amount of sales turnover. While the Great Resignation is not news, sales will struggle to retain top sellers in favor of faster-growing companies. Second, the buyer is changing. They’re in control of the buying process, cautious of the seller, and more economically focused than ever - it’s the decision by risk aversion. Third, we’re in an environment where sales is understaffed, you need engagement, the buyer is more challenging to sell to, and predictable revenue is decreasing. How do we find (and retain) great talent? Growing a team will be challenging. Of course, throwing money and benefits at it is part of the equation, but you also must provide intangible benefits like career development to make your position seem worthwhile. What is the purpose of your organization or group? And more importantly, how can you include new personnel to feel that they actively work towards that purpose? Create an atmosphere of authenticity that suits your personnel to retain talent. It’s not just a long game for selling; it’s a long game for hiring. Overcoming the ice-cold buyers: Buyers have incredible access to resources and information than ever, even compared to a few years ago. Sellers used to be in control, but now it's the opposite. In that, they have information overload. And great salespeople guide prospects through this challenge. The curated content a salesperson supply is an excellent direction for the next generation of salespeople. If you can show that pain is worth addressing (and that you provide a uniquely differentiating solution), you demonstrate a fiscal reason to make a decision. Tackling the issue of predictability: The old way of leveraging spreadsheets and expert resources within the organization no longer works - only 17% approach forecasting scientifically. We now have systems that track multiple criteria, but they act in silos. Aggregating data points to develop a more comprehensive and data-driven forecast will yield more accurate results. Know what “good” looks like so you know what to focus on. What works to close a deal, and what are the associated steps? Visualize patterns to prioritize to understand the correlations and next best actions. Episode Resources: For more great content from Tom, connect with him on LinkedIn or visit evolvedselling.com. Listen to Tom’s podcast, The Evolver’s Podcast, and read his book,

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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