4 Ways To Outsell The Top Sales Rep

Every sales organization has at least one person who seems always to be at the top of their game. They kill their quota and crush commissions left and right.

And you’re always wondering: “what are they doing that I’m not?”

It’s time to claim your rightful place at the top of the sales leaderboard. Here’s how:

Build Your Content Arsenal

First, you need to get comfortable with content. Content is one of the salesperson’s best weapons. Each type offers different advantages for different stages of the sales process, different personas, and different use cases.

That’s why you want to build your personal library of content; so that you can use the right piece of content at exactly the right time.

Start by creating a mental index (or better yet a spreadsheet) of all of the content that is available to you. Be clear on what each piece is ‘saying,’ when to use it, and what buyer personas will find it useful.

Then actually use the content. Did you know that 60-70 percent of content goes unused? No wonder marketing gets a little testy when you start asking for new content. The goal for your content library is to be fluent in all of the relevant assets and information available so that it’s all at your disposal when you need it.

But don’t limit yourself to the content produced by your company’s marketing team. Think critically about content. What do you need that you don’t already have? One way to supplement your arsenal is always to be on the lookout for third-party (read: from reputable, non-competitive sources!) content that you can leverage. Industry research reports, links to blog articles, and shareable assets like infographics or videos can be great pieces to add to your personal arsenal and can lend further credibility to your pitch.

Recommended for You Webcast, August 30th: Real Time Website Personalization: Advanced Conversion Techniques

Use Technology To Maximize Your Time

One thing that sets apart a top producer from someone who’s in the middle of the pack is that they’re ruthless with their time. They do what they can to maximize their time so they can spend time on what really matters — closing more deals. And luckily, there’s a lot of really, really killer sales tech out there that can help you do this. Everything from automating and streamlining your prospecting activities to getting a deal inked is becoming exponentially more efficient when using the right sales technology.

If you’re lucky, and you have a kickass sales ops manager who can help get you up to speed with the latest tools, you’re all set — leverage that person’s knowledge.

If your team doesn’t have a role for this function, then take matters into your own hands and do some research on Product Hunt. Here’s a well-curated collection of sales tech to get your research started. Want to talk about digitizing and automating the documents you use during the sales process? We got you.

Get Up Close And Personal With Your Customer Personas

Top sales performers know that it’s important to get close to their customers. Close enough to feel their pain.

Cultivating customer empathy will allow you to anticipate your prospects’ objections and to handle them accordingly. Having a deep understanding of your customers allows you to pitch directly to prospects’ pain points and position your product or service as an antidote to the things that make daily life harder for your prospects.

And most importantly, when you get your customers, you come across as sincere and you’ll pass the ‘sniff’ test of whether you really get their needs or if you’re just an order taker trying to get the sale.

Be A Subject Matter Expert In Your Products or Services

Last, you’ll need to build profound expertise around your sales offerings, whether you sell products or services.

This seems like it would be a very clear “no duh” but far too many sales reps fail to glean more than a superficial understanding of what they’re selling.

Here’s the thing: today’s buyers are savvy. It’s absolutely possible that they’re savvier than you are as a result of all the research they’ve done.

So, you need to understand your product or service as if you were the customer buying it for your own business. That includes knowing (off the top of your head!) how your offerings stack up against competing companies’ offerings (that’s where Battle Cards can help). Developing a deep, deep knowledge of what you’re selling within the context of who you’re selling it to is absolutely critical to becoming a top producer.

Overall, to outsell the bullpen champs, you need to dig deeper than the top producers already have:

1. Uncover the content that will help you educate, inform and convince your prospects to buy from you.
2. Dive into your customer personas and learn so much about who they are and what they need that you can actually empathize with them.
3. And most importantly, develop an expert-level understanding of how what you’re selling can really impact the pains and needs of your customers.

In doing these things, you’ll be able to boost your own sales performance and in the process, you’ll send the current champ to the back of the pack.

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4 Ways To Outsell The Top Sales Rep