With the global events industry so uncertain at this time, it’s important for us to do what we can and be in the ‘know’ so we can showcase our businesses in the best light to our clients as well as shout out to the industry that we are on top of our game!
At Selling Savvy, we have come up with ‘5 Sales Trend Predictions for 2021’ and we want to share them with you! We hope these predictions, as well as our tips and tricks, can help you and your team build a strong and effective sales plan while building a deeper understanding of your clients and their needs.
1. Consultative Selling
What is it we hear you ask? It’s all about the client! Consultative selling is prioritising relationships, opening dialogue and making it all about the client and their needs so that your team can identify and provide solutions for them. Your clients need to be the centre of your conversations. What makes them tick, and especially, what ticks their boxes with your business.
With the market growing more cutthroat with competition not only coming from other hotels, venues and suppliers, but also online platforms and hybrid studios, your sales strategy needs to be hyper focused on your clients needs.
Want to learn the best practices in consultative selling? If you or your team need support, Selling Savvy have a specific workshop focused on building knowledge and skills in consultative selling called, 7 Steps to Consultative Selling. Alternatively, watch one of our latest videos on all five of these sales predictions and jump to 0:13 for a quick snapshot on how you can get consultative with your strategies!
2. Creative Selling
With her fashion design background and passion for innovative and unique ideas, the team at Selling Savvy can already hear Kate yelling — ‘Creativity is my favourite!’ — from our desks at home!
So how can you and your team start thinking more creatively? It all begins with your sales journey. Take the time to map out your touch points and look at how you can enhance every single one.
How can you do that? The limits are only bound by your imagination, creativity and cleverness! Check out some suggestions below or watch our video on all five of these sales predictions and jump to 1:04 to hear from Kate herself on creativity!
- Videos – Videos have become a very powerful form of selling, especially during the pandemic. Hotels and venues have been using videos to showcase their kitchen teams through cook-a-longs and master classes, bar teams and signature cocktails through demos and courses, as well as present the higher leadership teams in a more personable and casual way. However, let’s not forget your beautiful hotels and venues themselves! With properties empty and ready to welcome guests, you have a blank canvas for creating imaginative videos to share with your clients. For event suppliers, we know you have an extensive library of past events! So how are you showcase them and get people dreaming of live events once again?!
- Post Cards – Before the digital revolution, when literally everyone was sending out post to their clients, getting sales letters from potential suppliers, well… it just sucked! It was another letter to open, another thing to read, and another supplier trying to sell their services to you. However, in this age of technology people are statistically more likely to read a postcard than an email. It’s true, look it up! Also, if you think about it on a personal level, wouldn’t you prefer to get a fun, personal and beautifully designed postcard than a generic sales email? Especially if it’s an invitation to socialise for a cuppa tea or a glass of wine? We think so!
- Blogs – Blogs can be a very powerful sales tool for your businesses. It’s a great way to showcase the multiple areas of what your property or team has to offer in an unassuming and humble way to your clients. Blogs are a very versatile form of content as well, as the information can be used on your website, client mailings and social media channels. Now, doing all of the above is great, but for the virtual forms of creative selling, how do you shout out your hard work to your clients and create engagement with your brand? Well, #3 might be able help with that!
3. Social Selling
A personal favourite for the team, Social Selling! Kate has built Selling Savvy using LinkedIn and other social platforms and the possibilities are endless!
If you or your team are not using LinkedIn or other social platforms to their full potential to sell your business, you are surely missing out on potentially easy leads and opportunities to build stronger relationships with your clients. Learn more by watching the video on all five sales predictions and jump to 2:55 to hear the below thoughts and tips from Kate herself or continue to read along with us below!
Key thoughts to consider about social selling on LinkedIn and other social platforms:
- It is an opportunity to gain kudos in the industry through peers, clients and other hotels, venues and events companies. Engage with their posts and create mutually beneficial relationships.
- Build relationships with the right people to collaborate with, the right people to share your businesses story and to find the right clients for your business.
- Tick those creative boxes by using these social platforms to share your new and creative selling ideas! When you share your blogs and videos, they can be linked directly back to your website allowing a new stream of clients to discover you.
- Social selling helps you tick the consultative selling boxes as well. This is done by expanding your network and allowing you the opportunity to get to know new and existing clients better. After engaging with each other online, it’s simple to then request a coffee or chat with this warm lead.
- The best part? It can be SO easy – and we can prove it works! We have had a specific clients engagement increase by over 400% just by doing a few simple tricks.
A note of caution, however… don’t put all your eggs in the LinkedIn basket! Even though LinkedIn and other social platforms are a great selling tool, it is important to remember to put effort into your other, already existing, selling streams. Tunnel vision is not our friend!
4. Innovative & Effective Collaborations
Collaborations come in many shapes and forms, however for every good collaboration you need to observe the following points to ensure you and your business are getting the best return on investment.
- Make sure you and the client/partner are both getting something out of it, it’s a mutually beneficial relationship. What we mean is — the value you put on this partnership, needs to match the value that the client is expecting.
- What are the ideal outcomes? What are you looking to achieve and how is this going to benefit your business? Spend the time to understand the benefit of the relationship.
- Set expectations from both sides. As we mentioned, your values need to match! What are the client’s expectations, and do they match yours? If they are unbalanced, how can the relationship adapt?
- Make a promise to each other to be open. Openness, honesty and transparency are key to ensure you both get what you are looking for from this relationship.
- Hold regular meetings to update each other on outcomes and expectations. Like any business focused relationship, constant communication is essential to success!
- Finally, have a deadline for when the relationship is to be reviewed. Hold a retrospective meeting after the deadline and discuss the collaboration, what worked, what didn’t and if you want to continue the relationship. However, you don’t have to wait until the deadline to re-assess or adjust the collaboration. If you are having regular meetings while being transparent and honest, you can adapt as you go.
Kate talks more about all of the above points in the video 5 Sales Predictions for 2021, head to 4:54 to listen in on this specific section on collaboration.
5. Strategic Account Management and Strong Relationships
Account management is something we all do, however that doesn’t mean we all do it well. Are you and your team spending time with the right clients and accounts? Have you taken a look at your accounts and identified clients that have opportunities to generate new sales? Are you spending too much time nurturing small or in-active relationships?
All of the above questions need to be carefully and strategically considered to ensure that you are maximising the accounts, clients and relationships that are already in your CRM.
Another thing to consider, how strong are your relationships with your clients? There is an enormous number of event venues and businesses hungry to gain clients just like yours… how are you managing those relationships to ensure that clients stay within your business? These are the people to pop a cheeky post card too, letting them know just how valuable they are to you.
Want to hear more? Selling Savvy have a specific workshop focused on building knowledge and skills in Strategic and Successful Account Management. Alternatively, hear more from Kate directly at 7:04 in the video 5 Sales Predictions for 2021.
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Well, what did you think about our ‘5 Sales Trend Predictions for 2021’?
Our final suggestion — go get started!
If you need any help, want more clarification or want to discuss these trends and your business with the Selling Savvy team, please email kate@sellingsavvy.co.uk or phone 07746 843416.
Content by Selling Savvy and written by Catrina Pengelley for The Nerdy Hotelier
