All I Want for Xmas is Sales Serenity

Introduction As this year winds down, we’re all prone to contemplate the coming year.  Some things will change, some won’t. One of the latter being how companies are increasingly looking towards roles traditionally not associated with revenue generation, such as Project Managers and service delivery professionals, to contribute to sales targets. This shift raises important questions about the implications for these professionals.

The 'Why' Behind the Trend Two primary factors are driving this trend. Firstly, ever present cost savings – by leveraging existing staff in revenue-generation roles, companies can potentially reduce the need for a larger sales force. Secondly, there's always been a healthy sentiment of skepticism towards traditional sales roles in the consulting and technical services fields. There's a perception that non-sales (service & delivery) professionals, offer more subject matter expertise and an authentic and less 'salesy' approach to clients, due to their intimacy with the product, service, or industry.

The Argument Against Expecting non-revenue staff to take on sales responsibilities can be seen as unfair for several reasons:

1. Skill Mismatch: These individuals are hired for their expertise in areas other than sales. Asking them to perform tasks they weren't trained for can lead to stress and job dissatisfaction.

2. Divided Attention: Their primary role, which is crucial to the business, will suffer if they are also focusing on revenue generation.

3. Potential Conflict of Interest: A project manager's goal is to deliver the project efficiently, which might conflict with the aim of maximizing revenue.

The Argument For Conversely, involving these professionals in sales makes sense due to:

1. Deep Domain Knowledge: They often have a better understanding of the product, service, and the associated resources skills and tasks which can translate into more natural selling.

2. Established Client Relationships: Their existing relationships with clients inspires more organic and trusted sales interactions.

3. Business Acumen: Their supposed understanding of the business can enable them to identify and exploit revenue-generating opportunities that pure sales roles might miss.

The Gap in Sales Skills The crux of the issue is that while these professionals have the potential to contribute to revenue generation, they typically lack sales “know how”. While that know how might not be magic, it plays a role. You can try to bridge the gap by implementing sales training for this group, providing more tools and resources and orchestrating greater collaboration across the organization. The first and third alternatives here have been done before. The first, training, has been done to death with limited success. Obviously, people look at technology these days, but not just technology in its broadest sense - but artificial intelligence of course!

Leveraging Technology to Bridge the Gap In the era of a.i. traditional approaches to equipping non-sales staff with sales skills are no longer the only, or preferred, solution. AI-powered sales coaching tools can help in several ways. Currently, these tend to be focused on areas like Automated Lead Scoring and Qualification, Predictive Sales Analytics, Sales Assistance and Customized Learning Paths.

AI-powered sales enablement tools: There’s a bunch of labels emerging, or being re-used, to categorize this collection of tools and software products: sales enablement, sales readiness, sales effectiveness - AI sales coaching tools, AI-powered sales readiness software and AI-powered sales enablement. This space will get more crowded and noisier. Companies big and small are already appointing people to look at a.i. We’ll see more companies using a.i. as the first lens they look through as they contemplate their strategies. When it comes to a.i. for sellers, company leaders need to firstly decide what their view of sellers and the selling world really is, and what role does it play in their business. Then they can tool up accordingly.

This is particularly relevant to those leaders of services companies – consulting, professional services, technology consulting, etc. These companies have demonstrated indifference to the need for sellers but not the need for revenue! Hence, they park that problem with the partners and service delivery leaders. Often, when they do recruit dedicated sales teams, the support provided is weak – no training, little support, no respect – “figure it out yourselves, that’s why we hired you” type of attitude and a smirk when it fails. But the wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth continues. It’s ok to decide sales teams are not your answer while remembering that revenue always is! If this is the case, then you have to sales enable your “non-sellers” accordingly.

Sales training isn’t the answer. It’s overcomplicated, clumsy, and poorly delivered. AI-powered sales coaching tools are a more promising area – sales co-pilots and sidekicks. This technology can significantly bolster the capabilities of non-sales professionals in revenue-generating roles. It can deliver at, or just before, the point of prospect engagement (not three months ago), thereby maximizing retention, while allowing people to maintain a sense of autonomy and self-reliance.

Conclusion As businesses continue to blur the lines between sales and non-sales roles, the key to success lies in empowering all these professionals better. Relieve the burden of sales leaders with the right tools to help revenue generators attain situational fluency. In an age where a.i. and technology are more capable than ever, it's possible to plug any sales skill gap, and elevate performance in innovative and efficient ways. This approach not only leverages the unique strengths of non-sales staff but also ensures that the core quality of service delivery remains uncompromised, and sales behaviors become more intentional and consistent.  Ultimately, it's about admitting your opinions and confronting the weaknesses (even if it looks unfashionable to do this) and thereby finding the balance required for more serenity in sales! 

Happy Holidays from us at ShadowSellerai.

The real price of the excess baggage of cognitive overload

In the late hours of May 31, 2009, Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, embarked on a fateful journey from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Little did its passengers and crew know that this flight would tragically demonstrate the profound and perilous impacts of cognitive overload. As the aircraft cruised over the Atlantic Ocean, it encountered a series of minor technical failures and environmental challenges that accumulated and severely tested the pilots' cognitive capacities. The subsequent investigation revealed that the overwhelmed pilots, inundated with conflicting data and alarms, made critical errors. This disaster, resulting in the loss of 228 lives, starkly underscores the dangers of cognitive overload, defined as "a state where an individual's working memory is overwhelmed with information or tasks to the point that their performance and decision-making abilities are impaired." This is a phenomenon not just confined to the high-stakes environment of aviation but prevalent in various facets of our daily lives.

In response to this aviation disaster, significant changes were made in airline procedures, particularly in the way information is presented to flight crews. Enhanced clarity and reliability of data, along with improved cockpit interface designs, were implemented to prevent overload and ensure pilots could make better decisions more easily. We’re doing the same for sellers and sales leaders.

Cognitive Overload in Everyday Scenarios

Cognitive overload isn't just a high-stakes issue; it manifests in everyday situations. Modern workplaces drown employees in a deluge of emails, meetings, and multitasking demands. This constant bombardment of information and tasks leads to reduced focus, increased stress, and burnout. In education, for example, students transitioning to digital learning environments struggle with a plethora of platforms and resources, leading to confusion and decreased learning efficacy. Sound familiar? Sellers are asked to juggle multiple demands and priorities as well as multiple roles – business consultant, thought leader, trusted advisor, solution expert, industry authority and entertainer! Sellers are poster children for cognitive overload. They’re also the poster child for its denial!

Why the Hesitation to Confront Cognitive Overload?

Admitting to or confronting cognitive overload is hindered by various societal and personal factors. In professional settings, there's a pervasive belief that admitting to feeling overwhelmed is a sign of weakness or incompetence. This is compounded by the glorification of 'busyness' as a symbol of status and commitment. Additionally, there's a general lack of awareness about cognitive overload, with many mistaking it for general stress or a temporary phase. Personal pride and the fear of appearing inadequate in a competitive environment further discourage individuals from seeking help or acknowledging the issue. This reluctance to confront cognitive overload often exacerbates its effects, leading to a vicious cycle of stress and decreased effectiveness. In other words you can't be crushing it and living the dream AND be overwhelmed at the same time!

Shining the Light

It seems counter intuitive to promote another technology as a cure for all these other demands (many of which are actually caused by the addition of technologies), but nevertheless we will. Why? Because Shadow addresses the essence of cognitive overload in sales. We’re not saying you don’t need some other technologies. But in the case of cognitive overload, the first thing to disappear is “order” – you succumb to mental chaos. This is followed by quickly forgetting the basics, you’re "floundering." Then you’re just "scrambling" to survive – getting through the meeting or the presentation, realizing you’re now in "salvage" mode. And the irony? The very people who put you in this situation will be the same ones that will hang you for it. So, you can either shrug you shoulders and let it happen OR …get some help.

This is why we built Shadow - AI-powered sales readiness software, that provides fast, contextually cogent, reliable insights & advice for sellers. Shadow is the result of recognizing the burden of cognitive overload.

Shadow's great strength lies in three main areas:

• First, Shadow's advice is based on our unique abilities to combine generally accepted selling best practices with our latest modern neurological, social and psychological sales thinking to create uniquely nuanced insights & advice.

• Second, Shadow is fast - if you only have fifteen minutes before a call, you can get Shadow on the case and Shadow will give you concise, salient advice in the nick of time - so you're always ready.

• Third, Shadow makes things simple - Shadow is taking a lot of complex information and contextual input. Shadow is combining that in a few seconds to give you straight forward advice and action that helps you achieve situational fluency. You're better prepared, with less effort, faster. You can use Shadow to help when time is short or you can “discuss” an account, sales strategies & tactics or specific aspects of selling over a cup of coffee!

Management & Leadership will continue to demand more. If you just try to work “harder’ you’ll end up like the flight crew of Flight 447 - overwhelmed. While the consequences might not be as tragic as Flight 447, there is no good outcome unless you recognize and confront this problem of cognitive overload.

We’re not arrogant enough to believe that Shadow is the only solution for this…but it’s certainly in the top one!

Something Else to Chew on Over Thanksgiving

Just for gigs I recently went on Chat GPT and asked a question about how many “things” B2B sellers are supposed to do and be these days. I gave Chat 5 categories, as follows - the prospect company, the prospect industry, the prospect stakeholders, all their individual agendas (both personal and professional) the seller's company and solutions, the sellers thought leadership, POV and views on the prospect company and industry. I told Chat to stop when he got to 25 items within those categories. Chat came up with 25 in about 3 seconds!

Today, sellers are expected to be part strategist, part industry analyst, and part relationship manager, all while keeping pace with the changes in their industry and within their own solution lines. However, this multifaceted demand on sellers has reached a point where it's unfeasible. Recent data indicates a worrying trend in the industry. According to a survey by CSO Insights, only 53% of sales representatives are meeting or exceeding their quotas, a decline from previous years. This statistic starkly highlights the growing disconnect between what is expected of sellers and what they can feasibly achieve.

Acknowledging the Unrealistic Expectations

The first step in addressing the challenges faced by modern B2B sellers is to admit that the current expectations are unrealistic. The breadth and depth of knowledge required, coupled with the need to stay agile and responsive places an immense cognitive load on sellers. This overload not only hampers their effectiveness but also leads to burnout and decreased job satisfaction. And just to let you know – the Sales Enablement team is often referred to as Sales Disablement and often just provides another ball for sellers to juggle. Sellers just cannot remember everything – the result? Sellers forget things, even the basics. Add to this that buyers devote less time to sellers, meaning sellers have to be on top of their game all the time, every time.

The Burden of Carrying Team Quotas

This decline in quota attainment isn't just a problem for individual sellers; it has significant implications for companies, sales teams and leaders. With a smaller proportion of the team meeting their targets, the pressure mounts on top performers. In many organizations, it’s a small percentage of the salesforce – often referred to as the 'top 20%' – who end up carrying number. This imbalance not only creates a stressful environment for the top performers but also demotivates the rest of the team, leading to a cycle of underperformance and high turnover.

The Double-Edged Sword of Internal Responsibilities

In addition to external selling activities, B2B sellers also face a mountain of internal responsibilities. They are required to meticulously consider, plan and document their account strategies, presenting them to their managers to demonstrate a clear, coherent approach to each account – and defend them when inspected! This process, while crucial for ensuring strategic alignment, resources and accountability, adds another layer of complexity to the seller’s role. Balancing client-facing activities with internal strategizing and reporting is a tightrope walk, often leading to burnout and reduced effectiveness in both areas.

Conclusion - Shedding the light –

• More training never worked and never will

Traditional sales training is yesterday’s news. It fails to address the complexities of modern sales roles and lacks the immediacy required in real-world selling scenarios. Traditional training methods are not available at the point of engagement with prospects, where sellers need support the most. This is where AI-powered sales coaching tools shine. By offering on-the-spot guidance and information, it ensures that sellers have access to the knowledge they need exactly when they need it, thus enhancing their ability to engage effectively with prospects.

• The Role of Technology in Alleviating Cognitive Overload

Sellers are also faced with the paradox of choice when looking for tools to help them. A few tools are fabulous, most are disappointing. Enter ShadowSeller, an AI-powered sales readiness software which combats the issue of cognitive overload. Even the most experienced sellers are prone to forgetting crucial information or steps in the sales process, a problem that Shadow addresses effectively. By providing real-time, context-specific advice and insights, Shadow helps sellers navigate through the complex web of their responsibilities. Shadow gives them ideas, a road map, account plans, strategies, and tactics, all of which can be re-tasked to present to internal management. Shadow acts as an AI sales coaching tool, reminding them of what they already know (in some cases) and sharing new ideas in others.

With all the information out there and a growing list of responsibilities – we all need some help. The first stage is to admit it – and that’s ok, it’s part of life. The real problem is with the refusal to admit it or admitting it but doing nothing about it. In that way think of Shadow as as not just dealing with cognitive overload, but turning Cognitive dissonance into cognitive “offload.”