What are the mindset or cultural shifts that need to happen with the sellers on your team to adjust to buyer preferences of interacting less with sales reps?

Salespeople are traditionally motivated by owning a sale and individual deals. However, there needs to be a mindset shift towards being motivated by education and becoming a trusted advisor. A study earlier this year showed that only about 27% of revenue leaders believe that their salespeople are trusted advisors. This shows a massive gap and indicates that sales leaders themselves don't believe that their teams are enabled to move past the act of selling to a motion of consulting and advising. It's not just about enablement, it's also about a cultural mindset shift. As we move into a post-COVID world, we're starting to see this mindset shift where reps are thinking long-term and becoming trusted advisors in their space. 

They're putting themselves in the shoes of the buyer and understanding their world and priorities. This is something you don't get in a world of rep-free selling. As we look to involve a rep in a more efficient sales process, we need to double down on this 360-degree relationship. 

The use of data, in-product experiences, and content can free up a rep's time to have a more consultative and trusted advisor approach. The number one thing we can be doing is looking at how a rep spends their time and being intentional as revenue leaders about restructuring how they spend their day, week, and month so that they can spend more time being a trusted advisor.

One of the biggest shifts that needs to happen is education. Without sales enablement and knowledge about certain tools, people don't know how to use them or why they need to change. It's important to provide data points and show people why certain things will work and make them more efficient. This can help them have a more balanced work life. 

At our company, we have over 12,000 women in our community and one of our key focuses is on education and upskilling. We've added layers of this to our content and resources. We've partnered with companies like Microsoft to offer certifications to our community to help them upskill themselves and be the best in class in their current roles or when looking for jobs.