The evolution of sales was the topic for the first in a series of Firestarter roundtable discussions, held on Wednesday 21 June. Bringing together nine business leaders, the session covered areas including how buyer behaviour has affected selling and the impact of technology on the sales process.
A broad range of business types and sizes were represented, which helped prompt different discussion points, while also revealing some common themes. Firestarter works with a huge number of different businesses, so it was a great opportunity to hear different viewpoints and experiences.
Facilitated by Firestarter Directors, Chris O’Riordan and Matt Wheeler, there was discussion about the role of in-person versus digital selling as well as transactional versus relationship selling and in what circumstances each can be used to the best effect. It was unanimously agreed that understanding what your customers want is crucial to successful selling and that businesses should then be using this information to adapt how they approach sales.
“It’s always interesting bringing a group of business leaders together to hear their views,” comments Chris. “Especially given the different places they’re all at on their growth and selling journeys. The role of technology was a strong feature of discussion, both in terms of tools that are available, but also how to best use data to help inform and improve the sales process. And while it was acknowledged that AI may well play a future role in removing the fundamentals of sales, there will still be a need for a personal approach.
“Part of the work we do with our clients is helping them to plan for the future and we asked the group what they thought sales could look like down the line. The strengthening of the link between sales and marketing was identified as being crucial to ensuring long terms success. Each business leader was able to give real-life examples to help bring to life the points they made, something which really elevated the conversation.”
The first of a series of Firestarter roundtables, you can register your interest in future roundtable events by clicking on the button below.
