6 Traits of the Client-Obsessed Salesperson (Sales Series, Part 2)

2020 marks the end of an old era and the ushering in of a new. 

Forrester research wrote: 

“For B2B sales, change has been a long time coming, and the hardships brought forth by COVID-19 have acted as accelerants. The downward trajectory of the onsite sales meeting, the convergence of inside and outside sales, and the increased adoption of digital tools by both sellers and buyers — all of these trends, coupled with the impact of the pandemic, mean there is no going back to what once was.” 

What Forrester (and many studies) have been pointing to is the dawning of a new era, that of the client-obsessed salesperson. 

Salespeople who focus their selling efforts on client-obsessed activities will emerge as the future leaders in sales. 

How do you know if you’re client-obsessed? Here are six quick traits that will indicate if you’re client-obsessive enough:

(I) Where you put your FOCUS

A client-obsessed person looks at the world differently. She puts her laser-like focus on clients who have the best potential for growing her pipeline. She sees her clients through a different lens than that of the traditional salesperson; she views her portfolio of sales and her clients as investments to grow rather than banks to extract money from. 

Also, she knows where her clients spend beyond promo because she knows there are budgets to be had right now. The challenges clients face have never been steeper, and she knows that the old advertising solutions won’t work anymore. She uses her focus to help her clients see alternative solutions and stronger outcomes that deliver measurable ROI. 

A product-obsessed salesperson treats most clients as equals and is driven by deadlines regardless of the value of that client, whereas a client-obsessed salesperson has a broad perspective, a laser-like focus, and knows when and where to put her focus.

(II) Where You Spend Your Money ... 

... I mean time.  

Prior to 2020, many of us in the industry would have qualified as product-obsessed salespeople rather than client-obsessed salespeople. Meaning: The majority of our time was spent around solving product problems rather than customer problems. 

The easiest way to gauge whether you’re client-obsessed or product-obsessed is your calendar: 

Client-obsessed salespeople spend more time in client meetings; product possessed salespeople spend more time in product meetings. Client-obsessed people spend more time researching clients; product-obsessed people spend more time researching product. The client-obsessed spends more time studying her clients’ industries and her clients’ unique market challenges; product-obsessed people focus more of their time on product trends, and promo industry news (which is important but shouldn’t eclipse spending time on clients). There is a need for both (product education and client education) but our industry has been lopsided for far too long, we spend the majority of our energy around product education. 

Where do you spend your time? Are you spending more time on customer challenges or supply chain challenges? Where you choose to invest your time matters more than ever.

(III) Where You Derive Your Motivation

A client-obsessed salesperson is intrinsically motivated. She has pride in ownership over her own ideas and problem-solving. She loves seeing her client succeed with a project she and her team have created. She’s motivated by her own goals and she makes more money when others win. When she breaks barriers or exceeds sales goals, she sets new ones. 

An old-school salesperson has to be externally motivated and driven by surface goals (which are like cotton-candy dreams: pretty for a moment but easily dissolve). They must be propelled and pushed toward success rather than catapulted into success by their own solutions and inner motivation.

Client-obsessed salespeople live to win; product-obsessed salespeople win to live.

(IV) How You Energize Your Work 

Let’s face it: there’s a real chasm between the part-time promo slinger and the professional, and never before has it been clearer that the transactional-based, low-hanging fruit sales opportunities are making the former type of professional obsolete. But it’s not just about “those” types of salespeople ruining our industry image. 

We have an opportunity now to emerge stronger, more authentic, and seen by the world as real marketing professionals (versus product-schleppers) and this all starts with our own brand and our own self-image. 

When we asked Mike Michalowicz in a recent podcast interview what key lessons have been the most important for him as he transitioned to a virtual-only salesperson, he stated that we’ve grown way too comfortable with our unprofessionalism. Because many of us now work from home, we think we can be more lax in how we appear to customers. But in his words, “Presentation matters. How we appear on video matters. Lighting matters. Audio quality matters.” Moreover, when we sell virtually, as many of us are now selling, the experience through a screen eliminates depth and warmth, literally. Mike continued, “The virtual world ‘de-dimensionalizes’ us on someone’s screen and flattens our energy, therefore when it comes to virtual presentations, we need to bring a higher degree of energy because it’s not moving across the wire.” 

Just like engaging with clients in real life, how we appear reveals how much we respect ourselves and a client-obsessed salesperson is keenly aware of the perceptions through which a client views their work and their worth. 

Do you wake up each day with a solid ritual and routine that puts you in a winning headspace? Are you getting dressed for work as if you’re ready to walk out the door and meet clients? Client-obsessed salespeople are highly sensitive to the energy they bring to their clients whether IRL or virtually.

(V) Whether You Are a Crusader or Campaigner 

A client-obsessed salesperson is drawn to ideas and loves applying concrete solutions to abstract challenges. She loves it when she’s challenged with a general concept (Example: “help my clients get more customers”). She thrives on big challenges from clients to help solve a variety of problems.

And a client-obsessed salesperson always starts with the problem; a product-possessed salesperson starts with the product. Just one example (of many): A product-obsessed salesperson sees a new idea from a supplier partner and blasts that same idea to everyone (campaigner); a client-obsessed salesperson uses their ingenuity to employ products to solve problems (crusader). 

Product is vital for our industry but a client-obsessed person uses product trends as launchpads to activate their clients’ highest goals, whereas a product-possessed salesperson uses products and trends as quick-hit sales that get easily commoditized.

Are you a client-obsessed crusader for your clients’ causes or are you a product-obsessed campaigner of marketing tactics?

(VI) How You Face Obstacles and Challenges: 

Probably the most tell-tale sign of a product-possessed salesperson vs. a client-obsessed salesperson is the economy: When the economy tanks, the product-obsessed loses heart entirely, they see demand dry up and they’re demotivated, proving that their traction, drive, and energy (their entire reason for existing) was dictated by product-demand. A tanked economy, for the product-obsessed, can be a career-ending cataclysm. 

The client-obsessed salesperson also loses heart but only briefly, they don’t see a drop in demand because demand has never been higher: clients have more problems than ever before, supply and demand is about solving challenges, not sourcing product. 

Moreover, she knows that there are industries that are experiencing explosive growth right now: activities like fitness and outdoor experiences, cooking at home, entertainment, and technology. These industries are eclipsing old records with unprecedented growth and there are hearts and budgets to win out there.

Product-obsessed salespeople see the market drying up and they hide out and wait until the market returns; client-obsessed salespeople see a whole new frontier open up before them. It’s harder, yes, but also part of the challenge that they love.

Becoming more client-obsessed will take some adjustment because we’re shifting from one system (way of doing things) to another and the simplest way to start becoming more client-obsessed is to take your day-to-day routine and analyze it in light of where you put your time, focus, and energy. 

Adjustments must be made at the micro-level -what we do with our morning, our afternoon, our calendar appointments, and where we concentrate our thinking- in order to achieve our macro goals. Client-obsessed sales is first about perspective and then action: taking the right kind of tiny tasks and concentrating them toward big ideas and real solutions that win clients’ hearts and activate their imaginations. 

Client-obsessed will be the hallmark of the future salesperson.