This post was updated on Feb. 2, 2022, with new job transition rates for October-December 2021.
Selling is complicated right now.
The world is in the midst of a “Great Reshuffle” of talent, as job transitions globally are spiking, according to insights drawn from the LinkedIn Economic Graph. Specifically, turnover among corporate director-level-and-above – i.e. the mass of B2B buyers – is up 28% globally over the last three months.
No wonder why a recent survey found 80% of salespeople have delayed or lost a deal because of a job change within an account. It’s difficult to sell into a moving target.
On top of that, turnover is high among sales teams as well. Globally, job transitions among sales professionals are up 26% over the last three months, according to insights from the LinkedIn Economic Graph.
So, let’s recap – prospects and customers coming-and-going, colleagues coming-and-going, all during pandemic purgatory. If you are feeling like selling is hard right now, the data shows you are far from alone.
How salespeople and sales leaders can best approach the Great Reshuffle.
The Great Reshuffle affects all aspects of selling. Buyer turnover means the loss of key relationships and outdated data. Sales rep turnover also affects key relationships and can lead to unmanaged accounts and the loss of institutional knowledge.
Put together, the impact can be disastrous – longer sales cycles, higher churn, and lower win rates. I’m sure many of you reading this are feeling these challenges already.
So what’s the solution?
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. But, there are a few skills and tactics that are becoming increasingly more important right now.
1. Data accuracy has to be a focus.
Even before this Great Reshuffle, 41% of sales pros said inaccurate CRM data was one of their top challenges. Now, with this increasing rate of change, CRMs can potentially become a mess. Quickly.
That's just one area where bad data can affect selling. Much of the technology stack – from sales intelligence to sales engagement to marketing automation tools – relies on accurate data too. If that data is off, the performance of those platforms will be off.
And the risk goes beyond productivity and not reaching the right person at the right time. It also affects your credibility – arguably your most valuable asset as a seller – when, for example, you send an email to a buyer that incorrectly references the company they work for.
The bottom line is out-of-date buyer data can then affect the whole sales workflow. Get ahead of it by making data accuracy a focus and by investing in tools that keep your systems updated in real-time.
2. With your champion potentially on the move, multithreading is more important than ever.
Multithreading – i.e. forming relationships with multiple people on the buying committee at an account – is always a best practice. For proof – insights from LinkedIn Sales Navigator show that sellers who are connected on LinkedIn to at least four people at an account are 16% more likely to close a deal with that company, compared to sellers who have less than four connections.
In other words, the more people you can build trusted relationships with within an organization, the more likely you are to close a deal with them. This is particularly true during this time of change – if you have just one contact, and they leave, you are starting from scratch.
To avoid that fate, make an account map and identify the buying committee, and do your best to form multiple relationships within it. If possible, have your champion introduce you to them, leverage your network for a warm introduction, or reach out proactively yourself.
“The most beneficial thing you can do right now is to learn how to master multi-threading,” JB Sales Training Director Morgan Ingram said. “Gathering champions, influencers, and talking directly to the decision-makers is the key to success when it comes to closing deals faster in a difficult environment.”
Obviously, multithreading takes time, so it can come down to prioritization. But it takes a whole lot less time than selling into an account fresh. So, for your key accounts, do your best to build multiple relationships with the org – your deal will become more secure and, potentially, larger.
3. A silver lining – a job switch can be your way in.
There is a positive to all of this change. If your champion at one company goes to another – boom! – you’ve got an immediate way in.
Often, this leads to closing two deals from one contact. Not too shabby.
A related point – generally speaking, when a new leader takes over a team, they look to change things a bit. That often includes investing in new tools and services.
This can also be your way in. If you’ve had trouble getting into an organization, but you see a new leader come in, this could be your chance. Reach out to that person and congratulate them on their new job. Start to get to know them and understand their challenges, so you can determine how you might add value.
“Resources are scant with so many people exiting key roles, so there are opportunities where they might not have been opportunities in the past,” Assist You CEO Robert Knop said. “Look through your connections – there are uncovered sales there.”
The key to making it work?
Aligning your solution to customers’ strategic initiatives and demonstrating value. If you are doing this well, then you can be an asset to a new executive sponsor and help them get up to speed on the critical initiatives your solution supports.
In this environment, the gap between strategic partners and expendable vendors is growing. The difference is value delivered at the right level.
4. For sales leaders, invest in your people.
It’s nearly impossible to win as a team if you are constantly changing players. Every salesperson you lose means months of lost productivity, not to mention the resources it takes to train up a new person.
Of course, some degree of turnover is unavoidable, and all teams are likely to see more turnover from the Great Reshuffle. But, as a sales leader, there are things you can do to minimize it.
Reinforce your organization’s mission whenever you can. Invest in your team’s development. Stay abreast of how they are feeling. Celebrate your people’s wins. Make diversity, inclusion, and belonging a priority.
The Great Reshuffle also has employees rethinking how they work and has employers rethinking the way their companies work. One outcome of this is the rise in working-from-home – the amount of remote sales positions has increased 5x since the pandemic began, according to insights from LinkedIn Jobs. And buyers will increasingly be in hybrid or remote positions, too.
By empowering your reps to work a hybrid model or completely remotely, you may increase your odds of retaining them – so long as your culture, systems, and processes work virtually as well. That means, equipping your team with the right platforms to collaborate and connect virtually.
It also means giving them the tools and training to be effective in virtual selling. After all, nothing builds morale quicker than success. And the right tools and training play a big part in that.
The takeaway – adjust to this Great Reshuffle to stay ahead.
There’s no avoiding the Great Reshuffle. LinkedIn insights reveal it’s global, it’s across all industries, and across small, mid-sized, and large organizations.
The only option is to embrace it and adjust to it. Your buyers will change. Your team will likely change. And that means, some of your sales practices, technology and approaches likely need to change, too.
The good news? If you get this right, not only will you win now – you’ll set yourself up to win for the foreseeable future, said LinkedIn COO Dan Shapero.
“We’re in the early innings of the Great Reshuffle, but it's crystal clear that there will be winners and losers,” Shapero recently told Forbes. “The organizations that embrace empowering employees by providing flexibility, trust, and upskilling will thrive. In a Darwinian fashion, those who refuse to adapt will fall behind. Their best and brightest talent will quit and move to the companies that offer employees choices, options, respect, and dignity."
Also, we want to help – this is the first of a series of posts aimed at helping you thrive during this time. Subscribe to our free newsletter to stay informed.
In the meantime, as always, happy selling.
Topics: Modern selling
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