Episode 77: Sales Boost: Transforming Uncertainty into Momentum

Herzlich willkommen zum Mercuri Podcast. Ganz einfach Vertrieb. Aktuell, spannend und relevant für Ihren Erfolg im Vertrieb.
Mein Name ist Alexander Walter, Partner der Mercuri International Germany und ich begrüße Sie für ein spezielles Episode.
Dieses Mal in Englisch, wie Sie das hier sehen, ist ganz einfach Vertrieb, einfach Sales, wo wir auf die Bordere schauen, um zu finden, was das Zukunft von Sales so wie across Europe sieht.
Für viele unserer Lesbenden, obwohl sie in Deutschland might be based, Sales ist europäisch, beziehungsweise durch ihre Verlänger, ihre Kollegen, ihre Kunden, Regulierungen, die sie auch oder auch die Kompetenzen haben.
Alles ist nicht lokal, es ist zumindest europäisch und across Europe Sales ist schneller, mehr kompetent und größer.
Um das zu sehen, bin ich mit meinem Freund und Kollegen Nick. Nick Pere ist die Managerin der Mercuri International in Belgien, Netherlands und Luxemburg.
Er ist ein sehr erforderlicher Partner zu seinen Kunden, aber auch zu seinen Kollegen across Mercuri. Hi Nick.
Hey Alex, es ist toll, hier zu sein. Wir haben hier das, was Sie gesagt haben, Sales-Teams sind europäisch. Ich denke, wir haben die similar Herausforderungen als die Ausgabe des Studiums, die wir zusammen gemacht haben.
Und natürlich gibt es auch die Möglichkeiten. So, wir reden uns das zusammen.
Ja, absolut. Wir haben das Studium im Hinblick auf die Sentimenten in Sales und in den Benelogs in Deutschland und was die Unternehmen versuchen zu machen.
Was ich heute mit Ihnen diskutieren möchte, ist, wie das Sentiment zwischen Deutschland und Benelux differiert und vielleicht sogar ein paar Gäste machen, wie es um die Sales-Teams in 2025 prioritiert.
Und was es für die Unternehmen für diese Strategie zu schaffen, und vielleicht, wenn wir in Deutschland und in Belgien, in Netherlands schauen, können wir sogar über das, was das für die restlichen Europas bedeutet.
Absolut, es klingt toll. So, los geht’s Alex.
Ja, so, los geht’s. In Deutschland haben wir gefunden, dass das gesamte Sales-Sentiment in 5,8/10, also nicht sogar 6/10, das ist nicht komplett negativ, aber es gibt definitiv eine Unwahrsinnung. Was ist das Story von Benelogs, Nick?
Es ist ein bisschen ähnlich, obwohl wir ein bisschen mehr positiv sind. Ich denke, dass es eine Unterschiede zwischen Deutschland und Benelogs ist.
Was wir von den Studien sagen, ist, dass wir in den Benelogs sehr optimistisch sind.
Das könnte ich, ich denke, eine Konklusion sein.
Sehr gut. Also, warum denkst du, dass es so ist?
Denkst du, dass es die wesentlichen Grundlagen gibt oder bist du einfach happier, als wir sind?
Natürlich sind wir mehr optimistisch. Nein, ich denke, dass es zwei Dinge gibt, die einen Influenz haben.
Wenn du die ökonomische Situation in Deutschland schaust, ist das Unterschied zwischen Deutschland, Belgien und Niederland.
Es ist nicht so groß. Aber was du siehst, ist, dass du einen schlafen Deklin in Deutschland, 0,2%.
In Belgien und Niederland hast du einen Increase von 1% der Ökonomie.
Es ist ein Kind der Mindestheit, der ist anders, auch der Druck und die Medien.
Ich denke, das ist ein Teil. Ein weiterer Teil ist, dass die Struktur der Ökonomie in den beiden Ländern ist.
Wir haben große Unternehmen, aber wir haben auch viele mittelgeizige Unternehmen, in den Engineering, Chemik und neue Technologie.
Ich denke, dass sie ein bisschen mehr agile sind.
Die Ökonomie ist, ich denke, eher auf die traditionellen Unternehmen.
Wir wissen, dass die Automotive jetzt schon aufgerissen ist.
Wir haben kaum mehr Automobil in Belgien oder in den Benelux.
Ich denke, du hast einen sehr guten Punkt.
Wenn die Automobil-Sektion nur ein Licht hat, dann ist die ganze Deutschland-Economie aufgerissen.
Es ist true, es befindet sich auf die E-Mobility, die Supply-Chain-Scholen, die Kosten-Pressen.
Das kasciert sich in allen verschiedenen Industrieen.
Und du hast recht, wir sehen ein paar Industrie, wie Pharma und Healthcare, ein bisschen stabil.
Was sind deine meisten optimistischen Industrie?
Pharma, Healthcare, sehr wichtig, die engen- und regnerischen Organisationen.
Wir haben mehrere Kunden im Chemischen und Technologischen Geschäft.
Und auch in den Logistiken, die auf der E-Commerce gelangen sind.
Aber es ist eine Wichtung.
Ich denke, wir haben in den Bordern und in den Träumen die gleichen Herausforderungen.
Es ist interessant, etwas mehr auf die E-Commerce zu haben.
Ja, absolut.
Und auch wenn du mir die Ergebnisse, die du in deinem Studium zeigst, beobachten, ist, es ist sehr ähnlich.
Es gibt Intense Preiskompetitionen.
Viele Unternehmen berichten, dass rund 60% unserer Repräsentationen die erhöhten Kosten und die Dilection und Entscheidungen zu geben.
Und auch die Deklinien der Demandungen in einem Markt.
Ich fühle mich, wie sich verschiedene Industrieen adaptieren können.
Wieviel diese Herausforderungen existieren.
Ja, ich denke, die Herausforderungen, die du dir erwähnt hast, sind komplett richtig.
Auch in anderen Studien, wie wir mit unseren Kunden reden, sehen wir, dass die E-Tage langsamer und länger wird.
Und auch mehr und mehr Menschen sind in der Entscheidungsmachung, die es mehr komplex macht.
Aber es wäre interessant, eine pan-europäische Überflügel zu haben.
Das ist vielleicht etwas, was wir zusammen machen können.
Ja, ich denke, wir müssen es absolut machen.
Es ist auch schön, dass die Ausflug-Krise unterschiedlich ist, die unterliegenden Herausforderungen sind sehr ähnlich.
Und ja, die Geschäftsfraktion ist absolut mehr europäischer.
So, jetzt reden wir über die Aktien.
In deinem Service haben wir auch gefragt, was wir diese Herausforderungen machen.
Was hat Ihre Antwort auf diese Herausforderungen gemacht?
Was haben Sie damit gemacht, diese Herausforderungen zu machen, die wir gerade diskutiert haben?
Welche Herausforderungen haben Sie?
Well, based on the Benelux study, Alex, we see actually three priorities popping up.
First and foremost, what we see is there is a lot of focus, that the highest score 55% is on cross-selling.
It’s followed by new business, but 55% is the highest score on focus for companies.
So, they are more focusing on deepening the existing relationship rather than acquiring new business.
Also what we see 42%, which is quite high, is also focusing on the development of additional services.
So, actually adding value to the product order service they are already selling.
And another one, which is very important, is cost reduction.
Also 40% of our participants said that they are focusing on cost reduction being more efficient.
And I know that we’re going to mention that later, but also something that I found quite remarkable in the study is that only 17% of the respondents has the intention to increase their prices in 25%.
Yeah, that’s a very interesting point.
And maybe it’s driven by that point of cost pressures existing anyhow for their customers.
But it’s interesting to hear what you say, because a lot of that, I can mirror that from our German results.
So, you talk about developing additional services.
In Germany companies talk about value-based selling, which is kind of the idea of having an enhanced solution portfolio.
You talk about reducing costs, a lot of our respondents mentioned sales automation, increased efficiency, productivity in sales.
I think that the one thing that really is different is that you say cross-selling is a very high priority for your customers.
Whereas for our customers, really new customer acquisition is one of the things that really stands out.
Yeah, that’s interesting to see that we have their difference between Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany.
Indeed, for us, the highest focus is indeed that cross-selling.
It’s even more important than acquiring new customers.
What do you think could be an explanation for that?
I think you’ve touched upon that before, is that market conditions are a little different.
So you’re slightly more optimistic.
Market outlook is a little better in Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg than it is in Germany.
So, demand is shrinking and I think that leads to our customers really looking to new markets, new customers, getting a bigger share of the pie.
Whereas in Benelux, maybe there’s still some stability in demand.
So, it’s more about optimizing existing customer base.
In both cases, I think it’s really about getting more business.
Absolutely, that’s the point.
What you want is return on investment.
And it makes sense, absolutely what you said.
Also aligns what we mentioned earlier with the economical structure of the countries over here.
We have a lot of mid-sized companies in new technology.
They are more agile, they are more flexible, etc.
So, that could maybe explain the difference between us.
Yeah, and coming back also to what you said.
In previous years you would say, the easiest way to increase your business is just raise your prices.
Absolutely.
It feels like companies don’t see that opportunity in these market conditions.
So, it’s really more about defending margins at all costs?
Absolutely.
Yeah, we see in both services that what is mentioned as one of the major challenges during 25 is the price pressure, the price competition.
So, it’s indeed remarkable that only 17% of companies are saying, the intention to increase our prices.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
And that makes it special, I think.
But the thing is, I mean, cross selling new customer acquisition, value based selling, cost reduction, all of these are not, you know, fundamentally new things.
And I think all of these things have been tried before.
And if you go to your clients and say, you know, talk about value based selling, they’re not like, oh, Nick, I’ve never heard of that before.
So the question for me is really, and I think that’s something that we need to talk about is how can companies make these strategies work, turn their words into reality?
Yeah, but what we see, you mentioned value based selling, but there is a difference between knowing about it and really applying it about it.
What we see that is that a lot of projects that we run with customers is exactly still the shift from product selling to value selling.
And it clearly shows that when there is a lot of pressure on the market, that there is absolutely a need for reskilling and upskilling.
If you know that, average only four days a year are spent on training and develop makes you wonder, of course.
And I certainly believe that what we see in the survey that there is a need also for negotiation techniques, but certainly also the shift from product selling or project selling to more strategic account management.
Absolutely.
And I think you already mentioned upskilling and I think reshaping your sales approach and then kind of upskilling along that process.
What else would you say are kind of key success factors to making this work?
That’s a very good question.
I believe there are three layers.
First of all, what we see the most best performing companies or people in sales, what they do, they work in a structured way.
Yeah.
It’s not hit and run, but they focus on sales process excellence.
But in other words, make the sales process transparent and manageable.
Because I always talk about, you know, just take luck out of the equation.
Take luck out of the equation.
Yes.
And what I like personally is a saying from Mr. Gandhi, he said, if you take good care of the cow, automatically you will have good milk, right?
And what is the cow?
The cow is indeed the sales process.
If you manage that well and you focus on sales excellence, I believe that, of course, you need the right product and the right service, etc.
And external factors do have an impact.
We all know that.
But if you do that, I think you can guarantee the outcome of a good result in the future.
So that is the first one.
Sales process excellence, you could say.
The second one is actually sales, enablement and training.
And as I said, the number of days that people spend on training, virtual, digital classroom, it is very limited.
It’s only four days a year.
So what we see is also that the best performers, they spend time and energy on training, on coaching their people.
And the coaching leads to the third layer, which is, of course, leadership.
We see that in every project, one of the key success indicators is the involvement of leadership in driving change.
So for me, it’s sales process excellence.
It’s sales, enablement and training and leadership.
Those are the three main issues.
I love that breakdown because all of these things are manageable.
So it’s not something that is outside of our customers control, but they’re tricky in detail.
So let’s go into detail.
Let’s talk about sales process excellence.
And you’ve already said, we see process discipline in top performing companies.
But that, you know, a structured approach to lead management, lead generation, having a different approach to project sales and account management, having, you know, with that, a clear idea of key performance indicators and an ability to measure and adapt.
And I think that, you know, this is the kind of core that makes your sales success repeatable, scalable and adaptable.
Yeah.
Companies that succeed, they work on their data driven.
They know what they’re doing.
They make the sales process transparent and manageable.
And that is indeed very important.
And I don’t know, because we did another survey that you heard about, probably the future state of sales.
Yes.
And what is indeed remarkable there is the outcome is that AI, for instance, is not seen as a priority to develop.
It’s only ranked 10th or 11th place, if I’m not mistaken.
On the other hand, I wonder what if we do the same survey next year on which place it will be?
Suddenly, probably that will increase.
And another remarkable element is of that study that the confidence actually in AI skills are very low.
Yes.
And that is something that we see everywhere, all over the globe, basically.
No.
And I think this is it will become a differentiator between companies.
Can you leverage your data?
Can you make predictions from your data?
Can you use your data in a smart way, using artificial intelligence, using pattern analytics to make decisions?
Which customers to go for?
Which products to prioritize?
Which regions to attack and so on and so on.
But you said, you know, one thing is the process and the tools.
And but we know a fool with the tool.
We know the same.
So skills are extremely important.
And I am always kind of, you know, I’m blown away by that number.
Just four days of training.
Yeah, all together.
All together.
Online learning, classroom, everything all together.
Yeah, it’s very limited.
How can that be enough?
And I love that you make that reference to our new study on the future state of sales skills, which we will also link in the show notes as well with with our sales sentiment studies that we did.
So if we want people to do things differently, we have to train them differently.
Yeah, we spend we spend more time on brushing our teeth per week than actually learning and developing ourselves.
And how can that be?
And I am not saying brushing teeth is not important.
No, it is very important, obviously.
But we’ve just said it.
The world is evolving so fast.
Things are becoming faster, different, more competitive.
Why do we not make ourselves ready for that?
That’s the thing, you know, if you have a good process, you can identify the critical competences, you can identify the competence gaps.
You can make your people stronger.
We’ve talked about how difficult it is to hire new people.
Well, why don’t we make the best of the resources that we have?
And I think that we can do with sales enablement, sales training.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And as we said, we see that in every project that we run with customers is the leadership, the involvement of the leadership is so, so important.
Yeah.
And I would even expand on that.
Yes, leadership, but I think it’s even more its culture.
And and do we have a learning culture, a development culture in the companies that we work with?
Do we have regular coaching hours?
Is feedback just part of normal conversations?
Do we reward people for helping others?
Do we foster a culture of working together in the company?
And I think, you know, once that is established, then, you know, leadership falls in place and we can, yeah, we can get all of these things together.
Yeah, exactly.
So, right, Nick, it was great talking to you.
And then just recapping on that.
And I think that’s that’s very important.
So if you want to succeed, if you want your new Rears resolutions to to become true, it is about understanding and structuring what you do.
Get your sales processes, get your data and order, upskilling people to work in these processes, to work with that data and developing that development culture, that growth culture, growth mindset in the company that reflects on leadership and that really, you know, lays the foundation for your success in 2025.
Fantastic discussion.
Nick, I loved it.
What’s what’s your take?
Yeah, for me, what we see and this is not a new thing.
It’s going on for many, many years, but sales is always getting more and more complex.
So it means that you need indeed need to adapt, need to evolve, etc.
So for me, I believe that when I talk to customers, there are some things that are always coming back.
And we’re talking about customers in the B2B environment.
They say focus, focus, focus, focus segmentation and focus on the right kind of customer that you want.
Yes. And be proactive.
Yes, don’t wait. Be proactive.
So for me, those are the key, the two keywords, basically of 25 is focus and being proactive.
I couldn’t have said it better.
So if you want to learn more about these insights, you can download the full studies, both for Benelux and for Germany in the show notes, as well as the future set of sales skills that we’ve touched shortly upon in our discussion or reach out to us, connect to Nick, connect to me on LinkedIn, reach out to us.
And then thank you for listening.
And I hope to hear you next time on our podcast, „Ganz einfach vertrieb“, simply sales.
Thank you.
Thank you.