There are several ways to grow sales through collaboration. First let’s define what collaboration is.
Collaborate: to work jointly on an activity, to cooperate. To join forces, team up, or band together.
Think of ways you can do this inside your organization as well as outside of your organization.
Internally:
Collaborate with marketing (yea, sales and marketing working together – a novel idea!) to help solve a buyer’s issue that has not been solved by your standard offering. You may need to pull in product management too. By doing this you can improve customer satisfaction and expand the market.
We know this is true:
“Organizations with tightly-aligned sales and marketing had 36% higher customer retention rates and achieved 38% higher sales win rates” – MarketingProfs
Collaborate with another sales rep who has a stalled sales opportunity. They had good traction but somewhere along the line the deal got stuck. Help them to move it forward, and in return they can help YOU with a stalled opportunity too. You will have one… unless you are the best qualifier on Earth you will have a few at any given time. There is nothing like having someone on hand to be a new voice of reason or an eager assistant in helping bring an opportunity to closure.
Externally:
Find unlikely collaborators such as someone in your industry who may even overlap in services but they are not as good as you are for that one service you offer. Let them know why they should collaborate with you to team up in front of your (or their) buyer to benefit all.
Find more unlikely collaborators that seem to have nothing in common with you. Take NASA and LEGO® for example. In 50 Examples of Business Collaboration, Co-Society writes:
Seeking to create fun and educational toys that teach children about real-world challenges, LEGO® has undertaken initiatives in diverse areas, including food, robotics and renewable energy. This work includes a program to help familiarize young children and adolescents with the aerospace sector, for which the company has signed an accord with NASA. Known as the Space Act Agreement, it outlines a 3-year collaboration between the toy company and the space agency to jointly promote technology, engineering and mathematics among science students, and to work on practical applications in these disciplines.
It’s time to go to a quiet corner and think about a NEW way to get your products and services to new buyers and new markets. Make time to think beyond your normal sphere, and have a whole team brainstorm for new ideas. It could be the best block of time ever set aside.
Here are 2 previous posts about collaboration:
Lori Richardson is recognized on Forbes as one of the "Top 30 Social Sales Influencers" worldwide and is a Top 25 Innovative Sales Blogger. Lori speaks, writes, trains, and consults with inside sales teams in mid-sized companies. Subscribe to the award-winning blog for sales strategies, tactics, and tips.
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