As technology is driving the way that humans interact, it is easy for it to become the main focus in the sales and marketing world. However, if technology becomes the main focus, how will sales and marketing professionals be able to communicate effectively with their buyers, if their soft skills become diminished from having less experience of forming a true human connection?

A Sales and Marketing Leader, Podcast Host of The B2B Revenue Executive Experience, and the Managing Partner of ValueSelling Associates, Inc., Chad Sanderson, urges sales and marketing to not lose their soft skills edge by relying too much on technology. 

He provides expertise around gaining the perspective of your buyers and using the vortex prospecting approach to engage with your buyers through multiple channels.

Takeaways:

• Communicating effectively with buyers is about understanding another person’s perspective and trying to get them to see a different point of view.
• “You need to understand how to shut up and listen sometimes.” - Chad Sanderson
• Is your team relying on the technology to connect with customers, or are they utilizing their communication skills to consider the phrasing of their emails, the length, and whether or not it actually addresses challenges that the buyer has?
• Vortex Prospecting is a framework used with value selling, with the focus on another human’s perspective.
• The first thing to consider with value selling is who am I after, what is their role, and what is their industry? Then do your research to understand the industry trends and challenges the person in that particular role is having.
• Once you understand the challenges of your buyer, you can pull content and valuable information that directly addresses their problems. 
• Vortex Prospecting uses a psychology based approach called priming of memory, meaning that through the touches that marketing and sales has with their buyers, they create an essence of a relationship that has not truly happened yet.
• Put in the work of using a multi-channel approach to engage with your buyers through phone, email, social media, networking, events, and groups. When you communicate with your buyers through these different channels consider framing your content around triggering anxiety, influence, and motivation.
• Triggering anxiety from a marketing and sales perspective is designed to elicit an emotional reaction by bringing future consequences of inaction today, to the present.
• Influencing your buyer is about showing them that your company has solved these problems for other companies similar to theirs, this is the time to bring out your case studies.
• Motivation is about getting your buyer to then take action after anxiety has been triggered and the influence has been instilled.
• It all comes down to respect. If you respect yourself enough as a professional in your role, take the time to put in the work and get to know the role you are selling to. Understand that the grind is a part of your job and put in your prep work.
• “You are going to be relegated to the level you sound like.” - Chad Sanderson
• If you are a marketing coordinator or an SDR that finds themselves having to speak to a room full of executives, educate yourself and speak their language. Start reading the same books they are, understand how the business functions, and what each role is responsible for.
• Career Advice from Chad - Don’t let the fear dictate your choices. Amplify your level of creativity, curiosity, and grit, and just go for it!

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadsanderson/
• Twitter: lhttps://twitter.com/sandersonc
• Email: chad.sanderson@valueselling.com
• Phone: 303-834-5932
• ValueSelling Associates, Inc.: https://www.valueselling.com/
• The B2B Revenue Executive Experience Podcast: https://www.valueselling.com/podcast

Busted Myths:

• Technology is the answer and more martech is going to increase connection. - The focus is about people. If people do not have the soft skills to communicate with their buyers effectively, and the technology is put first, then they are not going to be able to close deals because they will not be able to connect with their buyers.