NEXTGEN SELLING: BUYER-CENTRIC GROWTH
“Because of access to online research, the pendulum of power has swung very much toward the buyer.
The majority of the decision-making cycle has happened before the sales rep ever speaks with a prospective buyer.”
Peter Ostrow, Practice Leader for Sales Enablement, The Aberdeen Group
The role of sales professionals in a buyer’s decision-making process is shrinking. Studies show that many companies are making buying decisions with little or no consultation with salespeople This trend virtually guarantees organizations will fail to establishing their competitive advantage… and sales leaders will continue to struggle to reverse this trend, as they are faced with unreliable forecasting and unmet revenue goals.
Perhaps the answer can be found in a 2021 LinkedIn survey of sellers and buyers. When they were both asked the same question, “To what extent do sellers place buyers first?”, the gap between sellers and buyers responses was significant. 60% of the sellers said they always put buyers first… but only 24% of buyers agreed.
This clearly illustrates one of the major challenges facing sales organizations as they work to differentiate their value within each buyer’s decision-making process. It inspired us to found NextGen Selling… to light the way for a new generation of B2B sales professionals. With a sales process rooted in foundational values like integrity, generosity, collaboration, innovation, and accountability, our approach enables a relational and consultative synergy that consistently aligns sales professionals with a buyer’s decision-making process.
Our mission is to transform sales professionals from product-sellers into problem-solvers. An expectation made possible by focusing on three process disciplines that accelerate buyer-centric growth: relational AUTHENTICITY, consultative AGILITY, and process ALIGNMENT.
We call the NEXTGEN SELLING methodology . . . SALES PROCESS PROFICIENCY.
What is Sales Process Proficiency?
SALES PROCESS PROFICIENCY is a level of process discipline achieved by a sales professional who consistently practices BUYER-CENTRIC GROWTH DISCIPLINES to create value throughout a Customer’s Journey. It indicates the ability to sustain a selling process in synch with their buyer’s decision-making process, focusing on their explicit business and personal needs. With the three DISCIPLINES OF BUYER-CENTRIC GROWTH, a sales professional can establish a competitive edge by leveraging the synergy between relational and consultative value. They represent the foundation for the Sales Process Proficiency methodology and the springboard for sales practices and behaviors that meet the challenges of the digital transformation… what buyers expect when they expect it. Sales professionals who have attained sales process proficiency will be recognized as trusted advisors, who consistently deliver value by sharing insights and solving problems (not selling products) that enable predictable and sustainable growth: The three Disciplines of Buyer-Centric Growth are:
relational AUTHENTICITY… Building trust and credibility with buyers
consultative AGILITY… Collaborating with buyers to solve problems
process ALIGNMENT… Overcoming barriers to decision-making
Behind every buyer-centric Discipline is a set of Practices and the highest-return Behaviors that combine to ensure sales professionals apply the right competencies to create business and personal value for each buyer. We consider the buyer-centric growth Disciplines to be value-creating ASSETS that build sales process proficiency and achieves profitable growth. The disciplines are implemented by the application of a unique set of Practices that serve as value-creating ACTIVATORS to be focused, as needed, on specific needs/expectations of each buyer. Finally, the practices are enabled with high-return Behaviors that serve as value-creating ACCELERATORS Sales Process Proficiency will maximizes the competitive advantage of your sales team and minimize their time-to-performance. It empowers sales teams with the mindset, process, skillset, and tools to implement a winning, buyer-centric growth strategy.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR GROWTH EXPERTISE”“When you have disciplined people, you don’t need hierarchy.
JIM COLLINSAUTHOR, GOOD TO GREAT, HARPER-COLLINS 2002
When you have disciplined thought, you don’t need bureaucracy.
When you have disciplined action, you don’t need excessive controls."
WHY CHOOSE NEXTGEN SELLING?
PROVEN... RELEVANT...REPEATABLE...PREDICTABLE
WHY CHOOSE NEXTGEN SELLING?
THE ROAD TO SALES PROCESS PROFICIENCY
NextGen Selling is dedicated to meeting clients where they are, not where we want them to be. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions, not in sales development or in implementation strategies. That’s why every solution is purpose-built to meet a client’s unique needs. We approach customization by understanding the level of talent, experience, and expertise of a client’s sales team, including identifying a profile for each cohort participating in a performance initiative. This includes a recognition of personal learning styles, so we can fine-tune our design to maximize audience participation.
Based on a client’s growth goals and initiatives, as well as the results of a sales team’s competency assessments, we select the highest priority growth challenges and determine the most relevant content applications. NextGen Selling collaborates with clients to identify the right practices and behaviors to achieve their goals in any or all three stages of a Customer’s Journey:
- ✓ENGAGEMENT with potential targets to convert new selling opportunities
- ✓EXECUTION of a buyer-centric process that creates value and predictability
- ✓EXPANSION of existing account revenue by partnering on new opportunities
But sales organizations don’t change until their people change. And people change incrementally, and at their own pace. We recognize this reality and have developed a time-tested process that shows our clients how they can achieve repeatable and sustainable growth. Our Sales Process Proficiency Roadmap drives accountability for executives, sales leaders, sales professionals, and their support teams. Because research has shown time-to-performance is directly correlated with a consistent top-down commitment to plan of action, we guide clients with a clearly defined plan of action. NextGen Selling’s Process Proficiency Roadmap shows clients how to change behavior based on their growth goals so they their sales teams can A.D.A.P.T. to the new sales reality. The Process Proficiency Roadmap has five stages:
- ASSESS: Identifying Sales Performance Gaps and their Implications
- DEVELOP: Learning Relevant Buyer-Centric Growth Disciplines
- APPLY: Expert Coaching to Reinforce Learning in Sales Pipeline
- PERFORM: Sales Leader Coaching to Sustain Performance/Results
- TRANSFORM: Advisory Expertise to Manage Organizational Change
WHY CHOOSE NEXTGEN SELLING?
OUR NAME IS OUR MISSION
Walt Zeglinski, our founding partner, had a front row seat for the evolution of the sales performance industry in last three decades. Along the way, he has worn several hats… salesman, sales manager, trainer, consultant, and chief executive. Early in his career Walt recognized that a buyer-centric mindset was the cornerstone of a successful sales process in the B2B market. Without it, sales professionals would have no trust-based relationship, no opportunities to collaborate with buyers to define the right solution, and no insight into the potential barriers to decision‑making. Over time, Walt’s buyer-centric mindset became his mantra for success in selling.
But shortly after the turn of the century the information age ushered in a new set of sales challenges. Economic trends and political realities had significant implications, but the single most dramatic change for B2B salespeople was the proliferation of digital disruptions that widened the breach between buyers and sellers. None had more impact than the access to information created by the advent of big data. It shifted the power dynamic from sellers to buyers and minimized how and when sellers were invited to engage with buyers. This undermined the ability of sales teams to communicate with buyers and made it difficult to influence them with their competitive advantage.
As a result, sellers have been marginalized, competitors have multiplied, buying cycles have gotten longer, and revenue forecasts have become less predictable. It was a strong indication that traditional sales practices, once vital to growth, were no longer capable of elevating sales performance to consistently achieve revenue expectations. Walt committed himself to building a "next generation" of sales competencies – a values-based accountability system that develops Sales Process Proficiency to meet the challenges of change.
He launched NextGen Selling as a partner to growth-minded sales leaders who were committed to fully leverage their competitive advantage. Through a set of buyer-centric process disciplines, practices, and behaviors, we empower sales teams to execute their growth strategies with relational AUTHENTICITY, consultative AGILITY, and process ALIGNMENT. Simply stated, we accelerate growth by setting a new standard for B2B selling transforming the sales professionals with today’s data-driven buyers.
OUR NAME IS OUR MISSION!
”Customers have changed way faster than salespeople, especially in the B2B space. That’s a powerful acknowledgment. It means that we need to run faster, because customers are needing us less and less every single day.”
Alejandro Cabral
Global Digital Sales Transformation Leader, Kimberly Clark
WHAT LEADERS ARE SAYING
Walt’s career has allowed him to work with hundreds of growth-minded leaders from around the world. Here’s a sampling of what they said:
“Walt has a rare set of talents and experience. For more than two decades I have observed his ability to successfully apply strategic thinking, business development expertise, and leadership across complex environments. …”
Rick Beller │Global President │ History Factory
“I was introduced to Walt and his team when we engaged them on a project to enhance the strategic impact of our teams. Rather than provide an off-the-shelf product, he invested his time in understand our business challenges to define the right solution for our unique problems. …”
Amr Darmish │Former GM Human Resources │Obeikan Investment Group
“I was recruited by Walt when he was President at Huthwaite and enjoyed the experience of working with someone who established and successfully executed a growth strategy. …”
Ed Albertson │VP Sales (Retired)│Carew International
“Walt is a seasoned, versatile and highly skilled performance and business development professional. His deep, rich skill set allows him to consult at the highest executive levels of a company, translate global goals into cohesive go-to-market strategies, and manage effective deployment of those strategies across the matrix. …”
Rae Tanner │Head of Enterprise Learning & Development │Farmers Insurance
“Walt has a one-of-a-kind sales expertise. He has the unique ability to see through the complexity of a sales organization to surface its weaknesses and identify potential solutions. I’ve known Walt nearly two decades and found him, and his new firm NextGen Selling, to be an invaluable resource in sales planning and execution, sales training, go to market development, and coaching. ….”
Stan Sipes │ EVP Business Development │ Veyo LLC
“When we reached out to Walt, we had roughly defined a solution that would help our innovation team to have greater impact in selling their ideas to executive leadership – but Authentic Storytelling exceeded our expectations. Walt’s organization developed a solution that was the perfect antidote for our data-driven company. I think they hit a home run! …”
Bob Gavazzi │ Senior Director of Innovation │ The Hershey Company
“I saw Walt successfully sell, lead, manage, and coach some of FG’s largest clients. As a sales leader, he guided the company founder and business development team to further expand the business and its offerings. …”
Lon Cunninghis │ EVP Coaching Practice │ Revenue Storm
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
J OIN US AT AN UPCOMING ZOOM EVENT
NEXTGEN ROUNDTABLES (Free of Charge)
Growth Acceleration Roundtable: “FIVE STRATEGIES TO JUMP-START SALES IN 2022”
DATE: April 11th, 2022
TIME: 10:00 to 11:00 AM
FACILITATOR: Walt Zeglinski
Please join us for our first Q2 Roundtable on GROWTH ACCELERATION to discuss the “FIVE STRATEGIES TO JUMP-START SALES IN 2022“. This live 60-minute Zoom event will examine the highest-impact sales strategies for accelerating growth in 2022. Based on the real-world challenges shared by participants prior to our event, we will discuss five mission critical enablers for growth… and why they are essential for jump-starting sales performance after the significant barriers to success in the last two-years. These five 5 strategies will highlight the most meaningful, practical, and executable sales practices for achieving your sales goals and increase the likelihood of profitable growth in the coming months.
Sales Process Proficiency Roundtable: “THE POWER OF BUYER-CENTRIC PROCESS DISCIPLINE”
DATE: May 23rd, 2022
TIME: 10:00 to 11:00 AM
FACILITATOR: Walt Zeglinski
Please join us for our second Q2 Roundtable on SALES PROCESS PROFICIENCY to discuss “THE POWER OF BUYER-CENTRIC PROCESS DISCIPLINE”. This live 60-minute Zoom event will examine the pipeline productivity and profitable growth made possible by developing buyer-centric process discipline. With a buyer-centric mindset an organization can develop a sustainable sales culture, and with buyer-centric practices and behaviors they can consistently build trust and solve problems. It’s a formula for consistently creating value and driving predictable growth. Specifically, our roundtable will demonstrate how three key process disciplines can elevate sales performance and establish a competitive advantage for your business and your sales team.
Future of Selling Roundtable: “HARNESSING THE CHALLENGES OF CHANGE”
DATE: June 27th, 2022 TIME: 10:00 to 11:00 AM FACILITATOR: Walt Zeglinski
Please join us for our third Q2 Roundtable on the Future of Selling to discuss “HARNESSING THE CHALLENGES OF CHANGE”. This live 60-minute Zoom event will examine the pace of change and how digital disruptors have altered business as usual, especially the most significant challenges and impacts on selling. As sales teams struggled to have influence over buying decisions, they increasingly find themselves being marginalized from the process. But we’ll also discuss how some organizations have found ways to reverse this trend. Our roundtable will focus on how sales organizations can elevate their positioning with buyers by focusing on a new set of sales disciplines rooted in core values like curiosity, generosity, integrity, expertise, adaptability, and accountability.
