Today, many salespeople find themselves operating in a tougher sales environment. There are more players involved in the process defining the scope and requirements of a sales opportunity. Buying authority, in many instances, has been shifted “upstairs” in the organization. Expenditures are being scrutinized more carefully by more people, and even delivery requirements are more stringent.

In this more complex sales environment, the possibility for something to be overlooked and the potential sale to be derailed are greater than ever. Your ability to focus—and remain focused—is crucial. Your sustained success depends on your ability to maintain an objective perspective of your market and your customers’ needs, and not be distracted by poor fit “prospects” just because you have too few real prospects in your pipeline.

Your success also depends on your ability to gain trust so you can provide tough counsel for your prospects’ views of their situations. Many prospects think they know what they want, but actually don’t have a deep enough understanding of what you have to offer to ask you for the best solution you have for them. If you just give them what they ask for, you’ll more than likely be “shopped”, and even if they do happen to ultimately buy from you, they will hold you responsible if they are unhappy with less than ideal product performance.

In less difficult selling environments, many salespeople have been able to succeed by just fielding inbound inquiries, and then leveraging their personality or their technical expertise. But today, it is necessary to communicate with your prospects in a number of ways — face-to-face meetings, e-mails, phone calls, and group presentations—and you can’t rely on your personality or expertise alone to get by. The ability to express your thoughts clearly and concisely—verbally and in writing—is critical. Your careful analysis and recommendations are lost if you can’t communicate effectively, and this requires building trust.

The good ol' days aren’t coming back. To succeed in a more and more difficult sales environment, your ability to maintain an objective perspective of your market and your customers’ needs, and not be distracted by poor fit “prospects” and effectively communicate the connections between their needs and your company’s deliverables will make all the difference in your ability to sustain good sales performance.