In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the ability to adapt is not just an advantage, it’s a necessity. As buyer behaviors and expectations shift, sales operations leaders must collaborate closely with sales enablement to ensure that seller behaviors evolve in tandem. By systematically capturing and categorizing seller behaviors as either adaptive or static, organizations can pinpoint gaps where seller actions fail to align with changing buyer needs.

My articles begin with analogies so we'll start by asking, has baseball changed?

Games take longer, there is role specialization, starting pitchers rarely complete games, hitters are stronger, pitchers routinely throw in the mid 90's and there is a trend towards either hitting a home run or striking out. But it's still baseball. It is still played the same way. The changes are superficial.

According to our 2020-21 Sales Performance Study, only 53% of salespeople are achieving their quota. The reason it’s so tough to sell? It’s harder than ever for sellers to please buyers. And most sellers aren’t approaching buyers in the right way, which means they’re facing more challenges than ever as they try to make a sale.

Recent transformations in the market have put power squarely in the hands of buyers. As a result, the world revolves around buyers and their needs.

That means sellers have to work harder than ever to attract buyers and convince them to purchase — not just once but every time. To forge these lasting customer relationships, sellers must create a world-class customer experience that engages customers and keeps them coming back.

Determined, intelligent and unafraid of knockbacks – all traits of great sellers.

Salespeople are also having to adapt to new technology, buyer behavior and other factors outside their control, while still striving to hit targets.