Shiza Rabbani
Saliha Khalid
Social selling skills are seemly becoming much more of a “need to have” than a “nice to have” for sales professionals in Pakistan
Even as Pakistanmoves toward some prevalence of normalcy, sales, as a field, remains fundamentally distinct than it was just a few years ago. There are a series of novel and emerging sales challenges that salespeople have to rationalize in the context of Pakistan’s sales market. Discussed below are few critical issues concerning various components of sales marketing in our country which requires our attention. These issues are related to strategic dimensions, operational aspects and executionfacingPakistani salespeople in 2022 — as well as perspective on how to overcome them.
According to Zoraiz Studios Strategic Channel Account Manager the trend away from in-person interactions that gained momentum in the pandemic is bound to be a game-changer for Pakistan. Salespeople are going to need to adapt their strategies and learn how to establish credibility with a virtual barrier between them and their prospects. Moreover, 2022 is going to be an interesting year for salespeople as the sales landscape has transformed tremendously. Previously, sales reps could go onsite to establish trust and demonstrate why their product was superior to their competition, however due to the transformed sales landscape they’re no longer able to do that. Most companies are still following the hybrid mode, consequently have to figure out a way to build this trust virtually. The salesperson that can capitalize the use of technology in a manner to personalize that messaging virtually will win in 2022. As there are several salespeople reaching out via email and phone calls now as opposed to meeting with people in person, you have to comprehend clever ways to get into these businesses with a personalized approach.
The transition to the new post-COVID world is a challenge at the top of the list for majority of sales and marketing departments in Pakistan for 2022.Throughout the pandemic, we’ve witnessedvarious businesses shifting remote and suspend in-person meetings, resulting in new office culture dynamics fostered over communication tools like Teams and Zoom. The salesforce has also exhibited shifts in marketing and sales strategies with the effectuation of new digital marketing and outreach tools.Moving forward, Pakistan is likely going to see businesses re-evaluating business protocols surrounding remote work and re-establishing their customer acquisition strategies and lead generation. A question many businesses may have incapsulating the latter could be, ‘Should we maintain our remote sales and marketing efforts or return to in-person meetings? What about trade shows or conferences? Moving ahead, which strategy may be more lucrative and profitable for us as a business?’
Social selling skills are seemly becoming much more of a “need to have” than a “nice to have” for sales professionals in Pakistan. As per the data obtained from LinkedIn, 78% of social sellers outsell their peers who have failed to capitalize on the use of social media. Furthermore, 18.9% of service message blockers thought that social media marketing is the best driver of sales in 2021 — email was the only medium that scored higher than that.Salespeople require a tight grip on how to leverage these social platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter for processes like prospecting, sharing relevant content, establishing referrals, and creating clout in their spaces.This challenge isn’t fundamentally new, but it’s as pressing as it has ever been. Therefore, every individual involved in the sales team needs to account for the rising tide of digital transformation. Social media, as a sales resource, isn’t going anywhere — so it’s in the best interest of businesses to incorporate it into their repertoire if they haven’t already done so.
2022 is going to be another crafty year for salespeople in Pakistan. It’s going to bring with it,its share of troubles and hitches, but the hinderance to come are far from insurmountable.So long as sales reps and managers manifest persistence, adaptability, sustainability and a ceaseless commitment to solving problems for the customer. In this manner,they shall be able to handle the challenges of the new sales landscape in Pakistan.
Writers are the students of SZABIST Islamabad
