In what many have described as a turbulent economic climate, clients are showing greater unease when it comes to making investments in the growth of their business.

Despite this economic context, one such organisation which is showing no signs of succumbing to this economic ebb is First Event.

As a leading UK events management company based in Leeds, First Event has seen exponential growth over the last few years receiving awards such as The Sunday Times: Best Places to Work 2023, Conference and Events Awards: Best Event by an Agency and C&IT’s Best Places to Work. 

With over 15 years of experience in sales, Jake Burnham holds the position of Director of Sales at First Event, and brings a refreshing approach to selling that has helped the company reach the success seen over the past year.

We caught up with Jake to find out more about his thoughts on the current sales climate, how he’s navigating it, and his tips for success…  

 

No one knows what’s coming over the hill. Whether a knock on from Covid or not, we’re seeing more and more clients showing greater economic trepidation, and a valid fear of the unforeseen.

Gone are the days when service providers can wing their way through a sale or client relationship, using smoke and mirrors to present themselves as the best and brightest solution to their client’s problems.

Now that there’s so much apprehension around buying, you need a team capable of creating relationships quickly and earning real trust with your clients.

This authenticity comes from having a deep rooted and unshakeable understanding of what you’re selling. No lofty promises, just a solid offering and a transparent method of success. 

Whilst the economic fears of our clients are understandable, that doesn’t mean that they should be swept aside by sales teams.

To sell with purpose and value, especially in the B2B space, you need an understanding of who you’re selling to, what their concerns are, and the empathy needed to meet those concerns.

By investing the time in understanding and researching your client, and aligning their ‘why’ with the core purpose of the service you provide, only then can you reassure people that what they’re spending is the best way to achieve their goals. 

At First Event, it’s long been a business imperative of ours to dig deep into the why of our customers’ events. We know that no one ever throws an event for no reason, so whenever a client comes to us saying they want to create an experience, our focus always comes back to the why.

Whether they want to attract customers, encourage sales, strengthen internal engagement, or consolidate a brand identity, it’s our job as sales professionals to translate our client’s vision into solid ROIs and KPIs that reflect the right kind of growth within their organisation.

It’s with this laser focus on measurables, goals and outcomes that helps us build events for our clients that are absolutely watertight in justifying how and why they should spend their budgets. 

When the purse strings are tight, as many are at the moment, every penny counts. Particularly as a new supplier, people aren’t going to put a lot of orders in your hands until you’ve proved yourself.

You can do this through testimonials and case studies, which are worth more than ever before. This is what we do on a daily basis, and we’re now at the point where our reputation precedes us, making it easier to talk to new clients.

By alleviating customer fears and slowly ticking off that objection list of ‘why not’ you can earn client’s trust and be trusted to deliver for them.

It’s these principles that have to guide how we sell now. We take on our client’s challenges and roadblocks to success as if they were our own.

We don’t have anyone on our client list that we don’t regularly review to see if their priorities have changed, and to see how we can best serve them from one year to the next.

This is also how you avoid budget creep. By helping clients achieve what they want to achieve within budgets that they can afford, you can advise on either expanding or reducing the budget according to how you think you can best achieve their goals for them.

Sales needs more of a bespoke approach than ever before. It’s your job to find solutions to their potential problems before you even attempt to sell them anything.

By giving a genuine ROI we give our client the security of knowing that we’re working on their team, not just working for our fee.

We have found it harder over the last few months, but we’ve always had a bespoke approach to our sales techniques.

The fact we were doing this before this economic period hit in full force just lessened the gap between us being able to find our feet and keep ploughing forward into the future.

If you’re used to rolling out a blanket approach, selling successfully in this new climate is going to be a challenge. Now is the time to leave behind outdated ways of selling, and forge those personal relationships with each client on a truly bespoke level.