The Era of the Subject Matter Expert

With rising customer demands, and more technical solutions dominating the B2B landscape, business has entered into The Era of the "SME Sale." Instead of fielding dedicated sales teams, professional services firms in finance, consulting, engineering and accounting are relying on their subject-matter experts, project managers, or senior consultants to identify and close opportunities for new work. While this level of expertise and trust is critical to closing high stakes sales, selling is often at odds with "the work."

The problem? To do it well, you need a mindset shift from being purely technical to being customer-centric and persuasive.

Implications for SMEs:

Time: Sales among SMEs engaged in business development are hampered by the real and perceived limits on their time as they are engaged in project work. SMEs need a system that contains qualified lead lists, messaging and a cadence that aligns with the time they have available and when prospects and existing clients are available.

Shift in Role & Mindset

SMEs are often trained to solve problems, not sell solutions. They are not typically briefed on sales process or where to initiate the conversation. To that end, selling requires a mindset shift: from being purely technical to being customer-centric and persuasive. Many SMEs look at sales as being too self promotional, without realizing that there is no one more credible to make business building recommendations.

Need for Soft Skills

Selling demands communication, storytelling, negotiation, and empathy—skills not always emphasized in SME training or among technical experts. In addition they must translate complex technical knowledge into business value language that resonates with decision-makers.

Credibility Advantage

SMEs often have high credibility with clients. When they speak, clients listen—so if they can articulate value, they can be very persuasive.

Increased Responsibility

SMEs now need to be more accountable for revenue outcomes, not just technical deliverables.

Implications for Companies

Overloading SMEs – be mindful of asking them to sell and deliver and project manage, you don't want to cause burnout and clients are the priority.

Ineffective Selling – if untrained, SMEs might undermine sales efforts by focusing on features, not benefits and sell too transactionally. Ensure they can connect client needs to the broadest spectrum of solution components your organization offers.

Misaligned Messaging – with more stakeholders involved in purchasing decision, you need to be mindful of not speaking in technical jargon the buyer doesn’t understand. Speak to user benefits, brand benefits, operational benefits and fiscal benefits.

How to Make it Work

• Provide sales enablement training tailored for SMEs that respects their background and adds to what they're already doing well.
• Partner them with sales professionals and suggest ideal interactions and roles.
• Equip them with messaging tools that translate technical value into business outcomes.
• Encourage storytelling over data-dumping.

For more information, download our fact sheet for our SME selling training program or call (917) 439-3271