Career growth is now more important than ever. That's why BazaIT is [launching a series of live broadcasts](https://www.youtube.com/@bazait/streams) on this topic. The first speaker of the stream was Maria Tintul, Head of Business Development at [Startup Wise Guys](https://startupwiseguys.com/). Maria shared with Victoria Nalyvaiko, CEO and co-founder of the recruiting platform BazaIT.com her own experience and tips for successful professional growth that will suit both newcomers who have just joined the industry, and those who are only considering it for the future. Attention was also focused on important things for already experienced workers.

## **Why People Fear Business Development**

Maria never dreamed of or planned to work in sales. And to the question: "Why are there so few staff in sales in the market?" the answer is simple - most people perceive this profession from a negative perspective. Many people mistakenly believe that becoming a "salesperson" is something difficult or requires special skills, abilities, or even character. Like, you're given a pen and you have to sell it, as in the movie "Wolf of Wall Street".

"It's not like that. Unfortunately, the stereotyping of BD and sales in general has created a huge bottleneck in society. We have a big problem attracting new staff to this profession at all, as it is perceived as something that you wouldn't want to be associated with. This is a stereotype that we need to fight against. You don't have to be such a 'pusher' to be in sales," says Maria.

![pic from google.com](img/vendimi-questa-penna.png "sell this pen ")

## **BD is a profession**

A "salesperson" is a profession where in 90% of cases, the goal is to communicate with people, identify their needs, and then sell them products and services. Finding the ones who will work with you is much more challenging than it appears at first glance.

The job of a business developer is not just to find clients and sell, but also to analyze the market, adapt your offer, and study your competitors. They also develop new services necessary to maintain your niche in this market, interact with key partners, and grow your network. Thus, BD is more extensive and strategic.

Sales is an essential component of BD. It's about the result. Despite numerous processes, it's important to focus on results and continuously update your skills to achieve specific metrics.

In marketing, you need to think globally as it's an important part of building your brand and growing your business.

![pic from personal edit Canva.com](img/beige-nero-e-verde-moderno-creativo-citazione-motivazionale-immagine-di-copertina-per-articolo-di-linkedin-copia-2.png "Canva 1 ")

## **Bizdev sales in an outsourcing company versus a startup**

In outsourcing, negotiations usually revolve around project details, including specialists who will work on the project, their rates, the possibility of additional research, UI/UX development, etc. This isn't always a creative process as it often leads to discussions of very specific things. Your client most likely already has a specific technical task.

"Conceptually, clients only approach you when they're ready to make a decision about choosing a partner for project development. However, there's an opportunity to offer full consulting to conceptualize with the client. When choosing a partner, it's important not only to consider hourly rates but also to understand the readiness stage of your audience to make decisions, and whether they will enjoy working with a conceptualist," Maria continues.

In contrast, startups are always an adventure, something like: "Let's help Dory find her keys."

"For them, it's crucial to have a good biz-dev or salesperson who can find interesting ways of testing ideas and researching the market to create a relevant product. Your role as a BD is to tap into your inner researcher and dig from all sides, interacting with experts already working in your niche, consultants, guides, and thought leaders in this industry. Develop horizontally to become a skilled and top-notch specialist. The more complex your B2B product, the more consultative your sales become."

Before coming to an interview, a candidate should already have tested insights about the product they will work with. It's important to try to understand both the positive and negative sides of the product and predict the audience's goals and pain points. This will help understand how successful the candidate will be in this specialization.

![pic from personal edit canva.com](img/beige-nero-e-verde-moderno-creativo-citazione-motivazionale-immagine-di-copertina-per-articolo-di-linkedin.png "Canva 2 ")

## **How to properly start in the BD industry**

Maria Tintul says:

"I was sending out resumes everywhere, searching for any positions that required English skills."

Recruiting can be compared to sales since in both cases you need to sell your company, job vacancy, or product/services. It's important to make your offer stand out against hundreds of other vacancies.

For the candidates, I have good news: previous experience working in other sales teams is not always a plus; sometimes, it's even a downside. BD team leaders often find it easier to train a person from scratch. Look for larger teams and departments with clear processes, as they provide an ideal stepping-stone for a junior specialist.

Remember, business development sometimes isn't even about direct sales, but about facilitating a mutual agreement between people around a table (which you will then formalize).

![pic from google.com](img/joao-ferrao-4yzrcdncrvg-unsplash.jpg "computer ")



## **How interviews go**

"Imagine that you came to sell yourself. Therefore, find out the needs of your client, what are the company's pain points, and how you could help. Learn as much as you can about the company and the team to understand how exactly you could complement it. Don't come to the interview if you only want to answer questions. This is a two-way process, you also need to be interested in the company, working conditions, and find out if everything meets your criteria. You are providing services and you also need to understand if there is a fit. Treat this as a sales call," Maria continues.

![pic from personal edit Canva.com](img/beige-nero-e-verde-moderno-creativo-citazione-motivazionale-immagine-di-copertina-per-articolo-di-linkedin-copia.png "canva 3")

## **Preparing for an Interview**

If you already have previous experience, the first thing a potential employer is interested in is your sales volumes. It would also be beneficial to share a few stories about successful cases.

These are the things assessed in such an interview:

* How well the candidate can sell themselves
* The coherence and eloquence of their speech
* The clarity and precision in conveying their thoughts
* Their attentiveness to the flow of conversation and ability to steer it in a more beneficial direction for themselves

Here's the impression your speech should create:

* It should be clear who you are and what the forecasted picture of potential collaboration is
* You should aim to understand the product well enough to become an expert and be able to sell it
* It's important to leave a positive impression of yourself as a professional interlocutor, as the company essentially chooses YOU to represent them to their clients
* The more you reveal about yourself in the interview, the more opportunities you'll be given to express yourself in the position

![pic grom google.com](img/amy-hirschi-k0c8ko3e6aa-unsplash.jpg "pic interview")



## **Important Soft Skills:**

The first checkpoint is the ability to tell a complete and understandable story. About anything: a book, a dog, a business, etc. The recruiter pays attention to how coherently the candidate narrates and if they monitor the listener's level of comprehension.

For a middle management position, it's crucial to have strong networking skills and to share this; your stories about unexpected new opportunities thanks to your network will show employers that you can also build relationships with the market for them.\
\
During the interview, the main task is to understand whether the candidate is suitable for what the company sells. Whether it would be interesting to work with the clients they want to attract and whether you will work well together overall. Ask about everything in detail, because at the interview stage, only about 30% of what they really want to see in a candidate is typically discussed. You must understand how suitable this vacancy is for you and whether you are suitable for this position. This is necessary to formulate a quality and relevant offer later on.

"I advise you not to be afraid of new challenges and to try things, even if you have no experience. Like I did. But be sincere about it.

I chose new directions for myself every 2 years — it became the biggest challenge for me, something I hadn't tried yet. At my very first interview, I immediately said that I had no experience, except for knowing English, but I emphasized that I was ready to learn.\
\
Later, I didn't actively look for a job — people in my environment recommended me. From the 3rd year, I was working as a freelance sales process consultant, where I constantly had orders and was expanding my network."

## **Tips for Beginners**

If you're a novice in the realm of BDM, here are several suggestions that can help kickstart your career:

1. Find a team from which you can learn. It's best if this team includes individuals who already have BDM experience.
2. Join a team with a founder who is a salesperson. This will help you learn to sell, a crucial skill in BDM.
3. Read a wide variety of literature on BDM to understand what approaches and strategies work best.
4. Enhance your communication and networking skills. This will help you find new clients and expand your contact network.
5. Determine what you enjoy and take it from there. It's best to work in a direction that appeals to you and sparks your interest (sales, market analysis, partnerships, events).
6. When interacting with a client or potential partner, demonstrate your expertise. You should be familiar with how your product or service is evaluated.
7. Develop your soft skills. This includes working on communication skills, empathy, and the ability to listen and understand your clients' needs.

![pic from google.com](img/cj-dayrit-xx2aysbsyko-unsplash.jpg "pic success ")

It's important to define what you specifically want to gain from your work in BDM. If you wish to become part of a process that already exists and is growing thanks to the team leader, this could be an excellent choice for you. But if you want to grow independently in this industry and become a founder, creating new concepts and ideas, join smaller teams that will trust you to develop an entire direction on your own.

To become a successful business development manager, you need to have a deep understanding of the specifics of the niche in which you work.

Networking is also crucial. It is a powerful tool in this profession.

"If you're a BDM and don't have a network, you're not relevant," emphasizes Maria.

Engage actively in this field - it will help you better understand the industry and work more effectively in it. Without probing questions, your progress might significantly slow down.

If you dislike digging too deep or bumping your head against various corners, you might want to try not BD, but sales.

## **What to pay attention to**

If you aspire to become a successful seller, focus on practical skills. Concentrate on your theme and get acquainted with different types of sales. There are many resources online, especially in English. Understand what a sales funnel is, what conversions are, and how they affect the efficiency of your work and your team.

You need to understand how the entire spectrum of sales works, including inbound and outbound sales, outreach, marketing, and the various specialists in this field. Become an expert in what you sell.

The smaller the team, the more valuable its specialists' time. You should aim to become an expert and impress your clients with specialized knowledge and skills. Quantitatively know about the market and client problems.

![pic from Pinterest.com](img/the-blowup-un4paddppau-unsplash.jpg "pic failure success ")

## **How Long the Switch Takes**

If individuals have started a job and know what they're aiming for, then three months is generally sufficient for them to become a self-sufficient specialist. Lifehack: attend all thematic stand-ups of the team to learn the essence of the product faster and become an expert in it. Request to attend all meetings with the company's existing or future clients that your colleagues conduct.

It's extraordinarily important to listen and absorb the negotiation style of this particular company. Start gaining expertise in this product or service and build your arsenal of answers. Your task is to find as many answers as possible to the questions a client will ask you.

Career growth explained by a series of Broadcast by BazaIT

career growth startups business development interviews 

How and where to develop in the profession of Business Development Manager

## The Goal

How about analyzing, which Collaboration Software Tool has the best sentiment (most mentiones with positive sentiment)?\
We’ve analyzed the mentions all over the web for a month, to check which of the following tools is used in the most positive, and negative contexts:

* [Jira](https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira)
* [Azure DevOps](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/devops/)
* [ServiceNow](https://www.servicenow.com/)
* [Asana](https://asana.com/)
* [Monday.com](https://Monday.com/)
* [ClickUp](https://clickup.com/)
* [Zendesk](https://www.zendesk.com/)

*Disclaimer: It’s not a professional research, done with sentiment analysis professionals, rather an analysis, an exercise, so some some small mistakes might have been made. We did our best to avoid them, by deleting all the noise (f.e. by setting out dedicated filters, improving the formulas from day to day based on the results we saw). But there is always a possibility, that we skipped something.  So take the results lightly. If the community will like it, we’ll prepare the next editions, trying to be better, and better.*

> There are a lot of rankings about software, G2, Capterra, Gartner, and probably many others. Most of them are focused on features, some on reviews, others on income and market share. But… none of them are about emotions, the sentiment.\
> *Jacek Wizmur, Co-Founder of [Getint.io](https://getint.io/)*

In a very competitive market, most of the available tools are very similar in terms of core functionalities.

So… what differentiates them?\
What makes people choose one over the other?

`UX? Is it really?`\
`Performance? Probably.`\
`Completeness? Maybe.`\
`Customization possibilities? Could be.`\
`Deployment option (SaaS vs OnPremise)? For enterprises, it’s one of the factors, sure.`\
`Pricing? At some point, yes.`

But… In the end, all the decisions are made by humans. It’s not B2B or B2C – it’s B2H (Business to Human). In the era of social media, and reviews (Capterra, Clutch, etc.) emotions and buzz are becoming more and more a decisive factor. Additionally, people want to work with a tool that has this positive vibe.

As getint.io, we are a platform that helps people integrate software (f.e. Jira – Jira, Jira – Azure DevOps, Asana – Azure DevOps, ServiceNow- ServiceNow, and so on), or migrate from one software to the other (f.e Monday to Jira). For us, there is no one mighty, go-to software that always is the best. We’re not biased. The practice taught us, that each is best for some scenarios, and the main goal is the Customer’s satisfaction.\
If it works, it’s good.

We did not want to prepare a report to state that one software is better than another, or more liked than the other. We wanted to see, which drives the conversation in the most positive, or negative context. In addition to that, we wanted to check the volume of mentions all over the web, to see which seems to be the most popular tool.

## A bit of history

What may affect the number of mentions, is the fact of how long each tool is on the market – how much time it had to build a customer base, willing to talk about a tool.

Let’s take a quick look.\
**Jira**: 2002\
**Azure DevOps**: 2018 (current version, its lineage can be traced back to Visual Studio Team System which was launched in 2006)\
**Monday.com**: 2012\
**ClickUp**: 2017\
**ServiceNow**: 2003\
**Zendesk**: 2007\
**Asana**: 2008

Jira is the oldest tool, it was the first to make the way for others. ServiceNow was launched just a year later. The most recent ones are ClickUp, and Monday.com – they could use the lessons learned from their predecessors.

## How we did it (**the Collaboration Software Tools, Sentiment Analysis report)**

Getint.io team was collecting data on Jira, Azure DevOps (including ADO keyword), ServiceNow (including keywords like “snow platform”, and “now platform”), Monday.com, Asana, ClickUp, and Zendesk for more than a month, but for this analysis, we will take the dates from 27.01 to 27.02.2022.

This report was possible thanks to our friends at [Brand24](https://brand24.com/?utm_source=Getint.io&utm_medium=blogpost&utm_campaign=BR24_Getint_SentimentAnalysis), the Social Media Monitoring tool, which was recognized as the best in business by f.e. Sujan Patel. The tool has great reviews all over the web (Capterra, G2, Software Advice). Brand24 was featured in TechCrunch, Entrepreneur, AdWeek, and Forbes.\
\
What does Brand24 do? The tool is collecting mentions about specified keywords, in blogs, news channels, social media (mostly Twitter, collecting the data from LinkedIn is not possible for now, and collecting data from Facebook, and Instagram is challenging, and limited only to the public mentions). Thanks to that, a brand can see what people are saying about it and can join the conversation.

We were collecting data based on keywords, topics, hashtags, and @mentions across blogs, news sites, and social networks (mostly Twitter). We analyzed more than 65,100 mentions concerning these Collaboration Software Tools to see, which have the most positive, and the most negative sentiment.

> I have to say, it wasn’t as easy, as I thought.

We had to make a lot of work to filter out the web mentions – it turned out that f.e. “Jira” is not that unique keyword, it means “wait”, and “Waxaa jira” means “there is” in some African languages (f.e. Hausa). What’s more “la jira con” means “the tour with” in Spanish. There are also a lot of Twitter users using “jira” in their username. 

On the other hand, “Asana” is a yoga position, and most of the mentions were about yoga, not the tool. Things were easier with “ServiceNow”, or “Azure DevOps” where mentions were usually about the software we wanted to analyze. In short, we needed to delete a lot of the mentions to keep the data as clean as possible.

Since it was challenging to make sure it’s done 100% correctly, I’ll present all of the data, but I’ll analyze only the ones from the following countries: United States, Spain, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Sweden, and Ukraine.

Here is an example how the data in Brand24 look like:

![clickup-infogr-countrires](https://getint.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/clickup-infogr-countrires.png "clickup-infogr-countrires")

## [Brand24 Sentiment Analysis](https://getint.io/collaboration-software-tools-sentiment-analysis-report/#:~:text=Brand24%20Sentiment%20Analysis)

As Tom from Brand24 writes:

> “Sentiment analysis, also known as opinion mining, or emotion AI, boils down to one thing: It’s the process of analyzing online pieces of writing to determine the emotional tone they carry, whether they’re positive, negative, or neutral.”

A sentiment analysis system for text analysis combines natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning techniques to assign weighted sentiment scores to the entities. The texts that make up the mentions are converted into numerical sequences that are much more understandable to the algorithm than pure text strings. The second neural network was based on embeddings, which we learned to distinguish between sentiments. The entire text in the found entry is analyzed.

### **First stage – Dictionary analysis.** 

Brand24 stores several thousand words related to emotions – both positive and negative. Each word has an assigned weight. In the first stage, Brand24 divides the content into sentences and analyzes each of them separately in terms of the presence of these words.

### **Stage two – Linguistic analysis.**

Implementation of language rules and context analysis is described in the first stage. The algorithm finding the word “good” should check if the word “morning” has not appeared before or after it, etc. The algorithm contains a lot of additional parameters, such as the distance of positive or negative words from the search subject. Only the qualified results (according to these parameters) are marked as positive or negative.

**So in this analysis/report, we are not stating, that Jira is better than Asana, or the other way around. We analyze the emotional tone of the posts of people writing them.**

## **TL: DR**

### **The most popular: Jira**

Undoubtedly Jira is the most popular Collaboration Software Tool. Almost 30% of all collected mentiones, were about Jira.

### **Most loved: ClickUp**

46% positive mentiones make ClickUp the most loved tool, second Asana has two times fewer positive mentiones. ClickUp has what it takes to make people love it.

### **The Controversial One: Jira**

Jira had 20.55% of negative mentiones which is the worst result, but… being the leader isn’t easy. There is a saying that “It doesn’t matter what they say about you, as long as they say it” or “there is no such thing as bad publicity”. 

## **Collaboration Software Tools, Sentiment Analysis Ranking**

### `The most-liked according to our sentiment analysis is….`

![Collaboration Software Tools, Sentiment Analysis: Summary](https://getint.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Blog-post-summary.png "Collaboration Software Tools, Sentiment Analysis: Summary")

*\*Only for the following countries were taken into consideration: United States, Spain, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia,  Slovenia, Switzerland, Sweden, and Ukraine*

Now let’s dive more into details. Who is the most liked, and who has the most negative related mentiones? How many mentiones were there in total? Here is more in-depth comparison (again only some countries are taken into account here).

![Collaboration Software Tools, Sentiment Analysis: Selected countries](https://getint.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Blog-post-1.png "Collaboration Software Tools, Sentiment Analysis: Selected countries")

Some of you may still wonder, how all the data looked like (even though they are less relevant). For those, here is the table below. As you can see, the volumes are much bigger. 

![Collaboration Software Tools, Sentiment Analysis Details (all countries)](https://getint.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Blog-post-2.png "Collaboration Software Tools, Sentiment Analysis Details (all countries)")

### **ClickUp – the most positive mentiones**

The emotional tone of mentiones related to ClickUp was very positive: 46% when analyzing only some countries *(United States, Spain, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Sweden, and Ukraine – we did it because we weren’t 100% sure we filtered out all the noise from Asian, and African countries, where the keywords we use for analysis also mean totally different things – as described in the first part of the blogpost)*, and 38% when taking into account all of them. That’s a very good result. At the same time, the volume of mentiones was one of the lowest (3rd from the bottom). 

ClickUp is a relatively fresh tool (founded just 5 years ago), gaining market share, generating positive vibes around the product. We will see how it evolves.

### **Jira – the most popular one**

The biggest volume of mentiones was about Atlassian’s Jira. It’s the product that generated a lot of comments – both good and bad. About 17% of mentiones had a positive sentiment, while about 20% negative. What’s worth mentioning, is the fact that the sentiment could be negative, while it wasn’t because of the Jira itself (f.e. “I had such a bad morning, I’m late for work, and I feel terrible. Time to start my day with the Jira board”). So we can say that Jira is generating emotions 🙂 45% of all mentiones had some emotional sentiment, different that neutral.

### **Azure DevOps – the technical one**

Azure DevOps was last in our ranking, with only 16,89% of positive mentiones, and 8,45% of negative. The volume was very low, just 438 (and 5 298 globally). The possible reason? While all those tools are helping teams collaborate, they are addressing different target groups. ClickUp, Monday.com, Asana are used by all departments and are often preferred by the business side (Marketing, Product Owners, Sales). Those are the groups that are more active on social media, than developers, who are targeted by more technical Azure DevOps.

### **ServiceNow – positive/neutral**

ServiceNow is a strong player somewhere in the middle. Most of the mentiones with ServiceNow brand were neutral, 17,11% positive, and just slightly more than 2% with the negative sentiment. ServiceNow is a very expensive tool, targeting enterprises, and still, the number of mentions was second biggest, just after Jira. 

### **Asana – always second**

Second best, and second… worst. 33% of mentions with the Asana brand, had any sentiment, out of which 23,93% were positive, and 9,48% were negative. In terms of volume, Asana was 4th after Jira, ServiceNow, and Zendesk. 

### **Monday.com**

3rd place on the podium of the most positive mentiones. 4th in the negative ones, and also 4th when analyzing the volume of mentiones. 

### **Zendesk – the… stock one?**

This was a tough one – there were a lot of mentiones featuring Zendesk in February, but… just some of them were actually about the product. There was a big volume of mentiones related to Zendesk’s stocks. 

### **Most Twitter mentiones**

The most mentiones on Twitter were regarding Jira, then ServiceNow, Zendesk, Asana, ClickUp, Azure DevOps, and Monday.com. 

[Check out our integrations here](https://getint.io/integrations/)😎

Discover which collaboration software tool generates the most positive sentiment and popularity on social media, as analyzed by Getint.io using Brand24's sentiment analysis. See how Jira, Azure DevOps, ServiceNow, Asana, Monday.com, ClickUp, and Zendesk fare in terms of emotional tone and volume of mentions in selected countries. Find out why ClickUp stands out as the most loved tool, while Jira remains the most popular but also controversial one.

Collaboration Software Tools, Sentiment Analysis Report

Salespersons are critical in representing the company, and even if the service provided is of high quality and your marketing strategy is decent, it may not matter if the salesperson is unable to effectively sell themselves to the prospective client.  The ideal outcome is that the client thinks "This manager will help to cover my needs, I trust him/her" after the initial call. Technical skills, general erudition, and understanding of the field are still the base, but emotional intelligence is the missing link that can make the difference between a mediocre salesperson and a great one. 

Emotions drive buying decisions.

For example, in the IT outsourcing business, there are hundreds of almost similar companies - the range of services,  technology stacks, pricing, and expertise. Of course, there are companies deeply focused on one domain or technology and they are standing out of the trend, but you hardly find differences within the majority. So when clients search for a vendor they shortlist 3 to 10 companies for some objective reasons like location, referrals on aggregators, and information they have got on the website, and then reach out to them. And when they face similar offers and conditions, emotions drive buying decisions because people tend to make decisions based on how they feel, rather than purely on logic or rational thinking. Many factors can trigger emotions during the buying process, such as smooth communication, perception of proficiency, cultural fit, or feeling of confidence in the future success of their common project.

Emotions can also influence how people perceive the value of a product or service. Additionally, people often make impulse buying decisions based on their emotions, even when it is not the most practical or rational choice. Marketers and salespeople who understand the emotional drivers of their customers can use this knowledge to influence their buying decisions and improve their sales effectiveness.

Here are a couple of examples of how emotions can influence buying decisions:

* Brand loyalty: Consumers may feel a strong emotional attachment to a particular brand, which can influence their decisions. For example, someone who has always used Apple products may continue to purchase Apple products even if a cheaper alternative with similar features is available. But it must be emphasized that brand loyalty globally tends to decrease.
* Social influence: Emotions such as the desire to fit in or impress others can influence purchasing decisions, like purchasing a luxury brand handbag to fit in with a certain group of people.
* Fear of missing out (FOMO): Emotions such as anxiety and fear of missing out on a limited-time offer or a scarcity tactic ("only 2 left in stock!") can create a sense of urgency and push consumers to make a purchase.
* Personal values: Emotions tied to personal values is the most powerful trend nowadays. People who place a high value on sustainability may choose to purchase eco-friendly products, even if they are far more expensive.
* Impulse buying: Emotions such as excitement or happiness can lead to impulse buying decisions even if goods are not necessarily needed. Intentional speculation on impulse buying is regarded as toxic, non-sustainable in the long run, and harmful to brands.

Successful sales people manage their own emotions and understand the emotions of the clients

Salespeople must be able to handle emotions during the selling process because emotions are contagious and can easily influence their customers. If a salesperson feels anxious, stressed, or desperate, this can create a negative font in the negotiation process and make customers less likely to make a purchase. On the other hand, if a salesperson maintains a positive and confident behavior and manner, this can create positivity and trust in the customer and increase the probability of a successful sale. Additionally, managing own emotions can help the salesperson stay focused on the customer's needs and concerns, rather than becoming too focused on their own desires for a sale. This can ultimately lead to better communication, a stronger relationship with the customer, and increased sales success.

Emotional intelligence is a skill that could be developed, so here are some tips to help:

* Practice self-awareness:  pay attention to your own emotions, and learn how to recognize and label them. This can help you better understand your own behavior and how it affects others.
* Practice active listening: be fully focused on what the other person is saying, ask clarifying questions, and repeat back what you heard. This can help you better understand and connect with others.
* Learn to manage your stress and emotions so that you can stay calm and focused in challenging situations. Techniques such as deep breathing, visualization, and positive self-talk can be helpful.
* Practice empathy: try to understand your counterpart’s thoughts and feelings; show admiration for the path the person has taken or the project they are undertaking. That will help you to build stronger relationships.

By understanding the emotions behind a customer's purchasing decisions and the challenges they are facing, salespeople can tailor their approach, proposal, and communication style to build trust and rapport. That can lead to a deeper understanding of the customer's needs and desires, allowing the salesperson to provide personalized solutions that resonate with the customer's emotions. Active listening, empathizing, paying attention to the tone of voice and mimicking, an active curiosity, and reading the body language are the tools that will help to understand a customer's emotions. That will help a salesperson anticipate objections, prepare beforehand, and respond to them in a way that addresses the underlying challenges behind them. 

Human to Human

A lot of sales professionals tell us that there is no such a sales model as B2B or B2C. Now it is an era of H2H, a human buy from humans. In a modern way of life and with the global problem of loneliness, simple open trustful relations are the new gold. And don't take the selling process too seriously, it’s still a mindful game, and I’ll suggest you some hints to be more successful in it:

* Sell yourself first, and then your service - build trust, rapport, and closure of a deal will be a matter of time.
* Clients speak only about what is important to them, and they don’t care about your product or service characteristics, he cares about how it will cover their needs. Listen to the client.
* Be optimistic even if there are no signs of optimism. No one likes to cooperate with grumpy people.
* Price without Value is nothing. Show the Value, create the Value.
* Don’t lie. The Fake it till you make it concept failed massively. Transparency and openness will give you more credit at a distance.

  ![* www.linkedin.com/in/malashevskyi](img/dima-malashevskyi-photo.jpeg "* www.linkedin.com/in/malashevskyi")

  www.linkedin.com/in/malashevskyi

 Today's business world is highly competitive across all industries. While there may be some objective reasoning behind purchasing physical products, the selling process for services is distinct in that emotions play a major role in the decision-making process. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand and manage our own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. As sales are fundamentally about emotions, salespeople who are skilled in emotional intelligence are better able to build rapport with customers, handle objections, and close deals.

The role of emotions in the selling process

In the current highly competitive business environment, companies and individuals are forced to invest in innovations and creativity to remain at the top of the competition. It increases the importance of changes and the significance of project management processes in any organisation.

Different approaches may be taken to achieve success because the project management process can vary greatly depending on the organisation and the project itself. It is up to the project manager to identify which strategy will work best based on their specific circumstances.

### **The 5 phases of project management**

![](img/microsoftteams-image-81-min-2-1536x742.jpg)

Waterfall and Agile approaches are the two most popular ways of project implementation in today's business environment. Both methodologies can help organisations achieve strategic alignment by providing leadership and direction to projects while ensuring a proper plan is in place for either [developing an application](https://eleks.com/services/custom-application-development/) or executing the company's strategic objectives. Let's look closely at waterfall project management vs Agile to see which would be best for your organisation.

## Agile vs waterfall: the pros and cons of each

![](img/microsoftteams-image-84-1536x742.jpg)

### Waterfall approach

The waterfall approach is a linear process in which all stages and phases of the project management cycle follow each other in sequence. It depends heavily on predictable instruments and experience, meaning that each project must follow the same cycle and process regardless of the nature of the organisation or project deliverables.

The primary phases of this process include feasibility, planning, designing, building, testing, production and support. This method is most appropriate for projects with little to no chance that the scope will change and impact the business or project.

The waterfall approach relies heavily on proper planning and evaluation in the development stage. This streamlined process makes it challenging to implement changes if the need arises but allows project managers to focus on other tasks since the team works effectively without guidance or supervision unless a problem occurs.

### **The 5 stages of the waterfall method**

![](img/microsoftteams-image-82-1536x742.jpg)

### Key benefits of the waterfall approach

* **A clear sense of direction** – everything in this approach is pre-planned. Every team member deeply understands their roles and responsibilities and the project necessities. As a result, it is easier for all stakeholders to work efficiently and effectively with minimal management and supervision.
* **High level of control** – the project manager has the ultimate power and authority in a traditional setup. They often adopt a hierarchical structure where power and authority trickle down from top management to lower management. It ensures that only the manager can approve significant changes in the project management process, preventing deviations from the original project scope.
* **A single point of accountability** – given that all crucial decisions go through the project manager, they are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the project. This way, stakeholders always know who to approach to get updates on progress rather than holding various team members accountable for different aspects of the project.
* **Clear documentation** – it is one of the significant pillars of the waterfall project approach. Having all the documentation in place is essential to standardising and making the process successful. It can be used as a point of reference for future projects, ensuring they are carried out effectively.

### Agile approach

Unlike the waterfall approach, which focuses on upfront planning, cost, scope and time, the Agile approach pays closer attention to project team collaboration, customer collaboration and flexibility. It is best characterised as an iterative methodology that improves partner coordination by incorporating client input into the dynamic process. The Agile approach allows for flexibility and experimentation.

This approach allows for making changes in the planning and implementation process. By paying closer attention to adjustments, the Agile approach helps to deliver positive results instead of simply following an inflexible method that may not produce the best outcome.

The adaptability of the planning process is one of the critical features of the Agile approach, as it allows for quickly incorporating changes into the project's scope. This makes it the most popular methodology in today's business environment. Despite its benefits, the Agile approach can potentially devote a lot of time to communications between team members and stakeholders and lead to confusion if not managed correctly.

Businesses that have adopted Agile software development methods may sometimes find themselves experiencing decreased technical motivation and productivity. Our blog outlines the possible reasons for this problem, as well as potential solutions: [Why Agile Doesn’t Work And 6 Ways You Can Fix This](https://eleks.com/blog/why-agile-doesnt-work/)

**Agile project management process**

![](img/microsoftteams-image-83-1536x742.jpg)

Two of the most well-known Agile frameworks are Scum and Kanban. They both work with independent direction, which helps to keep the focus more on the customer and use available resources to track the task's progress at each stage quickly.

### Top benefits of Agile project management

* **Higher flexibility** – the fact that the Agile approach is not pre-planned in advance makes it flexible and able to adapt to changes, increasing the chances of success. The project is divided into smaller sprints, making identifying and implementing necessary changes easier.
* **Better transparency** – this methodology ensures that all stakeholders have an influence and a say in decision-making. This way, everyone is kept up to date with the sprint progress. Having everyone on board makes it easier to decide as a team and share responsibility for the project and is crucial for enhancing transparency.
* **Effective collaboration** – the success of this approach is based on its ability to share information regularly. There is no compartmentalisation of information as it flows to all members across all organisational levels. It ensures that everyone's opinions and feelings matter, resulting in a more effective organisation.
* **Efficient problem solving** – by having all team members play a significant role in solving issues and problems, you'll find that things become more efficient and effective. Plus, team members can make substantial changes without needing approval from the manager – saving valuable time in the process.

If you would like to explore the advantages of Agile methodology in greater detail, as well as any potential challenges and disadvantages, check out this blog post: [Six Key Benefits of Agile Development](https://eleks.com/blog/benefits-of-agile-development/)

## Handling risks: waterfall project management vs Agile

Risk management is an integral part of any project management methodology. However, each project management methodology takes a different risk management approach. Both waterfall methodology and Agile framework apply the risk management cycle at the primary level with four main phases: risk identification, evaluation, handling, and control. Here is a deep dive into the different features of waterfall project management vs Agile and their risk management approaches.

**Waterfall vs Agile risk management**

![](img/microsoftteams-image-85-1536x742.jpg)

### Waterfall methodology risk management

Waterfall applies predictive risk management, emphasising risk forecasting and analysis. The project manager and team establish the probability of occurrence and expected project effect on individual risks. By identifying and prioritising risks early on, the project team and organisation can address them before they develop into critical problems. Waterfall risk management attempts to identify and assess project risks and opportunities before or at the start of the project.

Unfortunately, this approach prioritises bulk risk identification and evaluation at the beginning of the project, which reduces the likelihood of making critical changes throughout the entire process. Since it is impossible to predict the future, this approach creates an inaccurate risk plan. Additionally, project managers and developers are motivated to deliver based on a plan, putting pressure on them to ignore risks until they become a problem.

### Agile risk management

Agile methodology's adaptive risk management approach keeps risks small by defining and delivering system functionality iteratively and continuously. As a result, the scrum master with the team can easily handle any potential hazards. Additionally, because Scrum-based projects are constantly monitored as they evolve, the likelihood of a significant impact from any individual risk is negligible.

While this approach encourages risk identification and evaluation at the start of each sprint, the planning is short-term. It allows the project team to identify new risks as they move to the next phase of short-term planning. Besides, the risk management and treatment process is part of development instead of a separate process, which increases the probability of success by eliminating any complexities.

By adopting this approach, teams can integrate risk management and control into their everyday workflows. It helps to encourage better identification and evaluation of risks, ultimately increasing the chances of success.

## Agile transformation: everything you need to know

Agile transformation is essential for successful Agile adoption. It's all about transitioning to and implementing an Agile way of thinking and working within an organisation. Agile transformation brings the philosophy associated with Agile frameworks software development across all departments and teams in an organisation and applies it to all collaborations, processes, and measurements.

In other words, an Agile transformation is not simply about changing how software is developed within an organisation. It is much more than that; it represents a great opportunity to change the entire organisation. It can involve creating highly effective cross-functional or self-organised teams that achieve predetermined goals. If you want to learn more about enterprise-wide Agile transformation, we have a blog post discussing this topic: [10 Steps for Migrating to Agile Enterprise Architecture](https://eleks.com/blog/agile-enterprise-architecture/)

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to how long an Agile transformation can take. However, encouraging self-organising teams is critical to a successful transformation, and this may require more time. The team should be free to work in the way that suits them best but always strive for iterative improvement. Therefore, the timeframe for transformation will vary depending on factors such as the training and experience of individual players and teams.

**Agile transformation**

![](img/microsoftteams-image-86-1536x742.jpg)

### What is the Agile transformation roadmap?

An Agile transformation project is like any other project that introduces significant changes to an organisation or team. So an Agile transformation roadmap is a great way to communicate the vision and phases an organisation wants to go through in its journey towards becoming more Agile.

However, it is worth noting that an Agile transformation project is complex and comprehensive and often includes an Agile transformation roadmap as a discrete roadmap milestone. Thus, Agile transformation project plans can be created based on whether or not a company is scaling its transformation.

**Agile transformation roadmap**

![](img/microsoftteams-image-87-1536x742.jpg)

### 5 steps to success with Agile transformation

Agile transformation is essential for improving organisational flexibility, speed, collaboration, communication, and cross-functional setups. Several basic steps characterise this process:

**1. Identify where is your organisation**

Identify where your organisation is – establishing and understanding the company's current state helps determine if the stakeholders are excited about the change and their expectations. It is also vital to understand the status quo in the organisation by collecting data and facts about the company.

**2. Assess your organisation**

An organisational assessment can help you understand a company's inner workings, including its structure, decision-making criteria, leadership approaches and corporate culture. This data is crucial for defining objectives, systems and strategies that can lead to an Agile transformation.

**3. Building a leadership team**

The next step is selecting qualified and skilled individuals who can achieve transformation. It is essential to have a clear strategy and leadership team in place to drive significant changes forward.

**4. Providing training and workshops**

This phase focuses on training leadership, teams or technical subjects so that everyone involved have the skills and knowledge to embrace an Agile approach and be successful.

**5. Coaching and consulting**

Although training provides theoretical knowledge about Agile practices, hands-on coaching is vital for building on that foundation and assisting people and teams in establishing the habits necessary for becoming Agile. Without proper coaching, there is little chance of success.

**5 steps to becoming Agile**

![](img/microsoftteams-image-88-1536x742.jpg)

## Conclusions

To sum up, when deciding between the waterfall approach and Agile frameworks, it is essential to consider the project's goals, budget, and timeline. The comparison of the waterfall project management vs Agile demonstrates that the Agile approach is more flexible and adaptable. In contrast, the waterfall approach is more focused on planning and control.

No matter which method you decide to use, it is crucial that your team be well-trained and follow the principles of project management to ensure a successful outcome.

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There are a multitude of approaches and methodologies within the discipline of project management, making it difficult to know where to begin. In this article, we will compare waterfall project management vs Agile, their pros and cons and help you decide which is right for your project.

Waterfall Project Management vs Agile: Which is Best for You?

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