Design thinking is popularly known as a method that is used to create new products & technologies. But, today, this methodology is widely utilized in both the sectors, public & private, for personal projects as well as for business all over the globe.

In simple terms, design thinking is a method for creative problem-solving. In contrast to analytical thinking, which includes breaking down ideas, design thinking includes developing great ideas.

As design thinking has positively embedded itself across product development teams, it has not yet obtained a powerful hold across the sales teams. Defined by systematic activities, conventional sales methods actually tend to be at odds with the iterative process that fortifies design thinking.

But, times have changed, and it is a continuous process as well. The sales cycle is coming to be a complicated procedure, and consumers are urging for a more customized experience. And, if you are a sales rep, you must know that you will have to level up your game and have to be more ingenious. Sales teams comprehend the significance of integrating a design thinking strategy into their day-to-day actions.

In this article, we are going to discuss what design thinking is, how it functions and why it is so important.

What Is Design Thinking?

Design thinking has proved itself to be productive & fruitful in a category of distinct applications. The hallmarks of design thinking methodology are - empathy, curiosity & customer-centric. This methodology has the sole objective of recognizing, understanding and solving the problems of the users.

It is a detailed, diligent pack of principles in its absoluteness. And the most appropriate and beneficial principles are wrenched out and applied when handling the difficulties of the corporation. When we talk about the sales procedure specifically, the ideas of design thinking might create an impactful effect during the discovery stage.

In design thinking, the customer & its requirements are prioritized above everything else. Being a human-centred method, it utilizes the information of how a customer certainly connects with a product or service, rather than how somebody else or an institution believes they will connect with it. By examining this, designers can proceed to refine the product or service so that the experience of the customers can be improved.

Advantages Of Employing Design Thinking

Design thinking facilitates institutions to build long-lasting value for customers. The method is helpful in any sophisticated system, not just design systems, as it has many advantages. Let's take a look here:

Battles issues that are uncertain or tough to explain:

Sometimes, customers are unaware of the problems that need to be solved immediately. But, after observing carefully, the problems can be identified based on what they notice in the behaviour of the consumer instead of simply working according to the ideas proposed by the customers. This enables us to define dubious problems and makes it an effortless process to come up with incredible solutions.

Intends to solve a substantial human requirement:

By utilizing an observational, human-centric attitude, your company squads can reveal the difficult pointers from the client that they haven't thought of earlier, the ones that the client may not just be mindful of. Design thinking can furnish you with amazing solutions to those difficult junctures once they are recognized properly.

Stimulates organizations to operate faster & in an efficient way:

You know what, instead of surveying a subject or a problem for a long duration without ascertaining a consequence, design thinking provides support for building prototypes and then analyzing it to discover how effective and beneficial they can be.

Directs you to better creative solutions:

As we all know, we are supposed to imagine stuff that is not going to happen in the real world. And it actually makes things impossible for them to ask for stuff that does not yet prevail. Here, design thinking can assist you in breaking through some of these unknown difficulties that would oppositely have never been realized. Utilizing an iterative approach to handle these types of problems can result in inconspicuous, creative antidotes.

Five Stages Of The Design Thinking Process

Here are five stages of Design Thinking:

1) Empathize

The first stage - is "Empathize", where the designer has to observe that the consumers obtain an intense knowledge of how they are engaging themselves with a product or service and how they are getting affected by a problem. The observations that should be taken into consideration must be done with empathy. This implies abstaining from any judgment and not spreading any preconceived beliefs or impressions of what the customer wants. Observing things with compassion & empathy is effective because this helps in disclosing some vital problems that the customer doesn't even know exist. Having this attitude makes it easier to realize the needs of the customers.

2) Define

The second stage is named - "Define". Here, you will have to collect all your observations and the outcomes from the initial stage in order to define the problem that you are making an effort to solve. Imagine the difficulties your customers are confronted with, what are the things that they are continually struggling with, and how they are getting affected by the problem. You will only be able to define the problem that they are facing when you centralize your outcomes.

3) Ideate

The third stage is about brainstorming ideas about how to get to the bottom of the problem & resolve it. These ideation trials can be executed in an organization, where your team members gather together in an office space that enables team collaboration & creativity, or it can be done solo as well. The significant part is to develop tons of unique ideas. At the end of this entire procedure, you will definitely come up with a few interesting ideas with which you can move forward to the next stage.

4) Prototype

" Prototype" - At this stage, your ideas can completely turn into a real solution. However, prototypes are not always meant to be perfect. The main goal of a prototype is to turn up soon with an actual interpretation of the idea to have a glimpse of how it is approved by the customers. A few examples of prototypes are - a landing page to examine customer desire for a product/service or a video that displays simplified logistic procedures.

5) Test

Now that you have a prototyped solution for the customers, you should try to examine how they are interacting with it. This testing stage is really important because you can receive quality feedback based on your work.

The design thinking method is an iterative one & not a linear one. At the end of the last stage, you will probably have to flip back to one or various of the other stages. However, if the testing indicates that you need to formulate another prototype, then you have to return back to the fourth stage. Or, if it is showing that you have misinterpreted the needs of the customers, you will have to go back to the early stages of the procedure.

How does Design Thinking help In Sales?

In sales, design thinking encompasses understanding & inquiring about the perspective of the consumers. Also, remember that before giving the solution, you must first try to know their difficulties. And yes, this process is time-taking, you need to have the patience to walk this entire process step by step. To follow every step patiently, you need to learn how design thinking is beneficial in sales. We have listed down some points that you should definitely read!

Gives Validation To The Conversation - Know that most people dislike the fact that they are being sold to, they appreciate having their problems or questions answered. Design thinking suggests that you must keep asking questions to find out something new or the unfulfilled requirements of the customers. It not just responds but helps in building a different type of approach, a profound, customer-centric interaction fully geared toward discovering what your consumer values.

Helps in building trust and reliability - While evaluating the prospects, salespeople normally take the road of least resistance because of so much pressure. As a consequence, the internet has evolved to be their central source of data, with a concluding result of a shallow, one-dimensional perspective of the people they want to reach out to.

Design thinking compels you to gather more & more information about your consumer. Design thinking helps you gain a unique point of view, which is an excellent advantage for you. Eventually, this helps in developing trust & credibility for the long term.

Prepares salespeople to think in an extreme manner, i.e. fundamentally- Thinking fundamentally honestly supports the timely development of crucial relationships with your collaborators. When a salesperson starts to think in this particular way, they might be able to break through the stereotypes of sales and successfully convert the one-time consumers into long-term customers. It works for keeping the discussion customer-centric and not just limited to service-centric. Radical thinking assists in accomplishing a pull-sale instead of a push-sale, where the consumer is excited to watch the numerous aspects of their difficulty with an exceptional solution.

Learn How To Apply Design Thinking To Your Organization

Today, a popular method of applying design thinking is increasing day by day, and that is - Attending workshops or sessions based on design thinking.

If you have recognized a specific problem that you are eager to solve, for example - coming up with a new idea for the product or working out how to strengthen employee retention, then a design thinking session will take you on a ride of the entire design thinking process in a short period of time. Design thinking sessions are helpful for non-design professionals in figuring out how to innovate and find ingenious solutions, a fundamental skill in any corporation.

Want a better understanding of the Design Thinking approach in Sales? Then register your seat for the live session titled "Is Design Thinking a gamechanger for Sales? ft. Amit Mankani". It's a great opportunity to learn & enhance your skills in this subject.