Through trial and error we understand that the more issues remain the same the more they must change. Research in a myriad of periodicals mentions numerous challenges for organizations especially in the selling process. New issues abound daily impacting how selling professionals meet buyer’s needs.

What we know are the following:

➢ Decision Makers are hard to find. There are so many responsibilities for people that trying to find the time for discussion is difficult. Additionally, since organizations tend to focus on lean, more people are making decisions rather than management. A recent Wall Street Journal Report states that personnel without authority to purchase a laptop can plan a regional meeting with a budget of $500,000!
➢ Competitive Neutrality. The proliferation of the Internet and information is challenging. Buyers comprehend more of your organization than your own sales force!
➢ Organizational labyrinthine. Globalization, rightsizing, mergers and multitudes of organizational transformation are as perplexing as discovering the DaVinci Code. Reporting lines and decision processes are difficult.
➢ Financial Planning. The one constant is decreasing divisional funds. Agreement is reached only to discover the unavailability of funds.
➢ The best defense is unclear. 15 years ago, training your sales force was mandatory. With tightening budgets and productivity issues, selling professionals are sent into battle without armaments.
➢ CRM. The sales tool offered to assist selling professionals is underutilized and mis-understood.
➢ No Teamwork. Sales require more collaboration with the marketing department.

With over 27 years of research and analysis with numerous organizations we constantly hear about sales excuses- no return calls to numerous voice mails. I have made return calls to interested parties only to never hear from them again. The world has become more complex and navigationally difficult.

Read any present newspaper or periodical and you will begin to acquire the phraseology of the “knowledge economy”. This is defined as an economy based on creating, evaluating, and trading knowledge. In a knowledge economy, labor costs become progressively less important as opposed to the amount of knowledge acquired by individuals and organizations to become more effective. Simply put, the more information one has the more knowledge one gains. Content is king! This is the key differentiator.

Selling professionals similar to your clients must be content experts. Clients desire trust and respect and they desire intellectual conversation. Drop the features and benefit discussion- these left when public seminars did. Your clients crave illustrious council. Selling professionals must be advisors, consultants and experts. This is vital to your business success.

There are some rules about sales:

1. There are simply four techniques of selling that are vital. One does not need numerous methods and training. Learn the four simple steps and you will sell more than you realize.
2. There is no basic selling rule or principle that has been discovered in the last hundred years.
3. One needs to take these principles and use them daily. Practicing these rules and making them a habit in your daily life will make you better.
4. Do not rush learning. Rome was not built in a day. You must learn daily and practice daily but without haste and impatience.
5. Evaluate yourself. Be critical and learn by what you are doing and not doing to become better. Be honest in your assessment.

The one issue of selling never expressed in training or research is that it is not event based or linear. Selling is a process, it takes time, it takes effort and it takes patience!

© 2008 Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

Original sales article published here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 3:55 pm and is filed under Sales Training, sales strategy, sales techniques, selling skills. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.