The Changing World of Sales - Sue Barrett

Everyone sells whether they know it or not. With increasing competition locally and globally it is now a prerequisite for all businesses and organisations large and small to proactively prospect for and work to retain the right kind of customers for their business. Everyone, in any business, needs to have a line of site to its customers and have an effective proactive communication processes in place to ensure that no opportunities are missed or lost to competitors.

 Research shows that no longer can organisations and their people rely on their technical competence, passive referrals, their reputation, their brand or blanket advertising to bring in new business and new revenue streams as they may have done in the past.

However, over the years I have seem good sales people ridiculed for being proactive, problem solvers, who think globally and act locally, look at the long term in convert with the short term, are direct open and honest in their communication style with clients and their businesses and look to find viable solutions that meet both the client and the business’ needs / goals. Credit to those sales people who stood their ground despite prevailing business cultures such as:

• Lack of personal accountability
• One up man ship
• Internal ‘I’ focused businesses
• Aggressive /adversarial
• Fearful
• Win/ lose
• Product focused
• Professional visitors
• Bribery
• Soft reactive customer service
• Churn and burn, etc.

In the Late 80’s and early to mid 90’s.  In the late 80’s and early to mid 90’s a number of business sectors had defined sales teams, however many of them were very product focused in their selling approach and were not good at selling beyond the obvious product needs nor establishing authentic transparent long term business relationships with clients. Many sales teams were either:

• Aggressive and adversarial in their negotiations with clients leaving people feeling battered and worn in the process
• Soft and insipid basing their sales efforts on mateship and special deals with usually a win/lose outcome for the business they represented.

Selling today is very different to that of the 20th century. Techniques of manipulation & intimidation,
Stimulus response selling and basing sales on rapport alone have now been superseded by a more sophisticated approach: People buy from people they TRUST! 

In fact top-performing sales people have always sold based on TRUST, TRANSPARENCY and DOING WHAT THEY SAID THEY WOULD DO! It just that they did so despite the prevailing paradigms of:
• Manipulation & deceit
• Aggression & intimidation
• Stimulus response or product flogging
• Soft passive approaches being all about being liked before anyone can buy

The 21st century requires a far more sophisticated approach:
• Sales people need to call on the right level of buyer
• Sales people need interact more strategically with the customer
• Sales people need offer beneficial solutions based on value
• Sales people need to recognise that people buy from people they TRUST
• Sales people need to know that TRUST supersedes LIKE!

The MYTH about TRICKS & SECRETS to sales success.  However, still today many people believe there are tricks and secrets to being successful in sales when in fact there are none. And some people have made a lot of money on the motivational speaking circuit espousing how they became a sales success and that others could too if they applied their tricks and secrets. Well, with the exception of a few people who are out to trick others at their expense, we know most people don't like being tricked and don’t want to trick others. Most people want to have honest and open relationships based on trust and respect.

Who likes to be deceived? As customers we don’t, as friends we don’t, as patients we don’t, as citizens we don’t and as sales people we don’t either.  No wonder many people shy away from selling as a career. Whether they are conscious of it or not they don’t like how selling is being sold to them because of the deceptive tone espoused by a few.

Good sustainable selling is all about having honest and open relationships based on trust, respect and delivering what you said you would. As customers we are crying out for and value sales people who are proactive, take the time to listen and understand us, match our needs effectively with their products or services, educate us and leave us feeling that we had engaged in an honest and open relationships based on trust, respect, substance and value. We are even prepared to pay a higher premium for this in many instances. 

About Sue Barrett and BARRETT

Established in 1995 and winner of the 1997 Telstra & Victorian Government Small Business Award, BARRETT is an Australian Sales Fitness firm offering the best and latest in sales and sales management research, training, consulting, process & tools and sales recruitment kits to help people and companies achieve peak sales fitness.  BARRETT's ability to demystify the practices around achieving increased and sustainable sales performance has allowed many individuals and organisations to achieve remarkable sales and financial  success.

Visit BARRETT at: www.barrett.com.au