You Can't Sell Like that Anymore!

I was very happily surprised when I was reading today's Wall Street Journal and found an article titled "Next in Line for Reinvention: The Art of Selling".  The article, which centers around a book by leadership and management guru Ram Charan, preaches about how sales is changing and how companies need to make it a core competency.  While NY Report readers know this already by way of the many articles we have published, such as Jeremy Rawitz article on building a better sales culture, this might be the first time I have seen the subject addressed in mass media - and it is about time.  Essentially, the old way of selling was mastering information on your products and then ultimately winning on price.  The new way is to master all of the information on your prospect (by building a strong rapport with him or her and then asking a lot of questions) and then tailoring your solutions for the prospect's needs.

Here is the dirtly little secret:  most salespeople think they ask a lot of questions and are good listeners, but they are not.  To do this well, a salesperson really need to empathize with clients and prospects.  Want to know more?  Check out the above-mentioned articles.

Comments

[I agree wholeheartedly]

It is about time that sales and marketing began to change the approach. I have been advocating a researched based targeting marketing and sales process for many years and it is amazing how response rates increase when you INTELLIGENTLY discuss business and product/service issues with decision-makers. Decison-makers do not have the time or energy to educate you on their businesses, don't want to think about how your product/service will fit into their company, and get hundreds of calls from feature/benefit hawkers and ill-educated people every day.

The only way to ask intelligent questions and understand the prospect is to RESEARCH them first and do your homework. The free information you can patch together is time consuming, but can lead to very large deals and audiences with formerly unattainable people.

Don't forget also, that by knowing what you are good at, what your real value is, and fitting that to a customer's potential or real need becomes a major differentiator.

If anyone is interested in learning more about this approach. Contact me: www.magnusmg.com.