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Page 1 of 3 The Broken Model
The world of buying and selling is constantly changing, while mysteriously our approach to sales does not. Unfortunately, mediocre selling and buying practices have become the norm over the years, leaving buyers skeptical and sellers willing to compromise to make a sale. The more prospects resist, the more disconnected our selling practices become.
For success in sales today, we have to identify means to change the apathy in the sales industry and deliver value to our prospective customers in a different, more subtle, (but quite deliberate) fashion.
Buyers today have what are often unreasonable expectations. You must know how to meet the consumer's needs but they provide you with little or no useful information with which to do so.
Because of past experiences and skepticism, buyers attempt to answer all of their own questions and then simply look for the best bid. If the buyers truly had the expertise to pull this off, they wouldn't need outside vendors at all. They request and demand that no meaningful discussion take place between you and the very people whose needs are meant to be met.
If you sell to businesses, you've likely heard, "it's all in the RFP." If you want to secure a sale, you must follow the outlined process and ask all questions in a public forum. By no means are you to vary from these rules.
Any attempts by you to consult directly with the business owners or uncover what really needs to transpire in order to meet their needs are often met with scrutiny and you will probably (unknowingly) be labeled as "difficult". In an honest effort to do what is in the best interest of the client, you are seen as making the buyers' job harder.
In dealing with consumers, you may be perceived as just a commissioned salesperson who knows little about the product and who certainly doesn't have the consumer's best interests in mind. Consumers have been conditioned to avoid and mistrust salespeople even more than businesses, though it's usually a silent matter.
The sad reality is that the buyers are not to blame for this scenario. Salespeople have been using inadequate selling practices for so long that the consumer's suspicion is justified. You can't take it personally.
The problem stems from thousands of salespeople before you who made buyers feel compromised. Executives have had their time wasted. Receptionists have been reprimanded for allowing salespeople through. Salespeople continuously cold-call people who have no interest in the product or service and add absolutely no value to the prospect's day.
These are just a few examples, but you get the idea. The skepticism we face is in most ways justified. It's not personal, but it's very real.
As a result we have been trained to get past the "gatekeeper". We have learned how to leave vague or urgent messages that prompt a response. We develop "elevator pitches" to sell our product in 30 seconds (because we are conditioned to think that's all the time a salesperson should expect to get).
As much as I would like to see a change in this grim reality, it's unlikely to happen (at least not in the next couple of lifetimes). What we can do is commit to working above the standard that exists in sales today. If we can infuse the system with more effective practices, we will be able to disassociate ourselves from this pattern.
Change is urgently needed. We're never going to be exceptionally successful in sales if we must continually battle the poor buying and selling practices that we (as a whole) have created. Instead, we need to move forward from this point building a new foundation which fosters success for the buyer and seller.
In the grand scheme, we can see this as an opportunity to be the trend setters for a new approach to sales. It's much easier to stand out in a crowd when you adopt an approach that promotes a winning situation for all parties. We have the capacity to turn a poor perception of salespeople into a powerful tool for change. We ultimately want to associate with clients who appreciate our hard work, not the ones that lump us in with their worldview of what a "salesperson" is.
In addition to providing you the ability to uncover more opportunities, the Passive Pipeline allows you to do so on terms that are conducive to a successful sales process. How much better do you feel about your job when you are seen as a trusted advisor to your clients rather than an annoyance? My goal is that you never experience the latter again.
Sales professionals like you and I add value to the people we serve. We take our chosen profession very seriously. We are mindful of our prospective clients' time and therefore we work hard to best meet their business goals. We don't need an elevator pitch because the people we serve respect and value our opinions and recommendations and will allow us the time needed to help them be successful.
This is my reality, and I hope it is yours. The distrust and skepticism we face in the sales industry is no reflection on the way we do business. It's the perception created by our cohorts and many salepeople before us. It may be surprising that something as impersonal as technology might be the key to regaining the respect and trust of our current and future clients, but it's true.
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