Aug 20 2007
When Buyer And Seller Act As Partners, They Are Building A Bridge To Profitability
Well what a week I had last week - and it looks like the next seven days are going to be equally hectic and challenging:Just eight days to the launch of you know what!
I was sad to relinquish the reigns at Leadership Turn, but as I said in my farewell post, with so many launches coming up, something has to give. It was fun and I made a lot of new friends, including one who is launching his fantastic new book on Wednesday - more about that then.
I completed the first phase of a challenging assignment with clients I had not worked with since 1996 and it was great to be invited back: We completed an ASP Profile exercise with fourteen key members of the team, to accurately determine specific requirements and I will now design and tailor a programme that meets their needs precisely - no scatter gun approach to sales team development for them!They would certainly subscribe to my thoughts in today’s post.
Successful selling is definitely not about the “hit and run” sale. Sales achievers regard their relationships with key customers as a partnership and cultivate it as such. When customers face tough business challenges and complex technological choice, they rely on sales people who can assist them in making the right decisions.
The primary objective of a sales partnership has to be, to create and sustain a mutually productive relationship, which serves the needs of both parties, now and in the future. The key word here is symbiotic. Partnership does not mean eliminating the tension between buyer and seller; it means that top-performing salespeople know how to strike a balance between achieving immediate results and developing the relationship fully.
So Why Do We Need A Fresh Approach To Selling?
Most organisations have developed without objective analysis of their purpose and structure. The buying power in many industries is no longer evenly distributed - in a large number of markets a few big firms control the majority of purchases.
The development of new marketing techniques has meant that some tasks traditionally performed by the sales team can be more effectively handled by other methods. The prime objective of all sales staff is to gain business.
From an organisational point of view, however, how they all achieve their goals must be defined in order to identify what kind and the quality of skills that are required.
Tomorrow, my guest is good friend and fellow Top Sales Expert; America’s leading authority on referral selling and the author of the Amazon best seller “No More Cold Calling” - Joanne Black - be sure to join us.
