There’s been an evolution in selling every five to ten years of what it takes to gain a competitive edge. In the 1960’s, success was based on Demos.
But demos were biased and not believed so in the 1970’s reps shifted to High Pressure Selling, using high-pressure closes to manipulate buyers.
Next came Relationship Selling in the 1980’s. No more pressure – “Friends buy from friends.” So reps gave away free stuff. But the gifts and free meals weren’t enough to win.
The 1990’s were all about Consultative Selling. Friends don’t buy from friends – friends buy from experts. Reps gave away free services. But all the free help still didn’t change who won.
In 2000 selling shifted to Negotiated Partnerships with reps saying “We want some type of commitment to make sure we’re not being taken advantage of.
Around 2010, as Amazon became popular, everyone sold “Speed, Simplicity and Ease Of Use.”
Today successful selling is based on “Connectivity and Information Control.” The better connected your customer, the more of a competitive edge you’re likely to have.
Each of these skills are critical to selling success today. But they don’t give you a competitive edge (because everybody’s doing the same things). What can you do, as the leader of your team, to make sure your people have mastered all of these skills?
Join me as I share the evolution of a competitive advantage…and how your team can increase their abilities to communicate your value and uniqueness…so you can sell even more!