Fundamental selling behaviors and activities are what great sales processes are built on. Like Einstein’s theory of relativity, they connect all elements of the process to yield the desired result.
Fundamental Selling is Time Tested
Fundamental Selling Survives Over Time
For those who remember the Bob Dylan song from mid last century “Times They Are A Changin’” will no doubt wonder whether the disruptive forces of change in today’s business were what Dyan was singing about. (For those who don’t know the song, Google it.)
Change has always been present. Small changes, large changes and monumental changes are the history of the world and affect how we have done business since one man first exchanged something of value to get a product from another. But the fundamental selling components of an effective sales process have held true through the millennia.
Use Technology to Support Fundamental Selling
We may live a world where technology is evolving at a breakneck pace. Perhaps faster than we can keep up. Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, and incredible amounts of Data are all impacting the way we do business. Still fundamental selling works: the purpose of a business is to make a profit. We do that by providing a product or service that fills a need for which customers are willing to pay. We win orders when we provide better value than our competitors.
Better value is based on knowing what problem the customer has and what it is costing his business. The best salespeople have customers who like and trust them and are in a long-term, mutually-beneficial relationship. The high performers plan each sales call. They understand the customer’s need and find out what they are willing to spend. Great sales people deal with decision makers. These are the fundamental selling components which form an effective selling process.
Available technology can help great sales people be more efficient. Communications tools make it easier to stay in touch with a customer. Customer relationship management systems track the sales process. Now we can FaceTime with customers without having to visit them. Proposals and documents can be available on line. Experts from all over can be brought together in a videoconference.
Fundamental Selling is Key to Success
But what ever way technology disrupts the way we traditionally have interacted with prospects and customers, a tried and true sales process based on fundamental selling performed well over and over is what will grow a sales territory, a business or an industry.
To learn more about the fundamental selling process see Chapter Eight, The Six Step Sales Process, in Secrets of the Softer Side of Selling. For even more sales help, join our FREE Sales Club!
“See” you next week.
Good Selling!
Don Crawford