Most successful coaches when confronted with the frustration of defeat have instinctively reverted to a "back to basics" approach with their team. In football this means focusing on blocking and tackling drills; in basketball, emphasizing passing and shooting techniques; in baseball, concentrating on catching and hitting skills. Yet it is not just in athletics but in all facets of life that the "back to basics" principle holds true: winning is invariably the result of practicing and perfecting the fundamentals. However, there is a major difference between sales and athletics in terms of what constitutes "the basics." Ask ten salespeople or sales managers how they would define the basics of selling, and you will more than likely hear ten different answers. Again, there are two reasons why this is true. First, many of them are still selling the way they leamed to sell -- and were rewarded for it -- in years past. Second, each stage of a product's life cycle requires different "basics," and what stage a productis in at any given time heavily influences one's definition. In stage one, for example, "back to basics" entails sharpening one's marketing and order-taking skills; in stages two and four. presentation skills; and in stage three, negotiation and people skills.The Problem in Sales Is That Most Definitions of "Basics " Have Become Outdated
In years past, change occurred slowly, and there was ample time in each of a product’s life stages to perfect the "basics." Now that warp-speed change is upon us, this has become nearly impossible to do. Each stage is here and gone so fast that one barely has time to practice his skills, let alone perfect them. What is needed now is a new definition of"basics."
The five principles introduced in Chapter 1 are precisely that definition. They form the foundation upon which Leadership Selling is built. Notice as you review them that they are not about products as much as they are about people, not about facts as much as feelings, not about external factors as muchas internal factors. In essence, the definition of"basics" in Leadership Selling is grounded in the nature of the human condition--that is, in the psychological makeup of the buyer conjoined with the very meaning and purpose of sales.
Every sale without exception is undergirded by five basic principles. The trouble is that the four stages of supply and demand economics conspire to progressively turn the buyer’s attention awayfrom his initial problem onto the increasing number of product and customer service options, and ultimately onto price. Since people always purchase solutions to their problems, price-- while indeed an issue--is not the most important issue, in spite of the fact that the buyer would like the salesperson to believe otherwise. It is vital, therefore, that the salesperson becomes highly skilled at "leading" the buyer back to his true buying motive, namely to his original underlying problem. To do so requires specific leadership skills, which again is why we call this "LeadershipSelling."
Technically speaking, Leadership Selling is not merely a "selling system," per se. It would be more accurate to describe it as a "universal system of problem solving" in that it is effective for communicating across a much broader spectrum of situations than just in sales. Because of this, many people we’ve worked with have reported how much Leadership Selling has helped them resolve problems in their personal and social lives, as well. Ultimately, the reason this is true is because the techniques of Leadership Selling reach deeper than mere human "need," which is where so many selling systems place the primary emphasis with customers today.
Instead they descend into the "emotional zone" where people’s true motives lie. It is here that the potential for highly efficient sales can be found, regardless of the product or service being sold. And make no mistake about it, sales effciency may well be the single most important factor for effective selling now that warp-speed change is here to stay.
Becoming a leader who takes total control of the sales call and helps the customer shift his attention back to his problem is no small undertaking, and it requires unique and specialized skills. This is because, as a general rule, buyers--like all human beings--don’t enjoy being made aware of their problems, hence they resist the salesperson’s efforts toward that end. Therefore, a commitment and a certain level of discipline are necessary to learn and develop these Leadership Selling skills, which will be discussed in much detail in Part IV.
Clearly, the development of the Leadership Selling skills that follow is the wave of the future in sales. Those salespeople who hone them are destined to become the uncontested leaders in their respective industries. This is due principally to the efficiency with which they learn to diffuse the price issue by identifying a buyer’s true motives, and subsequently are able to secure the sale. In addition, Leadership Selling promises to earn much more respect forsalespeople who implement it, elevating them to a new level of professionalism in the eyes of the often-cynical buyer. Don’t be alarmed if the skills involved appear difficult in the beginning, since they represent a radical shift from how most selling occurs today.
Once the conceptual transition takes place in the mind of the salesperson that selling is not about price nearly so much as it is about discovering the buyer’s underlying problems, mastering the techniques of Leadership Selling becomes relatively straightforward and largely a matter of practice.
The Art of Effective Selling
by James M. Bleech and Dr. David G. Mutchler
Excel Books
Price: Rs 395
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
