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Selling Skills Training Tips:

Selling Skills Training - Were the Good Old Days Really That Good?

Ever wish you could go back in time to a time when things were simpler and selling was easier and less complicated?

Occasionally, someone expresses this sentiment in one of my sales training workshops. It is usually a seasoned veteran who has decades of experience—often in one industry—and someone who has experienced difficulties adapting to the challenges in the new sales environment.

This isn't a new phenomenon.

I remember talking to a sales rep more than 20 years ago when I was opening a new restaurant for the company I worked for at the time. Gord had been a sales rep for a major beer company for at least 15 years and he frequently lamented the fact that he couldn't conduct business the way he had in the past. Gone were the days of sitting down with a restaurant owner and spending the bulk of the afternoon consuming beer and reaching a gentleman's agreement during that 'meeting'.

I certainly won't deny that selling used to be easier. But, this could be said of each decade that has passed in the last century. However, this doesn't always mean that the changes are negative.

Let's consider some of the changes that have occurred in sales in the last few decades.

Availability of information. We have so much information at our fingertips now than we ever used to. A sales rep can quickly learn who to contact in a company and how to position their product or service by accessing that information. Gone are the days of reading countless annual reports, knocking on doors and talking to dozens of people simply to get a few pieces of information that might help you.

Access. We now have so much more access to people. This article is a perfect example. Twenty years ago I would have had to print and mail it to people in my database. Talk about time consuming and costly! Now, I can send it to tens of thousands of people with a click of a button.

Instant communication. Years ago we relied on fax machines—before that it was the teletype (I think I just dated myself!). Sales reps also carried pagers and a roll of quarters so they could 'call in' for messages. There was no voice mail which meant sales people had to keep calling and calling and calling. Now, the majority of sales people have smart phones attached to their hips and have ready access to anyone they need to contact. We also have instant messaging, email and texting plus social media.

Social media. Although many sales people have not figured out exactly how to leverage social media it can definitely be used as a way to generate leads and increase their sales. Plus, this platform also gives you the ability to interact with many dozens, if not hundreds, of people who can give you new insights, ideas and solutions.

Web-conferencing. When I was kid, I remember 'futurists' talking about video telephones and how every home would be equipped with one. While that hasn't happened (directly), streaming and web cams have made the concept a reality. A face-to-face meeting with a client who was located on the other side of the country used to require many resources including time, flights, hotels, meals. Now, technology has made it easy and cost-effective to have a video conversation with customers or prospects.

The recession. There's nothing like a serious kick in the head to make you realize that what helped you become successful can change in an instant. The recession certainly did this. Budgets were slashed, buyers were given a mandate to cut purchases, and multiple layers of decision makers were added to many organizations. And many companies suffered tremendous losses.

Where's the positive in this?

The recession has forced sales people to change their approach. Smart sales executives and their companies realized that they needed to become more strategic in nature and adapted accordingly. Less intuitive companies continued doing what they had always done but got a much lower ROI for their efforts. This has given the 'smarter' companies (and people) a serious competitive advantage.

So, what's my point?

Things change. That's life. And that's a reality of sales and selling. Yes, selling is more difficult now than it used to be. But, do you really want to go back to the days of pagers and fax machines?

Embrace the challenges of change. The good old days aren't as good as you think they were.

Source: Kelley Robertson link

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