Sales fundamentals never really change.  It also appears to be true in some corporate cultures.   I was just looking at an article I wrote that appeared in the American Marketing Association’s Marketing News back in 1986 and was a little surprised to see much of what I wrote way back then still has meaning  today.  In fact, if I hadn’t told you this, you might even think this is a brand-new blog post.

Here are a few excerpts:

The `soft sell’ – making it easy for buyers to buy the way they want to buy – carries a hidden danger:  We may be creating a generation of salespeople who are little more than clerks…  The newspaper industry isn’t much different.  What passes for sales training is often only product orientation.  When sales reps call on prospects, 60-seconds doesn’t pass before the talk turns to demographics, circulation rates, or some other set of numbers….

To avoid manipulation, soft-sell reps turn into questioning clerks who are great at problem solving but lousy at directing the sale to a conclusion…  A strategic approach to guiding the process is more important than ever.

The next generation of sales professionals will combine the best elements of the first stages: solving problems with a market-driven approach and a strong,  strategic sales plan.  Where a company is on the evolutionary scale will determine its place in the market and its ability to attract top talent in the years to come; but it takes guts and a corporate culture that isn’t fearful of making mistakes.

Top-down commitment gets bottom-up support…. Skill development is handled by the line organization, not the people in HR.  Management needs to get out of the office – even try the uncomfortable!

Want to learn how to ask questions.  Quit carrying collateral.  Leave it in the car.  One sales manager who took my advice and called on a national account carrying only a yellow pad told me, “I felt naked; but it worked!  It’s the first time in six years I found out what he really needed and now he’s a client!”

Interesting, huh?

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