A New Type of Salesperson
There is a mis-conception in selling, particularly from those with traditional sales training. Traditional sales training teaches you to “know your product” that your product knowledge is the most important tool in sales. This may work very well if the product happens to be exactly what a potential customer is looking for, they have already made a decision and want to know the details about what they are about to buy. However, this is less than 1% of all cases. To illustrate this, here are the types of sales people we see today:
Product Pushing
This type of sales person knows everything about their product, everything about their company. They can talk for hours about their product. Their entire sales arsenal consists of Product information. The bottom half of sales people operate in this area.
Problem Solving
A further evolution in the sales mindset, this type of sales person sought out “pain points” in the potential customer and targeted the “lowest hanging fruit”. One of the limitations of this type of selling is they make too many assumptions and will be quick to product pitch. The top half of sales people operate in this area. Often this is a cover for product pushing. The problems are engineered to fit the product. The key difference in thinking is that its all about the product still. These people assume their product can solve everything.
Consultative Selling
A sales person in disguise, pitched as a consultant, this type of salesperson listens to a customer, finds out their “problems” and suggests solutions. This is a very effective way to sell and you will find the best sales people operating in this area. These sales people do not assume their product can solve everything and do not engineer problems to fit their products. They listen and adopt a consulting role with potential customers.
Provocative Sales
By far the most powerful means of selling, this salesperson identifies a problem that a potential customer has but didnt know they had. This article from harvard business helps illustrate an example of provocative selling
In Provocative sales the salesperson creates value up front, they identify a need previously unknown to the potential customer that is so painful and urgent, it cannot be ignored. Less than 1% of sales people operate in this area, this is the creame of the crop. You need to be in this area.
