In class this past week we talked about the importance of understanding the power axiom in relationships. This applies to sales but also everything in life. We all have relationships in life, whether it be business relationships or personal relationships, they exist in every aspect of our lives. The power axiom is one that has changed with the information age of technology and will only continue to change with advancements in the world of technology. Before the technology era the power axiom was in favor of the salesperson. What this means is that the salesperson held most of the power as they had all of the information in regards to the product or service being sold. With the rise of technology now the consumer has shifted the power axiom in their favor as they can do research on any and everything to get the information they need. With this shift it changes the role of the salesperson from traditional sales techniques to more modern techniques.
The Traditional sales technique was almost information overload and the salesperson doing all of the talking. In this technique the person selling would show everything that they know about the product or service and dominate the conversation. With the change in technology now the consumer should lead the conversation. As a person in sales you should now ask questions and listen to what the customer’s needs are, what they have already found out, and which products or services they think will best serve their needs. From there you can start to help the consumer with the information that you know. The main rule of the modern techniques is to Listen, Listen, Listen. If you do not listen in sales then you will lose so many sales because you will fail to hear the needs of your customer and address those specific needs.
As a person in sales you will need to give up your power and let the customer have the power. Ultimately, the customer is the one who decides if they will make the sale or not, so they should have the power from the beginning. You should assume that you do not have the power and allow the customer to guide the conversation while inserting probing questions to learn more about the customer. The biggest flaw with this new power axiom is often times salespeople will become pushovers and let customers walk all over them. This is a crucial mistake that cannot be made you will still want to have some sort of power and control of the situation but allow the customer to lead the conversation.
BoweryJE22
The shift in the power axiom because of the rise of technology and information in the public is so important to understand as a salesperson. Before, it was so easy for the salesperson to dominate and tower over the buyer because they held almost all the cards but that is no longer the case. The common buyer can easily call your bluff and take all the power for themselves. Instead, as you said, we should give that power to the customer today from the start for they hold the cards and you are simply there to sell them what they are looking for.