Sales has truly transformed in a matter of 20 years. It can be seen through the public’s perception of that “sketchy car salesman” when the topic is brought up. But in reality, if you look into the industry of sales today, that is just simply not the case.
The whole sales cycle has been undergoing a change as the sales industry evolves. What used to be taught in various sales school is disappearing and essentially is becoming the exact opposite. For example, there are certain procedures that every salesman follows in the process of making a sale. The first step is making a connection and building some form of relationship. Although this particular procedure is prevalent in both traditional selling and relationship selling, the amount of focus it gets is completely different.
The old type of selling, traditional sales, puts a very small amount of time into getting to know your customer. This is a valuable time for both sides due to the fact that this is where the “needs identification” happens. Moving too quickly through this step is dangerous and can make your client extremely uncomfortable.
On the other hand, relationship selling puts the most time into building a relationship with the customer. This creates a setting that is a lot more comfortable for both you and your client. If you build the foundation in a sale and focus on the customer needs, the easiest part of the sales process should be the close.
This is why there are so few salespeople using the “traditional sales” approach with their clients. The whole sales cycle moves a lot more smoothly after building that foundation with your client and identifying the proper needs.
BoweryJE22
Very well written Tom. I agree with everything you said. Relationships are very important and I think may sales people tend to forget about the importance of the relationship with their clients/ customers. In many sales situations I have seen through both friends and family I have seen them always go for the salesman they know better and can truly trust and relate to.
This new kind of sales mentality is encouraging! I always thought going into sales meant you needed to be manipulative and be able to stretch the truth. This new technique which involves building relationships as the foundation is encouraging because it allows you as the sales person to be organic with their customer and not have to put up a front. I am excited about potentially being able to go into sales and build relationships with others.
No one wants to feel like they are being taken for a ride. I think our generation is increasingly so self-absorbed that we expect salespeople to either:
1. Give us what we want right away without wasting time.
2. Give us special attention and pamper us.
I think you make a great point that people increasingly want relationships with their sellers, and to experience trust before they make a purchase. This of course changes on a case by case basis, but trust is really at the heart of all selling, and I think you made that very clear.