Reinventing The Wheel

For some reason, many new start ups feel the need to create a new sales process for their new company and spend much of their funding in formulating, executing and implementing new strategy when it isn't necessary.

Here is a simple truth:

Basic sales methods have not changed since the first cavemen traded mastodon steaks for Clovis tip spears.

There is: The Approach, The Introduction, The Qualification, The Handling of Objections and The Close.

That's it.

Solution sales is no different. There are variations on the above, but other than a consultative approach, and the need to effectively manage the account after the sale, everything else remains the same.

Why is this?

Because, innovators and entrepreneurs are in a constant quest for the next new thing, and sales consultants and marketing professionals make their livings by convincing their customers that they need to use new or alternate methods.

This is simply not true.

There are so many thousands of different books and systems out there that trying to name them all would be impossible for me in this post.

Don't buy into the hype.

Use what works for you and leave the rest.

A friend asked me recently to help him prepare a sales and marketing plan to assist in launching his small business.

He had a stack of books and charts and had spent many hundreds of dollars and done days of research compiling his information.

"What are you doing?"

He protested as I waived away his sheaf of charts and pushed most of his stack of books off to the side.

"You don't need all this stuff." I told him.

"What do I need?"

"You need to look around at your competitors and find out what they are doing or have done that made them successful, and then emulate the best and leave the rest behind."

It sounds simple because it is.

In our hi-tech world we all want the latest and greatest; fastest cars, fastest computers,newest fashions and styles.

But success in sales and business is not a fad, or a trend, it is a combination of applying proven techniques and solutions and working the metrics.

So, take the best and leave the rest.

Set goals for yourself that are achievable. Little ones at first followed by big ones as you gain more confidence and improve your skill set.

Write your goals down.

Read them aloud and commit them to memory as your personal mantra.

Create an action plan, a step by step statement of the work you need to do and the little steps you need to take in order to achieve your goals.

No goal statement is complete without an action plan to guide it.

Do read some of the books, as there are many very valuable guides to sales and solution sales. Many use different terminology to achieve the same end but it all goes back to the basics.

I highly recommend Tom Hopkins"How to Master The Art Of Sales" And for IT sales pro's there is no better book than Keith Eades "The New Solution Selling" which also includes a series of well defined road maps, and metrics to help you develop and implement a solid solution sales process.

There are many others out there that are equally valuable, but remember that you do not need to reinvent the wheel. All the information is out there, compiled through trial and error and proven through the history of human experience, you just need to find what works for you and then work it.

Plan your work and then work your plan.