March 5, 2009
I awoke yesterday and, after having my coffee and performing my usual pre-workday ritual, fired up the computer while humming a happy tune. My happy tune screeched to a halt when the desktop appeared with snippets of financial, political and market news all trumpeting the continuation of the “New Reality” and the “New World Order”.
Isn’t the guvmint supposed to have fixed this? We threw a couple of trillion dollars on the wall and some of it should have stuck to us, shouldn’t it?
Well, no… it has not. The reason is that we are in the creation stage of the “New World Order” and it isn’t clear what direction we should take. One thing is clear, however. Life as we knew it is over. Yes, I know that we hear that a lot but it is true and it is scary. If we are to have the kind of life we were used to living as a sales professional, we have to change with the times.
While those in power like to throw around the concept of “training our citizens” to be able to cope with the information economy, one thing is unchanged. Those who can, will, and those who cannot had better practice asking “Would you like fries with that?”
As sales professionals, we are better positioned to change our activities and find those opportunities that present themselves. We do, however, have to learn some new skills. This was driven home to me by an email from Jason Black, the CEO of fast growing Boundless Network in Austin, Texas. (http://www.boundlessnetwork.com)
Jason said, “In this economy, the power within a company has shifted from marketing to procurement. The folks in our organization that are significantly increasing their sales in this market are the ones targeting the CFO’s and Procurement groups.
“It will require a “non product” value proposition and one more focused on a business process (business metrics, ROI and be clearly measurable to a revenue target).
“I would strongly advise sales folks to read as many supply chain white papers, procurement white papers, etc… and get a clear picture of the “language’ of these folks… as it is a different “sell” requiring a different strategy/approach.”
If we want to be selling into the next decade, our “different strategy/approach” had better become a priority or we will be found covered in cob webs with a phone beside us, looking like a cartoon dead person. We have to join the rest of the world and develop some new skills and techniques for survival. If we want to get the orders that still exist we need to hop on the Internet, grab a few trade magazines and read some books on what other professions do. Buyers won’t like it if we sound like idiots when we sit down in their office.
The “New World Order” is all about looking under more rocks for business to crawl out. Those opportunities will present themselves in finance and administration as well as marketing, safety and sales. The material we need to learn includes social networking programs, text messaging, and better email procedures.
This blog will focus on those things for the next few weeks.
Happy Selling!
Nowell
Thursday Tip: Steal magazines. When you are waiting in the lobby for your appointment, look for trade journals. Their ads are the fastest way to “learn the lingo” of the profession. Return it on your next call.