As a seasoned veteran of sales, I have encountered many shifts and changes in sales techniques and best practices. On a personal note, my first step into the world of sales was in a commission only role. In that environment you sell…..or you don’t eat! So you hone your sales techniques very quickly and anyone not cut out for sales are easily found out.
The sales person was revered for their ability to engage with a prospective client, show empathy and understanding, identify a potential hook and guide the prospect to the point of closing the deal. A good sales person demonstrated real business acumen and the ability to adjust or customise their sales pitch to many and varied scenarios.
However, when Ireland (I draw on Ireland as my home turf) hit the dizzy heights of the boom years and the ‘Celtic Tiger’ took up residence in an over-priced 2 bedroom apartment, said tiger saw fit to rob the Irish of one of our oldest and finest skills – our ability to sell.
There are a few industries where this was particularly prominent such as the property, motor and hospitality sectors. Over time, “Sales People” in these industries became administrators, pen-pushers and order-takers. Business rolled in the door and lost deals simply didn’t matter. The attitude became one of “take it or leave it”. If the potential customer decided to leave it, so what! Someone else will buy it. This led to a culture of greed, overly inflated pricing and, worst of all, the demise of the true sales person. An entire generation of highly educated individuals, who saw the high rolling commissions being paid out in these sectors, jumped on the bandwagon, gave themselves fancy sales titles and never actually learned the art of selling.
Technology companies fell into the same trap. Brilliant technologists began developing cutting-edge products. Within a wet week their small start-ups were being gobbled up by global giants in multi-million-dollar acquisitions. Sure why would you need to practice the art of selling?
So it came as no surprise, when the economy crashed and markets crumbled, that those companies whose sales people had spent more time practicing their golf swing than fine tuning their sales techniques, were the first to suffer. With fewer prospective customers crossing the threshold it became essential to convert leads to prospects and then to customers in order to stay afloat in ever deepening waters. Survival depended on it! The “take it or leave it” approach.....Suicide! However, for many, survival was not to be.
No matter what business or industry you operate in don’t ever lose sight of the fact that sales are the lifeblood of your company. No matter how good your product is, how well you market it, how impressive your service levels are……unless you have the right sales people in place you will constantly face an uphill struggle.
Now that the Celtic Tiger has left the shores of the Emerald Isle, the revival of the true sales person can truly begin.
By Roger Brennan
