Problem with Sales Models
Read Time ≈ 4 minutes
Dated August 26th, 2018, my first ‘milestone’ following three months of research was a fifty-five-page paper. The paper outlines all my findings, and the various sales strategies & techniques I designed as a result. The first line reads as follows:
Right or wrong, I don’t believe in sales models.
Yes, I understand the irony, but hear me out; the paragraph continued: I often find myself thinking, “that’s not how I would approach it” or, even more commonly, “that’s not how it works in the real world.”
The most effective way to sell has nothing to do with a structured model to follow or changing your style to fit within what someone else says you should be like.
Every part of the sales process is situational and successful salespeople must adapt to the specific circumstance, including their own behavior.
That paper was pre-Technically Selling, before I had any plans to take this venture public; but as you can hear from the live screening – my tone hasn’t changed:
OG NOTES (Aug-18)
Right or wrong, I don’t believe in sales models. I often find myself thinking, “that’s not how I would approach it,” or, “that’s not how it works in the real world.” For example, there are times when you should use SPIN questioning techniques, and there are times when that method wouldn’t be effective. There are times when you should be a ‘challenger,’ and there are times when that would be very unwise.
The most effective way to sell has nothing to do with a structured model to follow or changing your style to fit within what someone else says you should be like.
Every part of the sales process is situational and successful salespeople must adapt to the specific circumstance, including their own behavior.
Every part of the sales process is situational and successful salespeople must adapt to the specific circumstance, including their own behavior. However, there is one thing in a sales interaction that isn’t situational. It’s agnostic to sales channel, selling style, and complexity of a sale; the human mind.
The most effective way to sell has nothing to do with a structured model to follow or changing your style to fit within what someone else says you should be like. Keep your style; that’s what makes you successful, but equip yourself with tools to take your game to the next level.
From cold calling a prospect to pitching a CEO and everything in between, having a better understanding of human behavior and the factors playing into how people make decisions, will put you in a much better position to influence that decision.