The Demise of Relationship Selling

Recent chatter within some sales trainer/author circles suggests the demise of relationship selling is upon us or that at the very least relationship selling is no longer sufficient in today's marketplace.

I can only wonder what "relationship selling" must mean to these people for those suggestions to make sense. Maybe they think its about being nice or liked by prospects but when was that ever sufficient?

If that is their belief about relationship selling then I cannot imagine what else these trainers/authors must have been suggesting to sales practitioners for all this time about sales and selling.

Perhaps these are the same trainers/authors responsible for collectively training legions of sales people to believe that the goal in selling is to throw up enough information until something sticks. Who knows?

In my opinion core selling skills (interpersonal relationship skills, communication skills, etc.) are timeless and not subject to change based on the way (i.e., online, in-person, phone, fax, mail) we connect-engage-interact, demands on a prospective buyer’s time, weather patterns, etc.

It seems to me that some sales trainers/ authors understood this and got it (the concept and resulting behaviors) right the first time but even more did not which probably accounts for their declaring that the old ways do not work any more or are no longer sufficient; all the while peddling their "New Way to Sell".

In addition these sales trainers/authors suggest that salespeople who do not adopt their "New Way to Sell" will become obsolete in the very near future. A friend of mine calls it "Tabloid Sales Authorship".

This type of scare tactic is not new. It was only a few years ago that some "New Way to Sell" was threatening the existence of salespeople working from the "New Way to Sell" promoted only a few years prior. (Rinse and Repeat)

As far as I am concerned, had these trainers/authors got it right the first time their core selling skills and the skills of those they trained would be sufficient now and in the future.

With that being said, and using a line from the 1967 article "The Effect of Automation on Organization" by Lieutenant Colonel J. R. Brown, we are observing a change in the mix of skills required to function effectively in this new and challenging environment however that is a different kettle of fish.

For additional posts relating to professional identity and associated skills see... The Future of Professional Selling.