Are you a sales dinosaur?

I think a sales dinosaur is anyone selling for a living whose sales practice hasn't evolved beyond pitching an offer to anyone who will listen.

What is a sales dinosaur to you? -Seth

You titled this topic "Are You a Sales Dinosaur?" Who is the "you" that you are referring to? Where does the term dinosaur fit into your description about "pitching"?

The base of understanding and experience varies from one person to the next, and ideally people grow. It serves no purpose, here or anywhere else, to label others in a particular stage of development with demeaning words like dinosaur--whatever the heck that is supposed to mean.

Take a tip from Tom Hopkins and label those that you think are below your level of expertise as Future Champions. -Ace Coldiron

Dinosaurs were poorly prepared for the changing world. A sales dinosaur would similarly be poorly prepared for the changing world.

"Pitching" is an example of a sales technique that worked well at some point in the past but has lost its effectiveness do to changes in the sales environment. -Seth

I would have to agree with Ace. I think this is an example of the sad state of affairs sales training is in. The trite rules. The self proclaimed sales experts give us their generic advice and we have become so used to it that we buy their books that after 200 pages tell us to "listen better." Pick up many sales books and you get shallow ideas that sound good with their catchy phrasing, but give no results. I have studied the major sales training systems, taken the classes, read the books, went to the seminars. Strategies but no tactics, methodologies with holes so big I could drive my truck through them.

When will we start asking better questions. Like how do prospects buy? What is their process? Why do prospects buy? QUestions like that would get us somewhere. They would improve us and our concept of the sales process. Ok, my rant is over. Hopefully it provides food for thought, and just so I give some value: "Build Rapport with your prospects, that is important. Get them to trust you." - There I just saved you $15 thmbp2; -Harold

Action Selling... Why don't you take a look at that?

Aloha.... :cool: -rattus58

I am quite familiar with Action Selling. It is one of the better training systems, which is sort of a compliment. Although that is the equivalent of saying you are the least ugly girl in the room. However, it does not tell the why or psychology behind their steps of the sale. So you never become an expert in the sales process, you simply become an expert in Action Selling. But that being said it does offer some value and some of the visuals used to aid in learning are very helpful and aid in making the content easier to grasp and retain. -Harold

Harold, at the request of the product manager of The Sales Board, a company that created Action Selling, I read and reviewed their latest book and posted the review on my blog. As a prerequisite, I read their original book, Action Selling.

My overall comments were positive, and I said that it "looked like selling" as it was written in the now popular parable and/or novelette form.

Your thoughts add a different and interesting perspective.

I agree that an understanding of the "whys" of a process is as important as the learning and practice of a process. It will vary from individual to individual, but I am drawn to the understanding part. However we often view favorably those things that we "learn" that we are already know about, and because of that, perhaps I did not see the void of expository comments about what goes behind their system. -Ace Coldiron

As a sales trainer, I'm sorry to hear you're so down on the entire group of sales trainers in the world.

A challenge to you: If you think you have something to offer that none of the rest of us have to offer, why don't you offer it?

Anybody can post "Why do prospects buy?" If you believe you know why prospects buy, why don't you tell us?

Speaking for myself, I have never attended a sales seminar or webinar, or read a sales book that I did not learn from.

Skip -Skip Anderson

Skip,

Thanks for your response. Although I am new to sales practice, having only been part of the community for less than 24 hrs I have enjoyed the dialogue.

My problem is not with sales trainers as much as it is with sales people. We accept too little. When some "trainer" comes out and tells us what to say and promises results we jump on board blindly. We expect little and that is just what we receive. Although, I painted with a broad stroke in my comments as I was talking about the major sales methodologies. I would agree with your comment that every time I read a sales book or attend a seminar I learn something. I just think that the why behind the sales process is rarely discussed by the big boys. I think there are some excellent sales trainers, but I also think that we as sales people ask too few questions and expect far to little from them.

My frustration and many thinking sales people would agree is that if you are going to make the bold claims you must back them up. Especially in a book or seminar where others people are paying money. The generic advice and strategies with no tactics is what I am against.

I look forward to engaging in future dialogues about the prospect as that is where I think a sales process should start - with a understanding of the prospect. -Harold

Harold:

I agree that sales is definitely about understanding the prospect. I also think since we are all different from each other and our understanding of any training is varied, at some point we must take the education and training that we have received and turn it into our own selling wisdom.

It sounds like you are very passionate about what you do, and want to see the trainers you meet to also be passionate about their training. I see this as possibly you maybe have already have had more training as you really have needed.

The best teachers are the best students, so please share with us some of your wisdom about what you have learned and put to use, I would love to hear more from you.

noorzareh -noorzareh

I am a firm believer that sales training is a tool. This tool teaches different techniques to discover the clients wants, needs, and desires for more. The ideas passed are techniques that discover the wants, needs, and desires of the client. Do this for success, however it is implied that you as the sales professional must take this knowledge and add to it on your own time. Hopefully the training inspired motivation to drive the want in the individual to receive more information.

The strategies are up to the sales professional. The decision regarding the use of the training is left to the sales professional. I think it is very difficult to teach buying motives that work with each individual or organization. Very rarely do you find two clients that buy exactly the same way; it is the responsibility of the sales professional to discover the buying motives. We do this with the techniques we have learned from trainers, books, and cd’s.

It is the sales professionals responsibility to discover the when, why, how the clients buy. It is the responsibility of the sales professional to discover the process that each buyer chooses to own. It is required that we convince and guide the client to the proper decision. It is the responsibility of the trainers to give me the tools to discover what drives the buyer to own from me. Teach me how to ask questions, not to fear questions and give me a way to ask those questions ie the process. What I do with it is up to me.

I am one that does not believe that knowledge is power. Available and unexploited knowledge is the same as not having the knowledge. Knowledge is power is a false statement. Knowledge is not power it is potential power. It becomes power when it is followed by action.

Taking action with what a trainer teaches and adding to it is what a powerful process becomes.
-rich34232

The best of the best "sales training" teaches Understanding. The tool of Understanding makes any accompanying tool or technique pale by comparison. -Ace Coldiron