Selling Is Not the Problem ? Friday's Editorial

Here ye, here ye, selling is not the problem.?

Credit www.sxc.hu

Let me repeat that in case you did not get it:

If you are in sales management and wish to increase sales, stop looking to unsustainable solutions that focus on having a selling problem. For the selling problem is probably a symptom of a yet determined problem or worst yet one of those kick the can problems that just grow over time into that big ugly elephant that is suddenly discovered in the sales department.

Fact: People have been buying goods and services for untold thousands of years.

Fact: People are still people, still human beings.

Fact: Human nature has not essentially changed all that much since man or woman first bartered to exchange a Mammoth bone for some shiny shells.

BIGGER FACT: All this sales training coaching and consulting around we have a selling problem is just plain bogus.

This may sound somewhat hypocritical coming from someone who is viewed by some as a sales coach, a business coach, a continuous improvement process specialist or an executive organizational development consultant.? However it is not.

My belief and consequently my practice from day one has been all about the development of people to being better individuals rather than training them so they can be retrained in another 6 months to a year.

We train dogs.

We develop people.

Now what a small business to Fortune 100 firm may really have is:

• ?A people problem including self limiting attitudes and inconsistent behaviors
• An organizational problem where misalignment dilutes results (remember organizations are just a group or groups of people coming together to do more collectively than they could individually)
• A constrained potentially ulcerated culture mentality keeping small business owners, C suite executives to sales management from seeing the real problem
• Because it is much easier to point the finger, to shout and in some cases whine quite vocally:

We have a sales or selling problem!

And the worst offenders of this ?we have a selling problem? are those organizational development consultants, business coaches, executive coaches, sales coaches, business strategists, academic collegiate professors, call them what you may who sell solutions addressing this bogus problem. No wonder many small business owners to C Suite executives raise an eyebrow when it comes to hiring outside resources.

We need sales people, sales managers, bosses, business owners, C Suite executives to even front line workers with these interpersonal and intrapersonal talents:

• Handling rejection (Not letting ?No? derail daily productivity)
• Persistence (Think the Little Red Engine or Energizer Bunny)
• Persuading Others (Appreciating others through collaboration)
• Self confidence (The ability to take risks with a yes I can attitude)
• Self starting ability (Working alone without constant supervision)
• Diplomacy (The application of emotional intelligence)
• Realistic personal goal setting (Identifying both personal and professional within a written action plan)
• Long range planning (Proactive behavior instead of reactive behavior)
• Project and goal focus (Knowing where the predetermined results originate from)
• Seeing potential problems (Applying critical thinking skills)
• Quality orientation (Shabby work is not allowed)
• Attention to detail (Being aware of all the pieces to the puzzle)
• Concrete organization (Thinking realistically)
• Consistency and reliability (Doing what needs to be done each and every day)
• Personal accountability (No blame game mentality allowed)
• Self management? (Lead yourself first before you can lead others)
• Results orientation (The ability to focus on securing results)
• Relating to others (Being able to play nice in the sand box)

Why because:

Everyone is in sales!

The selling problem bogus mentality ignores everything else that is happening within the organization and may actually be the reason for the inability to:

• Increase sales
• Improve profitability
• Speed up productivity
• Build customer loyalty
• Secure a competitive advantage

However by addressing this bogus selling problem lines the pockets of business coaches, sales coaches, executive consultants even universities and is a source for repeat revenue.? Great business model, but quite unethical given the solutions are not sustainable.

I, for one, am so tired of this insanity still being alive in the world of sales and selling.

Isn?t it time we started to address the real problems facing organizations by taking a more holistic, aligned and balanced approach where emotional intelligence and self leadership work together with the organizational strategies (provided they have been developed and are regularly monitored)?? Until we change how we look at things, the things we look at will remain the same and this bogus issue of

?we have a selling problem?

will continue to drain the coffers, the innate desires, the essence of what makes every organization healthy and unique.

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Source: http://processspecialist.com/increasesales/sales-management-sales-training-2/selling-problem-editorial/

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