Here are 8 lies about selling:
1. It is enough to just be helpful.
It is true that you create value by helping your buyer. You help them discover their needs. You help them determine the cause of their problems. You help them evaluate their choices and the accompanying trade-offs.
Providing them with information promptly isn't enough to help to make you a trusted advisor. You need to have chops.
2. Selling has changed so much that…
There is no doubt that selling has changed. And so has buying. But the core of selling hasn't changed much. You still need to be known. You still need to be trusted. You still need to be liked. You still need to know how to help your dream client produce better results than they are now.
And you still need to ask for and gain commitments.
3. Salespeople are no longer necessary.
You can buy things on the Internet. You can find information on the Internet too. But when the decision you need to make is complex, risky, and expensive, you are going to want to work with a professional.
4. Inside sales will replace the need for field sales.
Every week I get an email from a sales consultant who insists that a field sales force is unnecessary. Along with a lot of other folks, he believes that inside sales people are all that any business needs. There is no doubt that there are good reasons to drive the costs out of some sales operations. But because something is the right idea for one business doesn't make it right for all businesses. Face to face sales isn't going away anytime soon.
