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Extra, Extra, Dinosaur Sales Professionals Saved From the Edge Extinction

Written by: Leanne Hoagland-Smith

Article Overview: Ever heard of those sales professionals called Dinosaurs? You know, the ones that wine and dine their customers. Did you know that they are coming back?

Extra, Extra, Dinosaur Sales Professionals Saved From the Edge Extinction

Remember, those professional sales persons of years gone by? They wined and dined their potential qualified customers (a.k.a. prospects) with no to somewhat limited knowledge of their products and services. Commitments happened with a shake of the hand. These folks were considered to be Dinosaurs or the Old Way to Sell.

Many involved in selling know at least one of these old timers who were the Schmoozers. The inside staff would sit in utter amazement shaking their heads in disbelief as these selling professionals brought in order after order with little to no knowledge compared to the inside sales, customer service or technical staff. As sales became more technical and information focused, many predicted and I believed hoped for the ultimate extinction of this type of sales professional.

Then because of the global economy expansion, the influx of MBAs (degreed individuals) and the impact of technology, fresh new species of selling personnel hit the roads armed with their PDAs, laptops and a wealth of technical information. These new folks could tell you how their widgets were designed, manufactured, work in any standard application and let us not forget with a tremendous savings in salaries.

The sales skills of this new species remind me of a short story about one of these MBA types who was traveling down a back country road and came across a sheep herder with a flock of sheep. He scrambled out of his unmarked black SUV; hurried up the herder and interrupted him by stating that he could determine the number of sheep in the flock for the price of one sheep.

The herder smiled and agreed. The MBA whips out his PDA with a global positioning unit, does a myriad of calculations and announces you have 497 sheep in your flock. With a nod, the herder confirmed the count and the MBA took a sheep.

Then the Herder tells the young man, "I can tell you what company you represent." With a quick look around at his clothes, his car and his personal items to confirm a lack of signage, the MBA says 'OK, tell me.' You are from (fill in the blank with the company of your choosing) because you came uninvited, told me something I already knew and you took my darn dog.

Now with the global economy in contraction, companies are seeking long term relationships with their vendors and the new species as previously described are truly not needed and are viewed in many cases as a nuisance. Today’s companies are seeking solution providers who truly understand their businesses instead of the existing sales professionals who can only identify problems and stand at arms length away from their customers.

This sudden shift in the marketplace has saved the old sales dinosaurs from the edge of extinction. Even with limited marketing (entertainment) budgets, these experienced old timers are showing how by developing strong relationships over time can dramatically increase sales.

If you want to increase sales, find a mentor who understands relationship selling as well as having some product knowledge. Remember, no one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care. Stop being the MBA in the black SUV and become the trusted advisor who is helping herd the sheep and can tell the difference between a sheep and a dog. P.S. He or she is truly not a dinosaur and really never was one.

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Article Tags: commitments, dinosaurs, disbelief, flock of sheep, global economy, global positioning, impact of technology, influx, mba, myriad, nod, old timers, professional sales, sheep herder, short story, technical staff, ultimate extinction, utter amazement, widgets, young man



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