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The death of the sales call?

Written by: Seth Godin

Article Overview: I wonder if the sales call has a lot of life left in it.

The death of the sales call?

I wonder if the sales call has a lot of life left in it.

Before you faint, let me get my terms straight: I think a sales call is a meeting (in person or on the phone) when a salesperson endeavors to sell something to a prospect, and where the prospect is doing the salesperson some sort of service by being there.

Today, though, with streamlined organizations, there are plenty of people who no longer have the time to politely listen to a sales call in order to not offend a b2b salesperson.

And with so many shopping options available, I'm not sure many consumers have the time or desire either.

Instead, I think we're seeing the rise of the buying call.

I have a problem. I'm willing to talk to a buyperson (okay, bad neologism) to help me solve it.

My factory needs to be more efficient. I want to buy a solution. I call a salesperson.

My publishing company needs to grow. I'm eager to have a meeting with an author who will show me a new book that will help me do that.

What changes more than the words is the posture. If you ever find yourself in a meeting, arms folded, barely paying attention, waiting for the salesperson to leave, the right question to ask yourself is, "Why did you bother wasting your time by going?" If you're going to go to a meeting with a salesperson, the new expectation is that you'll come armed with questions, eager to learn what you need, ready to buy the moment you find the right solution.

An unprepared salesperson should be shown the door. What about an unprepared or unmotivated buyer?

When a salesperson gets asked, "Hey, are you trying to sell me something," the best answer may be, "I sure am, and if you're not here to buy something, we should both be somewhere else..."

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Article Tags: consumers, desire, endeavors, expectation, neologism, paying attention, posture, publishing company, right question, right solution, salesperson, shopping, wasting your time



Related Forum Posts
Why So Much Time? - Hi Evan. I'd challenge you about how long a webinar takes to prepare. There are some simple models out there that would suggest that the time you need is a lot less than you might think. Remember, you are not writing it all down and just reading it out. 2 minutes settling everyone in 5 minutes outlining the call and the ground rules of listeners (if it's interactive) 10 key points of 3 minutes 10 minutes of Q&A 5 minutes of a sales pitch 5 minutes of a review of the call 3 minutes of goodbye If you are able to manage it so that the call is even more ointeractive (Q&A with others on the call chipping in with their ideas and you act as a facilitator), you workload is even less. The only time you need to prepare is the 10 key points and the marketing/e-mails. Pretty straight-forward! Regards
Re: I want to start a CARTRIDGE business Need help - Hi abe3475, Welcome to our forums! To find out the general markup on ink cartridges you'll need to go to their respective websites, and contact a customer service representative to give you the contact info of their distributor in your region. Then when you call the distributor, tell them you're looking to start a small business selling cartridges and ask for the name and number of the local sales representative in your area. Give the sales rep a call and explain your story again to acquire a price list via email. However, I've found that some large online retailers can actually match the prices found on local sales rep "price lists" because it really depends largely on where you're located. For example, in the US, everything seems to be cheaper than in Canada.
Re: Business Query....HElp me out! - Hi Sandeep, Welcome to the forum. There are many reasons why you are failing to get to the next step. Do you own a website? Is it appealing? Do you have a "killer" sales page? What do you write in your email? Maybe it goes directly to their spam folder? If you do get to talk to someone, try to close the deal at this one phone call, each call you make is getting you away from your target.
Re: What to avoid when cold calling? - Excellent point! Many sales people use word "try" to often and I am always surprised to hear it. Either you will do it or not, but please don't try...it sounds really weak. How about the word "just"? I "just" call you to follow up with you... Your clients are not feeling special when you use word just. Simply avoid it next time when you call someone.
real estate - Would Reid call these recent economic indicators as more "good news" like he did the loss of 36,000 jobs? On the real estate front, new home sales are collapsing again, existing home sales are also falling sharply and construction activity (both residential and commercial) is sharply down.


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