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Strategy and Selling – the winning approach

Written by: Hans-Peter Holzwarth

Article Overview: There isn't the sales strategy which would applied to all customers optimally have for itself. As there are different customer structures, there exactly are different approaches so as a customer is looked after. All efforts have one thing in common, however: A yield as high as possible should be gained under consideration of the resources of one’s own.

Strategy and Selling – the winning approach

Know yourself, know your enemy, and you need not fear one hundred battles. Know neither yourself nor your enemy, and you shall succumb in every battle.
(Sun Tzu)

Strategy or tactics? We frequently hear this question in sales trainings: "What actually is the difference? In fact: Nothing is mixed so much as these two concepts. And, if you look for these concepts in one of the common search engines on the Internet, the confusion gets rather bigger.

The German Duden universal dictionary declares the concept "Strategy" as the detailed plan of the own procedure to achieve a military, political, psychological or similar goal and calculating all factors which will influence the own approach.

On the other hand "Tactic" is the art of order and preparation due to considerations with regard to usefulness and success.

As often the explanation of these two concepts is simpler at an example from the sports: At golf it is the most important goal to achieve on the green with strikes as few as possible. The way is usually surfaced with obstacles like bunches of trees, bunker or waters there now.
The challenging consideration is now: How do I play the ball as effectively as possible and safe in the direction of the target? So I can decide to play the ball about the trees to choose the shortest way. It is the other, perhaps safer alternative to find a way around the trees. These considerations then lead to my strategy. If this is clear to me now, I must choose the club type corresponding to my strategy. This consideration then leads to my tactics!

It gets more complicated if I am in a tournament (competition). Because I then have to consider that one of my opponent in the choice of strategy and tactics.

To the two topics there is much literature infinitely. The Chinese Sun Tzu has described the bases of the strategic warfare in his book "The Art of War" 2400 years ago. Built up at this work the generals Carl of Clausewitz (Of the War) and Erwin Rommel then have (Rommel and his Art of War) and many others.

The American writer Gary Gagliari has made even the test to translate the thesis of Sun Tzu virtually in a "The way of Sales".

Having most intensively explained himself in the eighties in the U.S.A. Alston Gardner (the former CEO of TMS, Atlanta) and Stephen E. Heiman (chairman of Miller-Heiman) with the strategic meaning of sales processes. Brian Tracy and Jack Carroll are also mentioned here. In the German area it's hard to find literature practically to this topic and in the comparison some rake training offers.

For Miller Heiman the driving force of the strategic sales approach is the support of a non-manipulative sales philosophy. This philosophy is based on the premise that a single order is never enough: The real selling result is based on successes in the repetition business, firm recommendations and relations based on partnership.

The programs of TMS were taken on by Siebel Systems Inc. and since then offered by Siebel MultiChannel Services, Atlanta (today: OnTarget) worldwide. The most common program of Siebel might be TAS - Target account Selling ©. Focus of the Siebel program is the preparation of a strategic sales plan which permits to plan and to carry out the whole sales process in a structured form.


The following points are the basics for selling strategically:

1. Selling strategically required concentration, engagement and professionalism.

2. In complex projects is a good tactical plan only as well as the strategy which led to it. But - the best strategy is of no use, however, without good manual abilities in the sale (tactics).

3. Excellent knowledge over the business of its customer is prerequisite for the acquirement of a strategy . Out of this has to be derived, which driving forces to be forced the customer in the end acted.

4. Winning a "Mentor" prior to the sales project is of decisive importance finding the way in the "organizational relationship labyrinth" of the customer.
5. Critical analysis of own strengths and weaknesses.

6. Recognize and counter the competitor strategy.

7. Steady focus on the customers advantage (creation of a WIN/WIN- situation).

8. Selling strategically is only possible by a structured approach. At first glance time wasting seems this, however, the only safe path is for the success.

9. Target isn't the win of a single project but the recruitment of a loyal customer.

10. Selling strategically means the prerequisite to manage to talk to the right persons about the right topics at the right time.

Success in the sale means the integral analysis of the sales process from the acquirement of a purposeful strategy up to the putting into action of this strategy by suitable tactical measures.

What means then selling tactically?

Like in the example with the golf course is the application of sales tactics or sales techniques nothing else but the choice of the right tools for implementing the fixed strategy. They were described in detail by Heinz Goldmann, in the classic "How to win customers" described and of numerous coaches and writers, differently interprets. Although these sales techniques are offered by hundreds of sales coaches for decades, they have lost nothing of their topicality.
Again and again we recognize this within field coachings where so-called "experienced sales men" know that there are some sales techniques, however they don't use them in practice.
Although the fable of the "born salesman" lasts obstinately, we claim: "Selling is a learnable process".
The translation of corresponding training measures works, however, only when a consistent usage of these techniques then has the corresponding success in the practice. To guarantee this practice transfer it's not enough to deputize sales people two or three days to a seminar believing "something always remains".

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