Catch up on the Best Thinking on an Evolved Complex Sales Approach

A simple change in the way we talk about sales and salespeople can make a dramatic difference in the way we approach our craft.

Thought leader and sales executive Marc Miller wrote a well-received book, “Selling is Dead.”

It’s a provocative title. Selling will endure, but Miller makes the point that salespeople should move past thinking of what they do as “selling.”

JMS was featured in the book because our own philosophy, the importance of engaging in meaningful, peer-to-peer interactions with prospects in order to determine the best solution for them, align with those of Mr. Miller.

We titled our own book “Meaningful Interactions” with this in mind, and share our proven methodologies that are a result of decades of experience in complex B2B sales.

What we both agree is on the way out is traditional, rapid-fire, relatively indiscriminate cold calling – the process of staffing up a sales team to run through scripted lead generation calls.

Business executives have little time for that approach, because it fails to demonstrate any understanding of their challenges and needs, their industry landscape, or the connection between the solution being sold and their business pain points.

Selling that aims first to establish a meaningful dialogue is alive and well. It is the proven approach for B2B complex sales calls.

A Customer-Centric Shift

Miller followed up “Selling is Dead” with a book called “A Seat at the Table,” where he furthers his argument for a new sales mindset.

When salespeople stop thinking about selling a product, and instead present themselves as a partner alongside the prospect’s top-level decision-makers, they will begin to be treated as that valuable adviser.

They will be given “a seat at the table” as the pathways to addressing a company’s business challenges are considered.

When you truly adopt your customer’s viewpoint and have their best interests at heart, you’ll be afforded new levels of access that a traditional sales approach does not attain. From that perch, you’ll be in the best position to sell.

We recommend reading Miller’s work, and combine his perspective with the strategies we lay out in our book.

Together they represent a changed sales mindset that can make a measurable difference in complex sales results.

Jim