Knuckle Dragging salespeople are the 21st century version of Willie Loman, the tragic character in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman".
Caught in a time warp back to the days when they were relevant to their customers. When bright, shiny new technologies sold like hotcakes and brought high margins and big commissions. Times have changed, but these salespeople haven't.
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| Does Your Sales Team Look Like This? |
In the old days, IT Salespeople were successful because they conveyed valuable information:
- what the product was
- what it did
- how much it cost
- how soon you could get it
Nowadays any customer with a computer and a search engine knows the answers to all those questions before they even engage a salesperson.
The Direct Sales force approach is declining in many companies for this reason. Why pay a high-priced resource when you can get the same result with an Inside Salesperson for a fraction of the price, or even have the customer bypass humans entirely and buy on-line?
Sales 3.0
If Sales 1.0 was the individual salesperson using closing techniques to win sales (think Willie Loman), Sales 2.0 was the art of making the complex sale, as exemplified by Strategic Selling, Solution Selling, and many other fine selling programs.
Sales 3.0 incorporates on-line tools, social media, and business intelligence to create a new value proposition for the customer. This has been called Insight Selling, the Challenger Sale, and several other names.
What kind of salespeople are on your team? Look at this short comparison to get an idea:
Delayed Gratification
The strongest attribute for Sales 3.0 is the ability to invest time and attention in areas that may not pay off until much later. This includes market research, competitive intelligence, social media connections, business network, and many other areas.
Your best salespeople are spending time becoming authorities in their field
of expertise, while the Knuckle-Draggers are chasing low-margin RFPs ("chasing garbage trucks"). Your top people are considered subject matter experts by your customers, while Knuckle-Draggers are whining about losing sales to cheaper competitors.
Studies show average producers have "Threshold Abilities", which means minimum competencies for the job. Extraordinary skills by high performers are "Distinguishing Competencies".
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Star performers take the time every week to learn, improve, and stay relevant. That means reading articles and books, and not just the short ones!
Attitude, not Age
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| "You're Only as Old as the Girl You Feel" Groucho Marx |
Your Knuckle-Draggers may not be your oldest people. In fact, years of industry experience can be a huge asset in Sales 3.0. The real test is how much your salespeople invest in their skills, knowledge, and business intelligence.
Don't let yourself or your sales team watch as the world passes you by. Invest time and attention to improving your skills, and stay ahead of the competition.
