When I started my career as a Salesman 17-18 years ago, there were many views from my well wishers about the profession. Some people felt that it was a stupid job. The perception that Salesmen were generally seen wearing ties, carry a bag, roam around conning people. But some of them felt that it could be progressive for my career and they felt that I could fit in well there as they thought I was good at networking and communicating.
Quite frankly I didn’t have a serious vision then about making a big career out of Salesmanship as I probably didn’t know what it was all about. Since some people motivated me that I would be smart enough for that profession (Am I?!) and also there were not many going for such roles from my Alma Mater as most of them went abroad, I plunged into it. My first job was with one of the most aggressive sales driven organisations of India. Not that I was enjoying the role that I played. There was only one Motto – get orders! But I had my own rules of playing the game. It was quite a learning! Meeting customers, convince them on the products that we had, or we never had etc etc… and within the purview of my rules. It was a challenge! And slowly I started to believe that yes, it indeed is a fantastic role to play.
Life was quite different when I started with the profession. One had to meet the customers to educate them about the products, talk about the market, provide competitive analysis etc. The idea was to sell the product that you have. The sales trainers would say that you need to understand the customers and provide value to them, nevertheless you actually ended up “selling” what your company wanted you to sell.
But over the years, the selling phenomenon had gone through series of changes. The customers are well versed than yourself regarding the product, Thanks to Internet.
The Customers are far clearer as to what they want. And they are more aware of Competition and competitiveness of any product. You don’t need to offer value nor do you need to give them competitive quotations. The customers know it all. The way they negotiate is much different from how it used to be earlier. They have target pricing and you need to match the target pricing. Now the role of the Sales person is reversed. He no longer sells what the company makes, his role is to convince his company to make what the customer wants!
So what makes a successful salesman today – Is it the glib talk? Is it the personality? Is it knowledge? Is it the capability to “manage” things & people? Or is it…
I can list many things here. But my final take on the role of a Salesman today – He is the partner to the customer. It doesn’t matter what your designation is, whether you are a Sales Executive or a General Manager or Managing Director.
The Customer is still the King, and what matters is the trust worthiness. Everything else gets taken care!
Quite frankly I didn’t have a serious vision then about making a big career out of Salesmanship as I probably didn’t know what it was all about. Since some people motivated me that I would be smart enough for that profession (Am I?!) and also there were not many going for such roles from my Alma Mater as most of them went abroad, I plunged into it. My first job was with one of the most aggressive sales driven organisations of India. Not that I was enjoying the role that I played. There was only one Motto – get orders! But I had my own rules of playing the game. It was quite a learning! Meeting customers, convince them on the products that we had, or we never had etc etc… and within the purview of my rules. It was a challenge! And slowly I started to believe that yes, it indeed is a fantastic role to play.
Life was quite different when I started with the profession. One had to meet the customers to educate them about the products, talk about the market, provide competitive analysis etc. The idea was to sell the product that you have. The sales trainers would say that you need to understand the customers and provide value to them, nevertheless you actually ended up “selling” what your company wanted you to sell.
But over the years, the selling phenomenon had gone through series of changes. The customers are well versed than yourself regarding the product, Thanks to Internet.
The Customers are far clearer as to what they want. And they are more aware of Competition and competitiveness of any product. You don’t need to offer value nor do you need to give them competitive quotations. The customers know it all. The way they negotiate is much different from how it used to be earlier. They have target pricing and you need to match the target pricing. Now the role of the Sales person is reversed. He no longer sells what the company makes, his role is to convince his company to make what the customer wants!
So what makes a successful salesman today – Is it the glib talk? Is it the personality? Is it knowledge? Is it the capability to “manage” things & people? Or is it…
I can list many things here. But my final take on the role of a Salesman today – He is the partner to the customer. It doesn’t matter what your designation is, whether you are a Sales Executive or a General Manager or Managing Director.
The Customer is still the King, and what matters is the trust worthiness. Everything else gets taken care!
No comments:
Post a Comment