Transformative Selling

As much as selling has changed, in many ways the fundamental aspects of selling have remained the same. Sellers still need to engage in a systematic process to find prospects, collect research, get prospects’ attention, ask questions, deliver solutions, and close sales. What has changed is the rate at which these events occur and the amount of knowledge and insight necessary from the very first prospect interaction. With the availability of information today, customers have considerably more power than they did just a few years ago. This power demands a better understanding of customer needs prior to the sales call. Customer power also imposes more demands on their time and more complicated decision-making processes. It is no longer possible to sell to one person. Rather, an entire buying center in a matrix-form environment requires a range of versatile value propositions. In light of increased time pressures, questioning can no longer be initiated with broad inquiries like: “Tell me a