Selling In The New Age

In the first of a new series of articles,Mohan G Joshi,international business coach and speaker on sales and leadership,elaborates on how the new age buyer has redefined the sales business cycle. He also speaks on the strategies to win over the new-age buyer

SELLING HAS changed so completely that the definition of selling, marketing and that of the salesperson too needs to undergo an official makeover. While the same two people are at the two ends of the bridge – the seller and the buyer; they are now completely different creatures who need a closer study.

If the seller needs to win over the new-age buyer, then a deeper study of buyer behaviour, his choosing and buying process, new-age selling tools and tactics need to top the to do list of the salesperson. The salesperson of today needs to be more of a trusted advisor, a coach, a friend and an impartial well-wisher and less of a ‘salesperson with just one goal – that of pushy-selling’.

The buyer too has also undergone a complete change and expects more than just information from the salesperson. The alignment between buyer expectations from the salesperson and the delivery by the salesperson dictates the future of the ‘good old order’.

What’s the new age sales cycle like?

What happens when you have to wait for the buyer to decide when s(he) wants to interact with you as a salesperson? You know that the sales cycle has changed forever. The buyer of today has more control over your sales cycle as it is s(he) who decides when you and s(he) should connect on the first sales call.

Conventional sales cycles had the salesperson in control of the cycle. But, the modern sales cycle has the buyer decide on important things. In the older version, the salesperson used to make a call, fix an appointment, meet, hand over sales literature, explain things, follow up, repeat and go laughing all the way to the bank, having closed the sale.