Sales have long been played as a “cat and mouse” game. Customers and prospects take evasive maneuvers and play hard to get while the salesperson became skilled in various tricks and techniques to corner the customer into a close – artfully of course!

Of course the customer is not a mouse and holds a great deal of power in the ability to say “no” and to lay low, avoiding contact.

However the customer had at least one Achilles heel, an actual need for the product. In the past, salespeople had a virtual monopoly on the product channels and so relationships developed.

Of course every time one had to venture out into new territory or a need arose for a different product the same emotional tug-a-wars and games had to be played until that balance was again established. But still the system’s restrictions kept the game well contained in a defined playing field.

Although the Internet has dissolved that monopoly many have yet to look up and realize that the game has been transformed.

Granted, it is hard not to be confused when the players look deceptively familiar and especially when many of the old emotional pieces still remain in place, man is still very much human. 

There is much to know in playing a game or winning at a job and much can change with rapidity. However one rule remains fast, a player must know what position he is playing or he will lose and the team will lose. This is especially true if he continues to play a position that no longer exists and that is what has happened – the salesperson is no longer the default gatekeeper to the product.

The customer of today has direct access to products and services on a scale that could not have been imagined just 20 years ago. Although he may still very much need the product the salesperson’s default position as an access point has shrunk to such an extent it is no longer an advantage, merely a point of convenience.

It is not the salesperson that has been eliminated it is the built-in advantage the salesperson has enjoyed over product access and information. These are no longer tightly held advantages, but solely services provided.

The good news is that the game becomes not one of “cat and mouse” with a salesperson poised to launch but a much more rewarding game of being a true guide in fulfilling client’s needs. It is much, much easier to sell and sell in volume when one is able to truly help in providing what another needs.

The Internet has brought a wealth of opportunity to salespeople; they can reach out to massive resources of both data and prospects. It has driven demand for new products and opened potential markets on a scale only limited by imagination and industry.

Take advantage of the opportunities, discard the “closing games” of old and become a knowledgeable professional fully capable of delivering the desperately needed help and guidance that customers are seeking, even if they don’t know it.

Your pocketbook will be thankful as well.

Written by

Thomas Soracco

Real Ability Software and Management Systems

www.realability.com