One of IBM’s highly successful professional salesmen was profiled in Fortune magazine’s September 2008 issue. As part of that feature (IBM’s All-Star Salesman, page 110), the author (Jessi Hempel) also compared IBM’s sales forces from 1937 to the sales force of 2008. The comparisons were telling and representative of today’s professional sales forces.
Selling Solutions vs. Products
Has the sales profession changed that much over the years? And, what does it take to sell in the 21st Century? Personal and business software and computer sales was in large part responsible for bringing about solution selling instead of product selling.
Computer sales teams would determine exact needs of customers looking for computer systems and then sell the systems (including the software) that would meet the needs.
IBM is one of those solutions sales companies. In the 1930s, the company sold products such as electric keypunch machines versus selling software, hardware, advice and consulting solutions in 2008. Products used to be sold from branch offices then and now the solutions are sold by mobile sales persons working from a client site or from their home.
Professional Sales Training
Professional sales people today are highly trained in selling solutions but are also experts in the products and services for which they sell. With information available in abundance from any Internet capable computer keyboard, professional sales forces are able to find training, professional development, support networks, and degree programs that can help any type of professional sales person keep current with their industry and their product.
To find effective solutions, sales people today need to be able to recognize problem areas, analyze why it is a problem, and determine the best solution.
According to Hempel’s research, IBM trained their sales force in 1937 using face-to-face instruction and manuals. Today, top performing sales people are sent to 18 months of IBM Global Sales School.
Technology's Role in Today’s Professional Sales
Mobile computing, cell phones, teleconferencing, the Internet, and email have all changed the face of the way many businesses are run these days, even more so with professional sales. Traveling sales people make some of the largest professional sales salaries. With the emergence and the acceptance of email as a viable communication media, more sales people can conduct business 24/7 from anywhere in the world.
Client management software, wikis, blogs, vidcasts and podcasts have also added greatly to the profession.
Face-to-Face Sales
With all of the technology and training available to professional sales forces, does the human interface still matter?
While shopping at a locally owned and operated clothing store on a recent trip to Hawaii, the sales woman mentioned that she (the owner) was grateful for the support instead of it going to one of the national giant chain stores for which she was competing against. Just that one comment and sincere thank you upped the sales spree by another one hundred dollars.
Be it reaching out to answer questions instantly via technology or looking the client in the eye, the connection is what matters in all eras of professional sales.
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