Dislocated Selling

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A common mistake of new and poorly trained sales representatives is selling to the wrong person in the wrong way. It’s dislocated selling.

What you’re asking or saying in these instances may be relevant to someone, somewhere, to sell something, but it won’t work here, to this person, right now.

Whether you’re selling the greatest solution to the world’s problems or an everday commodity, you’ve got to be flexible. You’ve got to talk to people on their terms. You can’t stick rigidly to your sales process, and by now hopefully you can appreciate that you can’t cram features into buyers’ ears.

Many salespeople feel like they’ve got to move to step #2 in their sales process after step #1, without fail, with every prospect. Now, that sounds logical enough. But what if the buying process at ABC Company doesn’t work that way? What if you can’t do a “needs assessment” or a “site survey” with them simply after having done an initial call? What if you don’t need to?

Get a feel for how people want to buy, and adapt your selling accordingly. This is a creative career. Be smarter than your process. Be more real, engaging, and flexible.