Listening

I like Nigel Edelshain, even though I don't know him at all. He runs an organization called Sales 2.0 and I was persuaded by a colleague to subscribe to its newsletter a few months back. The persuasion came because Nigel wrote a piece that described sales 2.0 as the evolution of the sales process that involved a successful intersection of profiling (who to sell to), network (who you are connected to) and timeliness (what's relevant about now that will help your sales approach). I liked it because my company 365 Media is all about the NOW - finding information that happens now and converting it into business intelligence.

Anyway, I think the sales 2.0 idea is good - you should check it out. Don't tell Nigel I sent you, though, he doesn't know me.

The more I look at all the advice, though, the more I think that some of the fundamentals are missing. When I was trained in sales - at the Thomson Corporation back when there were budgets for week-long off-sites in crummy motels in Milton Keynes - the emphasis was all about LISTENING (and matching). Listen to your client, find out what they want, match it your service. After working in London for 12 years, I've now been working in the US for 10. I have a reasonably good picture of both cultures from a sales perspective.

I think there is a lack of listening in modern sales. What is the client's need? How does your questioning help them articulate their need? Timeliness on business intelligence (the guy is new to the job last week, for example, or the company just announced an expansion) is a good reason to pick up the phone or send a personalized note - but ultimately, the sale will happen if we listen to what the customer needs.

By the way, I'm not saying Nigel doesn't know this - I'm just saying that perhaps its the most important thing in sales, still.