Private: Intelligence

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There are many kinds of sales people in marketing.  Some are more successful than others, but in my mind the most successful ones are what many refer to as the Solution Sellers.

Solution Selling is an art and a science and it revolves around a simple practice; listen first and sell second.  Solution Selling involves hearing the objectives of your target audience and crafting a solution for them, but it also involves recognizing when you don’t have a solution and providing them with a better alternative.

Solution Sellers are a special breed of sales person because they have to engage other people with interpersonal skills that are not easily taught.  In many cases they either have them or they don’t.  The best Solution Sellers are the ones who demonstrate legitimate interest in the people on the other side of the table.  These people care about their relationships and they want to create mutually beneficial situations where everyone wins.   These people ask the right kinds of questions that get the buyer talking and conveying his or her needs and objectives, and this dialogue allows the sales person to craft a viable set of solutions to the challenges facing their clients.  Solution Sellers are also highly social, and they engage with many, many other people in the business and are always very willing to share information, share leads and help those around them.  In a solution-oriented environment, a sales person may be willing to say, “I have a solution for your needs and here it is”, but they also may be willing to say, “I don’t have the best solution for you right now, but you should talk to this person because I think they can help”.  Solution sales are about the relationship above all else, and that model of sales creates highly valuable, highly trusted relationships that are almost always lucrative in the long run.

The opposite of a solution-oriented sales person has many names.  Some refer to them as Snake Oil Salesmen or Used Car Dealers (not that there’s anything wrong with used car dealers).  These are the people who typically say, “I can do that” even before they know what you need.   These are the people who come into a first meeting with an agenda all about them.  These are the sales people who start sentences with “I want you to…” or “I need to show you…”.  These are the “speak first, listen second” types and though these people may sell lots of media and make lots of money, they are not the best at creating relationships.  These are the people who tend to jump ship after 6-9 months, looking for the next big thing and don’t do their due diligence before they land. 

The solution sellers are a benefit to every company they work with because the strength of their relationships are an immediate boon to your business.  These are the folks who I recently referred to as your single biggest marketing asset, and these are the folks who should be retained at almost any cost.  These are the kinds of sales people you want training your junior sales people, and who will create a strong, positive culture in your company for years to come. 

And don’t get me wrong; these people are not weak.  They are closers, but they know when to walk away from an opportunity if they don’t think they can be successful.  Sometimes the best way to sell is to recognize when you can’t be successful.  If there’s no sale there, or at least no sale that will work, why waste the client’s time and money?  Why waste your valuable time on a fool’s errand?   No amount of money from a media sale is worth the negative reflection on your personal character if you went into the deal knowing it wouldn’t work.

So in your next sales meeting, whether it’s with you and a client or you and a publisher, make sure you are solution selling by doing two things.  Listen first, and recognize if you have what they need or not.  I can assure you that things will go way better if you are open, honest and solution-oriented.