How 2 Sales Viewpoints Can Be Both Wrong and Right

There’s a scene in the film Skyfall, where James Bond meets Q for the first time in the national gallery.

Bond is astounded at how young his new quartermaster is – in retaliation Q remarks;?“Age is no guarantee of efficiency.”

To which Bond replies; “And youth is no guarantee of innovation!”

Ignoring greatness from the past - and dismissing the new - happens everyday, in all walks of life

Young football fans watch on as the big names of yesteryear are remembered, while telling you that they could never compete with the superstars of today - with no real knowledge of history or achievement.

And in sales?it's easy to believe that if it's new -?then it must be better - to give up on the tried and tested because it’s too much effort to get it to work properly - and then chase the shiny thing that's unproven but looks like it might be a little easier.

Of course there are also some groups that shun anything new.

Like unsuccessful, middle age songwriters who tell you that "no one makes music like they used to" - while refusing to listen to the charts and finding something within their genre that music lovers are buying and can relate to right now.

In 2009 when someone asked if I was on LinkedIn - I told them that “I don’t do social media.”

When I suggest to sales people under 30 that they should consider sending a physical letter by post to a particular prospect that is blanking them completely - they call me a dinosaur.

I was na?ve and wrong to react like that to social media in 2009 - and those salespeople who mock non-technological methods today are foolish to dismiss a tool that might stand a better chance of getting them noticed.

And yet – right now - many sales teams are being led down a blinkered path by their bosses and certain “sales gurus”.

They are either told to follow an outdated sales model (that stopped being effective somewhere around 1997) - or that they need to throw all their eggs into the latest shiny sales basket that their business has just invested a bucket load?of in cash into.

True selling – successful selling – has always had a small number of foundation stones – genuine principles.

An effective salespersons job has always been to recognise those foundations and then work with those principles.

But recognising them and working with them has now become a bit of a lost art.

Which is a shame - because it's THAT art that most successful sales careers are built on.

And when you truly understand them – when you have secure foundations to work from - that's when you can enhance them with all the wonderful new shiny tools that modern selling has to offer.

But - and this is really important - while you’re finding your way there, make sure you don’t let anyone tell you that something doesn’t work – no matter whether it’s new or old – when in actual fact, they have no practical experience of its application or history.

There's a great quote from Ricky Gervais

"You can have your own opinions, but you can't have your own facts. Truth is not a democracy. It doesn't give a **** what you "believe"."

Get out there and discover genuine SALES TRUTHS - some SALES FACTS.

Don't ignore something just because you don't understand it.

Can you find customers with LinkedIn? Of course you can if you do it right.

Can you gain a prospects attention by sending a letter with a stamp on it? Of course you can if you do it right.

Are there tried and trusted methods to uncovering the right opportunities, ensuring you get in front of the right people and then converting those opportunities into new business? Of course there is - if you spend some time hunting them down,

(For an idea of what I'm talking about, check out some of the ideas in this breakthrough business development masterclass. It’s small group, in-person and highly interactive. Invitations to attend go out today. Go take a look at the feedback we’ve had so far, and you'll see how powerful this content is.)

Which brings me back to the fact that "age is no guarantee of efficiency” and "youth is no guarantee of innovation!”

But fact based proof, tireless testing and a thorough understanding of the foundations of success will always enable you to make the very best use of both.

To your success,

Chris

chris-murray/2-day-business-development masterclass.com