The craft of Selling

Sabyasachi Dutta, Managing Director – Vidatec India 

By Sabyasachi Dutta, Managing Director – Vidatec India 

Organizations need to make money to survive. That’s a given and the solitary reason why they sell at profit, goods or services of their expertise. Generating regular income that exceeds outgo, is critical to keep companies stay afloat.

A study showed that only 60 companies that were in Fortune 500 list in 1955 have found a place again in 2017’s list and it is anybody’s guess how many of those will be there in 2067!

This constant churn where old gets replaced by new is a brutal reality in the present hyper-competitive global economy. Many companies have gone bust as their products outlived need of the hour or failed to garner continued support from their customers. Consequently, they bled and soon disappeared.

The onus of generating revenue rests on the ‘Sales’ team. All successful sale transactions ought to generate moolah unless one errs and deal goes bad. Some companies that don’t perform well often take different routes to generate revenue from a variety of sources to dress up their balance sheet.

For obvious reason, ‘selling’ successfully acquires prime importance as organizations perceive their future depend on how throbbing their sales teams are. It’s been noticed, sales teams often get more enamoured with winning new logos than nurturing existing ones. However, experience shows that existing customers are likely to be much bigger revenue generators than new customers and also cost less. Few takeaways:

  • It’s an anomaly that many companies do not consider revenue generated from repeat sales or recurring usage (as in SaaS models) as new revenue. One should stop taking recurring revenue for granted since they could be an invaluable source of sustenance in case of sudden downturns.
  • Most organizations give top priority to their existing accounts. Loyalty appreciated and awarded. Usually, best talents are earmarked to address loyal customers’ concerns and demands.
  • Selling new products or add-on services to existing customers is definitely easier than to new customers with whom there might not be any previous equation. In other words, growing an existing account could be much faster and lucrative than winning a new customer.
  • A favourable referral from an existing contended customer has a higher success probability and shorter sales cycle than converting a raw lead into a new account.
  • On the flip side, a customer’s new pain points are usually better understood and be effectively dealt with by an existing service provider or seller rather than an altogether new vendor.

Many consider ‘selling’ is an art. Not all can dare to venture out trying to sell refrigerators in Antarctica but some do! As Zig Ziglar famously said, “Stop selling. Start helping.” In other words, efforts should be made to search for a void in the market and fill it with product / service that’s non-existing. It’s foolhardy to try make something for everyone. Also, the cycle shouldn’t be to first make a product and then start frenetically looking for customers but vice versa. Once this gets ingrained, selling might not appear as an unsurmountable challenge that frightens many.

The delicate Buyer-Seller equation can be surmised in these five unique scenarios:

  • Instant Go : This is the best case scenario where efforts result in a quick successful deal.
  • Blunt No-Go : Potential buyer does not want to buy from the seller. Advise to seller, it would be futile to follow up or try other tactics. Door slammed.
  • Passive Go / No-Go : Targeted buyer shows dilemma or buys time to weigh options. There might be a dormant need to procure the offered product / service but the target displays no urgency. Persuasion and follow-ups may result in a conversion.
  • Yes but not You : Buyer wants to buy but not from the seller either due to ill repute of the organization or the salesperson not convincing enough or personal prejudice.
  • Yes but not Me : The salesperson might not be interacting with the right person who’s empowered to decide on purchases and efforts therefore fail to elicit any response.

Many books and articles have been written to unravel the craft of selling. This piece has been a small effort to put forth certain nuggets on selling and seller. In conclusion, it would be perfect to quote Zig Ziglar once again as he said, “Everyone is in sales. Maybe you don’t hold the title of a salesperson but if the business you are in requires you to deal with people, you, my friend, are in sales.”

(Views expressed here are personal)

About Neel Achary 18874 Articles
Neel Achary is the editor of Business News This Week. He has been covering all the business stories, economy, and corporate stories.