As the economic downturn takes center-stage across the world, the selling process has come under scrutiny again like all other business processes. This is a good time to reflect on what selling used to be and how it has changed. The need to overcome buyer resistance and adding real value has never been so keenly felt by sellers..

Here’s a look at how the selling process has evolved and changed:

1. I am your friend..

This was the time when a salesperson did not really need to be very bright. All you needed was a pleasant disposition, reasonable social skills and the ability to position yourself as the client’s personal friend. Occasionally you’d do a favor for the client, like buying flowers for his wife on her birthday so he wouldn’t have to do it himself. You’d call on him often to convey your regards and pass him little company gifts or souvenirs plus a few glossies. You’d sit there and listen to him mouth off about how he was the only one in his company who knew what he was doing. Then, once in a while, he’d hand over to you a purchase order for your product or service and you would return to the office, triumphant and secure in the knowledge that you were at the top of your profession.  Times have moved on, buyers have become more sophisticated, being the nice sales guy ain’t enough anymore, but guess what? Most salespeople are still stuck here – they’ve just changed the label to “relationship selling”

2. I can give you the best price..

Sales training courses spend a lot of time telling sales folks how to handle the issue of price and objections about price. The reality is that most of them go out and pitch their product at the lowest price possible because they’re still stuck in Phase 1, “I am your friend”. There is little talk of value or differentiation and it’s all about discounts and freebies.  In some cases, the very tender committees that are supposed to ensure value for the client end up using price as the primary criterion (public sector organizations in developing countries do this as an art form). In other cases, the desire for market share above all else in fast-growing markets leads to price wars and salespeople who often cannot remember how to differentiate their product anymore..

3. Let me explain the benefits..

As buyers got more sophisticated, marketing got more savvy and created “brands”.  Salespeople were first educated to talk more about features and technology advantages. As decisions started to get linked directly to business advantage, the new message to sales guys was to stop talking about features and focus on business benefits. The “relationship” brigade didn’t know how to talk about benefits so they lost deals. This is the time when people started talking about complex sales, solution selling and such like. Now, it was possible to think about higher margins, based on overall benefit rather than commodity pricing. But there was a problem. The conversation was all about the product or the service (product-centric) and not enough about the customer.

4. I am a partner..

In communications, there is a concept of Direction – this means that you progress in a communications relationship as you first Tell, then Sell, then finally Consult/Join. As one progresses in this direction, the communicator gradually speaks less and less, listens more and more, and lets the audience do more and more of the talking. In partnership or consultative selling, it works the same way. It’s a customer-centric approach that allows the customer to shape and co-construct the solution with the salesman acting as an equal partner. This is the real “relationship selling” and is not easy to acquire. It demands that you get to know the client’s organization, what they do, their priorities and their long-term needs. Not many clients will let you get so close, but those that do – they are priceless assets.

The question is, if you’re in sales, are you still trying to win clients with the lowest price, by being the guy who does little favors in a master/slave relationship? Or are you a professional, in an equal partnership with your clients?