Sales Executive Council
An Elephant Story
21 July, 2012 20:54
Six blind men happened upon a heretofore unknown object. Being widely respected for their wisdom and experience, they each confidently proclaimed the "true nature" of the phenomenon they had encountered.
"It's a wall!” said one. Another said, “no, its a rope!” The third said, “not a rope, but a fire hose!“ The next declared it a “palm leaf” and his neighbor, a "tree." The final blind man, wisest of all, slowly circled the object, probing here and there, carefully considering the claims of his compatriots. Eventually he paused, smiling smugly as he discovered a point of reference the others had obviously missed.
With a smirk he chuckled knowingly. “You are all hopelessly misguided. It’s not a wall, hose, rope, palm leaf or even a tree! Having already considered all of your opinions, I have found a new, true perspective--It is clearly a spear!”
At that moment, the "object-- an ELEPHANT-- knelt to the ground where a young boy, his mahout (elephant trainer), effortlessly climbed up on his back and with a word, turned the beast and headed for home.
___________________
A recent article in the Harvard Business Review trumpets “The End of Solution Sales,” and suggests that real top performers are abandoning consultative selling techniques in favor of what the Sales Executive Council calls “insight selling.” The article displays a dramatic and fundamental misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the underlying tenets of “solution selling,” while boldly proclaiming that successful salespeople almost by definition exclusively and explicitly favor the SEC’s flavor of the month, the “Challenger” sale.
Let’s look at the history of sales “training.” First we had the development a hundred years ago of the “hunter/farmer” sales model used in insurance sales. In the 20’s and 30’s, Edward K. Strong (a Professor of Psychology at Stanford’s Business School-- best known for his development of the Strong Interest Inventory of vocational interests) wrote a number of treatises on the psychology of selling, and introduced the concept of mastering specific sales techniques. More recently we’ve seen the onslaught of a vast array of quasi-consultative sales models-- SPIN selling. Relationship selling, “Sales 2.0,” high-touch vs. self-service, and more conversion funnels, lead pipelines, and value pyramids than you can imagine. In fact, Robert DeGroot has identified 12 specific sales models, containing 31 differentiated categories covering 204 sales skill competencies. Talk about overkill!
Now we have the Next Big Thing, “insight” or “Challenger” selling, and supposedly in one fell swoop it supersedes everything that has come before.
___________________
The limited vision of the blind wise men lead them to identify the elephant's side as a wall, trunk as a hose, tail as a rope, ear as a palm leaf, leg as a tree, and finally it's tusk as a spear. And yet an elephant is NONE of those things-- a fact readily discernible by anyone who knows the nature of the beast.
A superb sales professional is NOT a blind man fumbling around the elephant, convinced it is a rope, a wall or even a spear-- he or she is an "elephant whisperer." someone who can see and understand the big picture of what the "elephant" is really all about, including what is in its head.
And how do you know what's in the "elephant's head?" By exercising ALL of your skills, including intelligent, thoughtful questioning and listening. i.e. appropriately applied consultative selling techniques.
Insight that is INFORMED by a consultative “solution-driven” approach is invaluable. But focusing on “insight” as a style or skill in and of itself, supplanting the need to develop a real understanding of the customer from the CUSTOMER’s perspective, is not only short-sighted, it can be downright dangerous.
More on that soon.
"It's a wall!” said one. Another said, “no, its a rope!” The third said, “not a rope, but a fire hose!“ The next declared it a “palm leaf” and his neighbor, a "tree." The final blind man, wisest of all, slowly circled the object, probing here and there, carefully considering the claims of his compatriots. Eventually he paused, smiling smugly as he discovered a point of reference the others had obviously missed.
With a smirk he chuckled knowingly. “You are all hopelessly misguided. It’s not a wall, hose, rope, palm leaf or even a tree! Having already considered all of your opinions, I have found a new, true perspective--It is clearly a spear!”
At that moment, the "object-- an ELEPHANT-- knelt to the ground where a young boy, his mahout (elephant trainer), effortlessly climbed up on his back and with a word, turned the beast and headed for home.
___________________
A recent article in the Harvard Business Review trumpets “The End of Solution Sales,” and suggests that real top performers are abandoning consultative selling techniques in favor of what the Sales Executive Council calls “insight selling.” The article displays a dramatic and fundamental misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the underlying tenets of “solution selling,” while boldly proclaiming that successful salespeople almost by definition exclusively and explicitly favor the SEC’s flavor of the month, the “Challenger” sale.
Let’s look at the history of sales “training.” First we had the development a hundred years ago of the “hunter/farmer” sales model used in insurance sales. In the 20’s and 30’s, Edward K. Strong (a Professor of Psychology at Stanford’s Business School-- best known for his development of the Strong Interest Inventory of vocational interests) wrote a number of treatises on the psychology of selling, and introduced the concept of mastering specific sales techniques. More recently we’ve seen the onslaught of a vast array of quasi-consultative sales models-- SPIN selling. Relationship selling, “Sales 2.0,” high-touch vs. self-service, and more conversion funnels, lead pipelines, and value pyramids than you can imagine. In fact, Robert DeGroot has identified 12 specific sales models, containing 31 differentiated categories covering 204 sales skill competencies. Talk about overkill!
Now we have the Next Big Thing, “insight” or “Challenger” selling, and supposedly in one fell swoop it supersedes everything that has come before.
___________________
The limited vision of the blind wise men lead them to identify the elephant's side as a wall, trunk as a hose, tail as a rope, ear as a palm leaf, leg as a tree, and finally it's tusk as a spear. And yet an elephant is NONE of those things-- a fact readily discernible by anyone who knows the nature of the beast.
A superb sales professional is NOT a blind man fumbling around the elephant, convinced it is a rope, a wall or even a spear-- he or she is an "elephant whisperer." someone who can see and understand the big picture of what the "elephant" is really all about, including what is in its head.
And how do you know what's in the "elephant's head?" By exercising ALL of your skills, including intelligent, thoughtful questioning and listening. i.e. appropriately applied consultative selling techniques.
Insight that is INFORMED by a consultative “solution-driven” approach is invaluable. But focusing on “insight” as a style or skill in and of itself, supplanting the need to develop a real understanding of the customer from the CUSTOMER’s perspective, is not only short-sighted, it can be downright dangerous.
More on that soon.
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