DECONSTRUCTING SELLING AS AN ART

I think the entire attitude we have towards sales needs to change. The world is quickly changing and so are the boundaries of influence of corporations. We do not live in the age of limitations where there are limited resources and someone to beat to gain something. The world today is that of inexhaustible treasures.

- Rajesh Nair

In today’s management landscape, we often respect and celebrate rainmakers and great salespeople. Be it FMCG, technology or consulting solutions, the top dollar is also the reward for being able to convince others to buy a product or a service. There is more business literature on selling than all the other management disciplines put together. If you look at all training programs of corporations across the world, majority of them deal with sales – directly or indirectly. Sales is also associated to words like ‘aggressive’, ‘arrogance’, ‘loud’, ‘slick’, ‘glib’ et.al. If you scour the internet for great sales pitches, we often see videos and literature of the slick-haired, fast talking, six pack loaded young man completely flummoxing the audience with his spiel. The Hollywood scenes of ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ where Alec Baldwin abuses and ridicules a bunch of real estate salesman is one of the most watched video on sales and his philosophy ‘ABC’ – always be closing is on the desk of several entrepreneurs and CEOs. So where do I differ…

I think the entire attitude we have towards sales needs to change. The world is quickly changing and so are the boundaries of influence of corporations. We do not live in the age of limitations where there are limited resources and someone to beat to gain something. The world today is that of inexhaustible treasures. There is plenty and more of the pie. The word competition is also being replaced by co-creation. Bob Burg and John David Mann, in their seminal series of books and videos – postulate that the secret of selling is to ‘GIVE’. Perhaps it sounds more like hyperbole than an actual fact but let me explain what I have understood from this tenet …