My neighbor - a lovely man I've known, and have had social contact with for years - is the COO of one of the world's largest companies. He's read my books, is familiar with my concepts, and is a fan. But we've not talked shop due to our social connection.
One day he called me and told me he wanted me to speak with his new national VP of sales - that he wanted my ideas and methods to be used in his company. Wonderful. Especially since it all came from him.
The VP called me days later at my friend's request, and we had a great phone contact: he said he was familiar with my concepts and was interested in a conversation, and he invited me to his office to spend some time. It was one of the only times in my life I flew to a client site for a face-to-face prospecting visit. In my mind, this was a very hot lead indeed.
When I got there, it became apparent he was setting me up to show the COO that he didn't need me, didn't need my material, and was fine, thank you very much. He was curt, rude, and, frankly between us, rather stupid in his remarks.
When I spoke with my friend, he grumbled and hung up. Next week, he called me back with the name of the VP of training. The man called me, had a lively, exciting conversation with me, sent me a check for the next public training so that he could attend himself, and I never heard from him again.
IT'S NOT ABOUT WHO YOU KNOW I knew the right guy. It doesn't get any better - COO of a Fortune 50 company, close friend. But in the end, it had nothing to do with what I was selling, or who I knew - it had to do with how the buyers were buying.
There is a whole burgeoning field of software that will help sellers find people who they know in a company. Then you can call that person, or have one of your friends call that person - all in hopes that this connection will give you a leg up. Let's take a look at the presuppositions inherent in the concept of social networking:
1. that the person you know within a company has the clout to have some say within the company;
2. that the person you know is on a decision team (or knows someone on a decision team) that is ready to make a decision to bring in a new product or service;
3. that the person you know will know how to say what you need him/her to say to get you the exposure you seek;
4. that bringing you into the company - even if the person has the clout to get you into the company - will influence a decision;
5. that the company is ready to make a change;
6. that the person bringing you in can help the company understand they need to change;
7. that the company will know how to line up it's decision criteria just because you know the right person, and you can show up with your great product and presentation material.
Let's take a look again at what's happening at this point in history. sales people are not needed to offer information: buyers can get more information about a seller's product than they have to offer, more about their product andthe competition, the good points and bad, the industry successes and failures, the price points - sellers are just not needed to push product any more.
Because this historic sales function has been superseded by a computer, sellers don't know what their jobs are anymore. Sellers are attempting to add new functions to their role so they can offer some value: they are making themselves 'trusted advisors'; becoming 'true consultants'; demonstrating some sort of 'value add'- either through product or service or technology.
IMPEDITMENTS TO SALES But the problems with sales continue: the same problems that have existed within the sales function since its inception continue to be impediments to sales. There remains a void in the sales process in that space between how sellers sell and how buyers buy.
Since its inception, the dichotomy between the product/seller/sale and the buyer's environment/buyer/buying process has been met with fallacious assumptions, including:
* if you get in the door and have a fac
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