The Contemporary Selling Philosophy
By Waye Leong

Why do people buy? People buy when there is a need and also a supply to their needs. People’s buying behaviour is changing as they are becoming more sophisticated and having more alternatives that they have never had before. They are being bombarded with advertisements that offer all kinds of products and services, and even substitutes that offer lower prices!

This is one way consumers are changing today. They are looking for people who are not just there to sell them something, but who are there to understand their needs and help them achieve their objectives. Alternatively, the changing trend in satisfying consumers needs forces ‘selling’ to change in some ways so as to meet their needs and requirements.

The typical ideology of selling is merely telling people about your product or service, what its features are, the advantages and benefits, why people should have it, and ultimately ask them to buy it. This is the method used by some sales people today – which is causing them to fail. People are seeking the experiential buying experience, where there is an emotional connection throughout the whole process in buying between the buyer and seller. Focus on creating value for people rather than just selling products or services to them is the exact experience that people are seeking today!

As customers become increasingly sophisticated, sales strategies need to be modified accordingly. Customer-focused selling is an attempt to tap into customers' minds, find out what they are thinking and why, what their problems are, what do they want and how to help them meet their needs. Besides that, there is also a need in focusing on how to deliver as much benefit as possible towards the customer's objectives. Leave your objectives, your sales goals, and your quotas at the door. Instead, think of helping customers find solutions that will help them achieve their objectives.

Why do people fail to sell? Selling, like any other job, needs to be approached systematically and the best approach for improving ability is the KSAH approach. Learn the right KNOWLEDGE, develop the correct SKILLS, build the proper ATTITUDE and ensure that those skills are applied over and over until they become a HABIT. To be successful in selling, it is important to combine the knowledge of the market, your product / service and your company with the prospects. From there, apply the right attitude and positive approach to problems, and develop selling skills of professional standards. Finally, success in selling requires that the skills are practiced, drilled and rehearsed until they become an automatic process in our daily routine.

Always remember to tell people how good you are, and give them reason as to why they should evaluate your product as well as they should. Most of the time we want people to give us good comments, but we fail to "sell" our product. To do so, we have to know absolutely what, how and why we do what we do!

Last updated - 30 December 2004