“Ideas are the currency of difference makers. And closing is the most over-rated of all selling skills.”
– Steve Heston
“She’s a great closer!” “Nobody closes deals like ol’ Pat!”
In these times, those are not compliments, just as “you could sell ice to an Eskimo” is not a compliment — because a true sales pro wouldn’t sell someone something from which they won’t benefit. The more emphasis sales professionals have to place on closing skills, the less preparation, exploration and listening they’ve done.
The same is true of negotiations. If someone “wins” a negotiation at the expense of the other party, then no one really won.
In professional selling circa 2019 – 2029, we want to be measured by the problems we solve, the questions we ask. Loyalty is harder to come by and maintain than it’s ever been, so clever techniques, holding back information in negotiation and ignoring salient facts will, ultimately, lead to losing more clients than it ever wins.
Ideas.
Ideas are what moves the needle. Ideas on how to solve a problem, look at a problem from a different perspective or ideas on how to identify the problem behind the pain — ideas are the currency of difference-makers, proble-solvers and sales professionals who create loyal, long-lasting client relationships.
Whatever sweat we’re breaking trying to close a deal could have been avoided if we’d have simply put the effort into the parts of the deal that came at the beginning.
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