{"id":1953,"date":"2009-03-16T15:33:00","date_gmt":"2009-03-16T20:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/03\/the-downward-spiral-to-commoditization\/"},"modified":"2009-03-16T15:19:10","modified_gmt":"2009-03-16T20:19:10","slug":"the-downward-spiral-to-commoditization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/03\/the-downward-spiral-to-commoditization\/","title":{"rendered":"The Downward Spiral To Commoditization"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019re fans of Jeff Thull here at <em>The Hire Sense<\/em> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.salesopedia.com\/index.php\/sales-advice-articles3-10750\/168-sales-advice\/1818-driving-forces-of-commoditization\" target=\"_blank\">his latest article on the Salesopedia.com<\/a> only supports our belief.\u00a0 Anyone who has been in sales longer than a day has seen a sea change in the customer relationship over the past couple of years.\u00a0 Rapid commoditization is a huge problem even for \u201cunique\u201d solutions.<\/p>\n<p>Here is the crux of what is happening (emphasis mine):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Seeking competitive differentiation through increasing uniqueness and complexity can be a deadly double-edged sword, especially if <strong>building that differentiation exceeds the needs<\/strong> and understanding of your customers.\u00a0 You and your competition may believe you have a high-value product or service, but if your customers can\u2019t comprehend, calculate or measure that value, they see a sameness and will respond by ignoring the features they do not need or simply won\u2019t care.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Many sales hours are wasted building differentiation that may, or may not, be of vital interest to the prospect.\u00a0 This is also known as qualifying and it is in great demand in this economy.<\/p>\n<p>Thull provides 4 suggestions for handling the downward spiral to commoditization.\u00a0 Here is a taste of one suggestion:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In the complex sale, the search for a mythical buyer &#8211; \u201cthe decision maker\u201d &#8211; is fruitless. Today the majority of decisions, quality decisions, are the result of a consensus building effort \u2013 an effort that the best of sales professionals orchestrate with multiple people either deciding on or influencing the decision to buy. It is your responsibility to manage the issues of the transaction from multiple perspectives. You must connect your unique value offer to each individual in the context of his or her job responsibilities and their own self-interest. Using the same approach from middle management up through the C-Level will prove to be futile.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.salesopedia.com\/index.php\/sales-advice-articles3-10750\/168-sales-advice\/1818-driving-forces-of-commoditization\" target=\"_blank\">Read the entire thing\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019re fans of Jeff Thull here at The Hire Sense and his latest article on the Salesopedia.com only supports our belief.\u00a0 Anyone who has been in sales longer than a day has seen a sea change in the customer relationship over the past couple of years.\u00a0 Rapid commoditization is a huge problem even for \u201cunique\u201d solutions. Here is the crux of what is happening (emphasis mine): Seeking competitive differentiation through increasing uniqueness and complexity can be a deadly double-edged sword, especially if building that differentiation exceeds the needs and understanding of your customers.\u00a0 You and your competition may believe you have a high-value product or service, but if your customers&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/03\/the-downward-spiral-to-commoditization\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,5],"tags":[1259,1260,1262,1263,1261,258],"class_list":["post-1953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sales-techniques","category-trends","tag-commoditization","tag-competitive-differentiation","tag-information-age-selling","tag-recession-sale","tag-selling-in-this-economy","tag-selling-value"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-vv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3194,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2016\/06\/collaboration-kills-commoditization\/","url_meta":{"origin":1953,"position":0},"title":"Collaboration Kills Commoditization","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"June 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a trend developing in the sales world that has caught my eye over the past couple years.\u00a0 This Sales & Marketing Management article opens with a terrific summary of what I have experienced (emphasis mine): According to Harvard Business Review, \u201cTraditional sales methods are increasingly unproductive. In fact,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Generations&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Generations","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/generations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Hammer-Egg.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Hammer-Egg.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Hammer-Egg.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52194,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2019\/07\/1-important-change-to-prospecting\/","url_meta":{"origin":1953,"position":1},"title":"1 Important Change To Prospecting","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"July 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/KnqadkJmQCI Has anything changed more in recent years than prospecting?\u00a0 Cold calling a business phone number to sell a potential prospect is a marginal task, at best, today.\u00a0 Email is a similar task with similar results.\u00a0 Salespeople who do their own prospecting need an advantage, a shift, in their approach.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Techniques&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Techniques","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-techniques\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/KnqadkJmQCI\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1684,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/07\/the-evil-known-as-reverse-auctions\/","url_meta":{"origin":1953,"position":2},"title":"The Evil Known As Reverse Auctions","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"July 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Those two words should make every salesperson shudder.\u00a0 I remember when we first encountered the phrase about 5-6 years ago at one of our customers.\u00a0 Their top salesperson's top account is a local company that shall remain anonymous (retail giant with a bullseye for a logo).\u00a0 When this salesperson first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Techniques&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Techniques","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-techniques\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1153,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/08\/value-differentiation\/","url_meta":{"origin":1953,"position":3},"title":"Value Differentiation","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 28, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"We work with our clients in a variety of levels from simply assessing candidates to full-fledged sales management.\u00a0 For one of our clients, we are hosting their weekly sale conference call for their geographically-dispersed sales team.\u00a0 We are building this team by recruiting salespeople and a sales manager to take\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Management&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1992,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/04\/storytellers\/","url_meta":{"origin":1953,"position":4},"title":"Storytellers","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"April 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"This sales-focused article from the Salesopedia.com website discusses the power of telling stories when selling: Think about it: If you were in the audience for another sales person's sales presentation, which kind would you rather listen to: one in which the presenter simply recited a list of features and benefits,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Techniques&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Techniques","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-techniques\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1608,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/06\/presentations-are-security-blankets\/","url_meta":{"origin":1953,"position":5},"title":"Presentations Are Security Blankets","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"June 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Salesopedia.com offers an article from Jeff Thull discussing sales presentations.\u00a0 This topic is a tricky one for salespeople and managers - most view presentations as a good thing...a chance to discuss your offering with a prospective customer.\u00a0 But here is the \"trap\" that can occur in an ill-timed presentation: Look\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Techniques&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Techniques","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-techniques\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1953"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1955,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1953\/revisions\/1955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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