{"id":23153,"date":"2019-03-22T12:34:04","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T17:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/?p=23153"},"modified":"2019-05-16T13:44:21","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T18:44:21","slug":"the-shrinking-attention-span-vs-relationship-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2019\/03\/the-shrinking-attention-span-vs-relationship-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shrinking Attention Span vs. Relationship Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"boldgrid-section\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-md-12 col-xs-12 col-sm-12\">\n<h3 class=\"\">Here is a problem I have seen developing in sales over the past 10 years &#8211; shorter attention spans in salespeople having to deal with longer sales cycles.<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\">First, some background from a quick <a href=\"https:\/\/playbook.amanet.org\/training-articles-short-attention-span-affect-work-life\/?utm_source=BWN&amp;utm_medium=affiliate&amp;utm_campaign=bwn-enewsletters&amp;utm_content=bwn-enewsletters&amp;pcode=XC4N&amp;BCCarticle_ID=16396&amp;v=html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">American Management Association<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"\">\n<p class=\"\">Whenever I teach students, I tell them, \u201cYour chance of being successful has gone up exponentially because all you\u2019ve got to do now is actually try to pay attention for more than five minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"\">Ok, that is disconcerting.&nbsp; You can see where this is going.&nbsp; The integration of the Internet into our lives has provided prospects with a unique ability to research your company, and more importantly, your solutions.&nbsp; We often talk about how prospects approach your sales team today.&nbsp; The prospects have probably been to your website, at a minimum, and have pursued social media information regarding your company and solution.&nbsp; The prospects are well-informed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The control of information used to be a tool of the salesperson but no longer.&nbsp; Instead, the salesperson has to focus on being a guide to the prospect.&nbsp; The Internet&#8217;s ability to dispense information has moved many transactional sales to automated orders.&nbsp; Think Amazon here:&nbsp; people do their own searching, determine the &#8220;best&#8221; solution, and then place their order without any human interaction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Salespeople now have to nurture these types of sales.&nbsp; More often, they have to move towards complex sales and their longer sales cycles.&nbsp; There is a certain type of salesperson who struggles with this long-term, relationship sale&#8230;the classic <a href=\"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/2006\/06\/strange-ceo-behavior\/\">High-D<\/a> hunter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">High D&#8217;s are quick-pace, aggressive and, well, not relationship-driven.&nbsp; They are task-driven and short which makes them powerful in new business development roles.&nbsp; It does not make them powerful at relationship sales.&nbsp; If more sales are moving to a relationship base, what will happen with these classic hunters?<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">I think we are observing a fundamental shift in sales.&nbsp; The classic hunter is either adapting to a modified hunter with relationship-sales focus or they are slowly exiting the sales world.&nbsp; I am seeing this first-hand during phone screens and during face-to-face interviews.&nbsp; The High D hunters are learning to temper their drive to mold into the modern day sales world.&nbsp; Those that successfully make this transformation will survive this new world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"btn btn-raised btn-pill btn-color-2\" href=\"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/assessing\/\"><strong>Test Drive an Assessment<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is a problem I have seen developing in sales over the past 10 years &#8211; shorter attention spans in salespeople having to deal with longer sales cycles. First, some background from a quick American Management Association: Whenever I teach students, I tell them, \u201cYour chance of being successful has gone up exponentially because all you\u2019ve got to do now is actually try to pay attention for more than five minutes.\u201d Ok, that is disconcerting.&nbsp; You can see where this is going.&nbsp; The integration of the Internet into our lives has provided prospects with a unique ability to research your company, and more importantly, your solutions.&nbsp; We often talk about&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2019\/03\/the-shrinking-attention-span-vs-relationship-sales\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,5,1],"tags":[903,267,56],"class_list":["post-23153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sales-techniques","category-trends","category-uncategorized","tag-communicating","tag-sales-approach","tag-trend"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-61r","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":882,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/05\/sales-traits-series-attention-to-detail\/","url_meta":{"origin":23153,"position":0},"title":"Sales Traits Series &#8211; Attention To Detail","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"May 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Ah, this week we look at a trait that tends to be foreign to many salespeople. But that need is changing as the market factors become more complex. If your sale typically includes a complex, detailed offering, this trait is definitely one to measure in all candidates. Attention To Detail\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Aptitudes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Aptitudes","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/aptitudes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":802,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/04\/sales-manager-compensation-for-retention\/","url_meta":{"origin":23153,"position":1},"title":"Sales Manager Compensation for Retention?","author":"Mike Cardinal","date":"April 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent conversation brought to mind the responsibility of sales management for the development of both existing and new sales people. Why? Retention. As the employment market has shifted to an \"employee market\" - at least for talented sales professionals - sales management needs to make plans to retain sales\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Compensation&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Compensation","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/compensation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1193,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/09\/sales-traits-series-correcting-others\/","url_meta":{"origin":23153,"position":2},"title":"Sales Traits Series &#8211; Correcting Others","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"September 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Another managerial trait this week that we measure when assessing sales manager candidates.\u00a0 A critical aspect of successful sales management is the manager's ability to hold salespeople accountable.\u00a0 At times that can be like herding cats, but it is still mission critical to developing a top-notch sales team. Correcting OthersThis\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Aptitudes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Aptitudes","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/aptitudes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1216,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/10\/tales-from-the-sales-manager-crypt\/","url_meta":{"origin":23153,"position":3},"title":"Tales From The Sales Manager Crypt","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"October 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"We have encountered many moronic sales management moves that lead to a dysfunctional sales team.\u00a0 Needless to say, this ManageSmarter.com article - How to Ruin a Sales Force - caught my attention.\u00a0 The bulleted article is well worth the quick read, but let me call out a couple points I\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":319,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/09\/sales-aptitudes-series-handling-rejection\/","url_meta":{"origin":23153,"position":4},"title":"Sales Traits Series &#8211; Handling Rejection","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"September 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"We're going to start a short blog series on some specific sales aptitudes that predict success in a majority of sales roles. Our first one may be the most important aptitude - handling rejection. Sales is overflowing with rejection. I know because getting \"no's\" was a hallmark of my sales\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Aptitudes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Aptitudes","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/aptitudes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":409,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/11\/the-sales-manager-factor\/","url_meta":{"origin":23153,"position":5},"title":"The Sales Manager Factor","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"November 1, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"It seems we come across this issue frequently so it merits some attention. The scenario is this - a company hires a strong salesperson and they fail within a short amount of time. The first question that is usually raised is why did we hire this person? Obviously, they were\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":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Stopwatch.png?fit=560%2C315","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23153","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=23153"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43398,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23153\/revisions\/43398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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