There is a trend developing in the sales world that has caught my eye over the past couple years. This Sales & Marketing Management article<\/a> opens with a terrific summary of what I have experienced (emphasis mine):<\/p>\n

According to Harvard Business Review<\/em>, \u201cTraditional sales methods are increasingly unproductive. In fact, aggressive sales styles and product-focused selling are now so outdated that some customers are simply refusing to meet with salespeople using these techniques<\/strong>. In this situation, focusing on product features in the sales meeting is a waste of everyone\u2019s time. In fact, there is plenty of evidence that high-performing sales people are those who listen and respond, who are flexible, and who think in terms of developing a solution to an emerging customer problem.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That entire paragraph is spot on. The \u201caggressive sales styles\u201d they reference is the High D (Dominance). These salespeople have a driven, aggressive, even confrontational style. This style is often considered the classic sales hunter style, but that stereotype is changing.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s why \u2013 the High D style has done well in the past when they were able to control information (product info, tech specs, etc.). The High D\u2019s were able to leverage that information for meetings and commitments from prospects. Today, that information is on the web so the need is for salespeople who have the ability to connect with prospects to get in front of them. This is not the High D\u2019s strength.<\/p>\n
So where is it going? Back to the article:<\/p>\n
What customers increasingly want from their vendors are collaborators.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The author goes on to acutely describe the possible definitions of the collaboration. This collaborative approach will eventually fit in nicely with the upcoming Millennial generation. That generation, in general terms, has a desire to work on projects\/tasks in a completely collaborative way. As the Millennials move up the proverbial sales ladder, the collaborative culture will become prominent in most sales departments.<\/p>\n
The closing paragraph from the article wraps it up nicely:<\/p>\n
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Order taking may make your salesperson\u2019s job easier, but typically what your customer really wants is a trusted partner. Collaborating with your customers builds relationships, adds value, and helps further entrench your key strategic accounts. It helps keep the competition at bay. And, it keeps your offering from being commoditized.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
More About Selling Styles<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is a trend developing in the sales world that has caught my eye over the past couple years. 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, aggressive sales styles and product-focused selling are now so outdated that some customers are simply refusing to meet with salespeople using these techniques. In this situation, focusing on product features in the sales meeting is a waste of everyone\u2019s time. In fact, there is plenty of evidence that high-performing sales people are those who listen and respond, who are flexible,… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47016,"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":[29,9],"tags":[340,267,273,1183],"class_list":["post-3194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-generations","category-sales-techniques","tag-communication-style","tag-sales-approach","tag-sales-trend","tag-selling-style"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-Pw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1520,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/04\/relationships-drive-sales\/","url_meta":{"origin":3194,"position":0},"title":"Relationships Drive Sales","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"April 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Selling has always been about relationships, but it is becoming more significant in today's world.\u00a0 According to a recent study referenced in this Selling Power.com article - The Relationship Imperative - product superiority is not as big a driver in customers' decision-making process. \"Product superiority used to be a big\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sales Techniques"","block_context":{"text":"Sales Techniques","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-techniques\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1928,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/03\/down-25\/","url_meta":{"origin":3194,"position":1},"title":"Down 25%","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"March 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"That is the number I continue to hear from salespeople in a variety of markets when I ask them how are sales?\u00a0 That is a staggering number when you think about it.\u00a0 Unfortunately, those are the times we live in for now. I continue to believe that the best method\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Economy"","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2294,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2010\/03\/introverts-make-great-salespeople\/","url_meta":{"origin":3194,"position":2},"title":"Introverts Make Great Salespeople","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"March 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"You heard me right, that is an indirect quote from this Inc.com article.\u00a0 This topic comes up often in our sales hiring activities as the conventional wisdom is that extroverts make better salespeople.\u00a0 Not true.\u00a0 Successful salespeople have a wide variety of abilities that go far beyond their communication style.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Communication"","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":811,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/04\/the-need-to-cross-sell-accounts\/","url_meta":{"origin":3194,"position":3},"title":"The Need To Cross-Sell Accounts","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"April 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Team-based selling has become a dominant trend in the sales world due in large part to the information flowing through the Internet.\u00a0 Prospects expect knowledgeable salespeople to call upon them - the basic information they can (and probably have) learn from your website.\u00a0 ManageSmarter.com offers this article - Cross-Selling Takes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sales Management"","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":377,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/10\/a-good-time-to-be-in-sales\/","url_meta":{"origin":3194,"position":4},"title":"A Good Time To Be In Sales","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"October 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"This article - The Hottest Industries For Sales Jobs - comes from the daily SM&M Magazine enewsletter. The market demand for salespeople is strong right now (we can attest to that fact) and is going to remain high: The trend for hiring shows no signs of stopping, according to Cindy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1621,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/06\/the-key-to-sales-retention\/","url_meta":{"origin":3194,"position":5},"title":"The Key To Sales Retention","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"June 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Listen, according to this Selling Power article: \"One of the mistakes companies have made in the past is that they make decisions without real input from the people who are most affected by the hiring decisions,\" says Opton. \"Companies need to realize that they always have two sets of customers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Retention"","block_context":{"text":"Retention","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/retention\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Hammer-Egg.png?fit=560%2C315","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3194","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=3194"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47017,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3194\/revisions\/47017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}