Innovation is a hot topic these days. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, particularly in selling. There’s a lot going on in selling. Sales 2.0 generates a lot of discussion. There are interesting tools in the Sales 2.0 category that help improve effectiveness and efficiency in selling. In the past year, there has been hype around Provocative Selling. I’ve taken the view that this is just another approach to consultative, customer focused, or solutions oriented selling. Social media is changing the way we engage with customers, raising the bar on their expectations of us.
However, with all the talk going on, when you peel everything back, have things really changed? Customers still avoid wanting to speak with sales people. We hear too much about sales people pushing products, not understanding customer problems and creating value, and the list goes on. Often, it seems to me, we are having the same conversation repeatedly. Sometimes we change the word or methodology, sometimes we add technology or tools so we can do this stuff at the speed of light, sometimes we disguise it with new buzzwords, but somehow it seems that things aren’t changing.
Outside the Sales 2.0 tools, are we innovating in sales? Is the profession changing? Is the change sustainable? Or are we continuing to do the same thing, just wrapping it in different language or leveraging technology to stay stuck in a rut.
On Tuesday, January 26 at 7:00 PM Eastern, let discuss Innovation In Sales. This is the second in our series of Sales Smack discussions. Join Jim Keenan, Anthony Iannarino, Skip Anderson, Tibor Shanto and others to share your views. Let’s figure out where we have the greatest opportunity to Innovate.
Visit us as SalesSmack to get the details and to link to the discussion. See you there!
Innovation can be as simple as seeing the same landscape with a different perspective. Far too often my sense is we focus a lot of time and effort on putting together something totally new just to innovate and own it while ignoring a more simplistic approach of taking something old and revising, rearranging it. Of course bottom line innovation should be all about securing the desired results in a better more efficient and effective manner.
Great points Leanne, I think we “over-complicate” innovation and lose site of the simple buty high impact things that can be done every day. Thanks for the great reminder.