Good old-fashioned selling is out of fashion. More than that. Selling is almost as off trend as a long playing vinyl record, a fax machine or a pair of 1990’s Nikes.

In between then and now the internet changed many things. Today in the age of wearable devices the information asymmetry  –  meaning that the sellers had all the info and the buyers had much less  – is on the way out.

Caveat Emptor – let the buyer beware – is a phrase from a sad old time when Google could not help us find out where the best/most advanced/cheapest solution lies.

Ask yourself – or anyone – this simple question. Do you like being sold to? Bet your bottom dollar that the answer is “no”. In sales we are trained to welcome no’s in that crazy numbers game that leads to the statistically magical yes. But this “No to being sold to”  is a flat no and it comes from everyone , because, as it turns out , we really don’t like it.

Ask though if people mind being in a conversation where someone is asking about their needs and they will give you a “yes” – particularly if they need to decide which complicated piece of technology they should buy.

The real question is why did we ever think anything else.

And so Inside Sales, Technical Sales and Sales Executives in a technology company should rewrite the Sales Playbook to make sure that in every situation you ask yourself 3 very simple questions which we summarise as the 3 Ps: Pain, Purpose & People.

1. What is on your customer’s mind? PAINS

2. What do you want to do ( in the Sales Cycle)?  PURPOSE

3. What do you want them to think and feel  about you ? PEOPLE

That way every thought, plan and conversation will be focused around the customer and then the selling has a good chance of taking care of itself.