History of Professional Selling
1870 – Insurance Begins Role Specialization with Hunters & Farmers
Sales have existed since we were cavemen haggling. Let's go back to 1752,
when "Benjamin Franklin formed America's oldest, continually operational
insurance company." Insurance and a lot of home goods were subscription-
based at the time. A sales representative would clinch the deal and then
regular in-person visits to collect monthly payments. Successful salespeople
eventually ran out of time to prospect or sell since they spent all of their time
collecting monthly payments. The insurance business established role
specialization from an Account Executive/Hunter and Account
Manager/Farmer perspective to address this misallocation of time and
resources. "In the 1870s, the insurance industry invented the terms 'hunter'
and 'farmer' to designate 'producers' (those who wrote new business) and
'collectors' (those who collected weekly premiums)." This new sales structure
was an immediate hit, and it swiftly expanded to companies other than
insurance. The first breakthroughs in the history of professional selling are
role specialization and process enhancement.
1924 – IBM & Professional Selling
Between 1849 and 1882, 180,000 Chinese immigrants arrived in the United
States to assist in constructing the transcontinental railroad. With these
Chinese employees came snake oil, a game-changing product! Doctors and
traveling salesmen, including Clark Stanley (the original snake oil salesman),
began aggressively and falsely selling "miracle treatments" across America.
When it comes to the impression of the public sales profession, we still have
to deal with this stigma.
Because of snake oil salespeople in the early 1900s, the sales profession was
viewed as an unethical and unprofessional vocation. Fortunately for the
profession, Thomas J. Watson Sr., a hotshot salesperson, had just obtained a
new job. Thomas aimed to turn International Business Machines, his newly
renamed firm, into a sales powerhouse.
Thomas grasped the following key points: 1) As the market grows more
competitive, a sales force becomes a competitive advantage. 2) The
competitive advantage is more sustained if the sales team is well-trained,
educated, and professional. Thomas and IBM contributed to the advancement
of the sales profession by putting formal sales training programs in place,
using songs, tournaments, and novel compensation schemes to motivate
salespeople, and to recruit the finest and brightest right out of college is a
priority.
1925 – 1936: The Psychology of Selling & Dale Carnegie (Tactical
Selling)
E.K. Strong published the Psychology of Selling in 1925. Strong created
several long-lasting sales principles, such as features and benefits,
addressing objections, and inquiry style. He demonstrated that selling is a
complex skill that can be taught, learned, and studied. The success of IBM's
sales force and the discoveries in The Psychology of Selling piqued the
curiosity of organizations, entrepreneurs, and authors in the sales profession.
Dale Carnegie was one of these businessmen. Dale Carnegie rose to
prominence as a best-selling book and business consultant. Through
concepts like AIDCA, which "details how the seller works through the five
steps to acquire a purchase commitment," he helped advance the sales
industry. Attention, Interest, Desire, Conviction, and Action (AIDCA) are
acronyms meaning Attention, Interest, Desire, Conviction, and Action.
E.K. Strong and Dale Carnegie contributed to the advancement of the sales
profession by the procedure of closing sales was repeatable, demonstrating
that selling is a skill that can be learned, studied, and mastered, using
research to clarify and express hazy sales notions, and creating a playbook
for tactical and relationship selling
1988: SPIN Selling & Solution Selling
SPIN Selling evolved tactical elements such as open-ended questioning into
Solution Selling or Consultative Selling. "Customers will only be driven to
acquire anything if they identify a need" is the central concept of SPIN Selling.
And, because some prospects aren't even conscious of a problem, the
questions you ask are critical. This book reveals a vital sales process that
shows four sorts of questions that, when asked in order, dramatically boost
the chances of a lead becoming a sale."
Solution Selling was a cutting-edge sales approach that excelled at selling
complex products and services. Instead of shoving the product down the
customer's throat regardless of need, the sales representative would ask a
questions to determine if the product is a good fit. SPIN Selling ushered us
into the era of solution sales and taught us how to navigate complex sales
processes.
2011: Predictable Revenue
Aaron Ross recognized the need for more role specialization in the sales
industry while working at Salesforce.com. Because of inefficiencies in the
process, insurance companies specialized in sales positions 141 years ago.
According to Aaron, account Executives/Closers were spending
disproportionate amounts of time prospecting for leads rather than closing
new business. Following this realization, the Sales Development Rep was
created as a new specialist sales function (SDR).
Each of the three essential components of this sales process (Lead
Generation, Closing, and Account Management) has its specialist
representative. Aaron advanced the sales profession by demonstrating that
sales growth is driven by qualified lead growth. And professional lead growth
results from a sales development rep responsible for locating and qualifying
leads.
2015: The SaaS Sales Stack & Sales Hackers
SaaS prospecting automation businesses are beginning to extend their
footprint truly. Reps now have customized cloud sales apps for each of their
workflow processes. Over the next few years, the Sales SaaS Stack will
become so powerful that it will leave "old school" sales professionals in the
dust.
