Gone is the era of the stereotypical salesperson who focuses on selling as fast as possible, regardless of the customers’ needs. Gone are the days of the “top secret” sales contest where the winners keep their jobs. Gone is the idea that the sales force can compensate by sheer “salesmanship” or by trying to show some value-added goodies that would swing a deal. Gone are the days when the ideal salesman looked like Clark Kent transformed into Superman – muscular, a winning smile, six-feet tall.

In today’s world where technology that makes information available 24/7, the reality is that customers just don’t need salespeople – not the way they have in the past. Traditionally, salespeople have always done two things for their customers: communicate information and sell, NOW. These two basic functions no longer provide value.

Yet for many, these functions – an ability to communicate information and close deals – remain their core approach, making them virtually obsolete. As a salesperson, how do you define your job? If you believe that your job is to close the deal and give information, then you should ask yourself if you and your team have the ability to change.

Today’s salesperson has a job profile that can be defined in three simple functions:

  1. The responsiblity for helping customers select the right product or service
  2. Helping a customer buy
  3. Converting customers to clients

So, how do you start? It takes one essential first step; every day when you get out of bed, and several times during the day, say to yourself, “My job is not to sell, but to help my customers find the exact product or service that meets their needs and in doing so, make sure their experience is positive.”

It’s about adopting the right attitude every single day. When you get up each morning you have a choice – be positive or negative. Each day, make it your mantra; say it, repeat it, and come to believe it. Then you can help your colleagues change their mindset as well and you will have started your journey on the road to winning.

Once you embrace this precept, you can prepare for the constant change that we can expect every day in the new millennium of sales. Remember, “A winner always finds a way; a loser finds an excuse.”

You can read more about the definition of the New Salesperson in my book, “Who Stopped The Sale?”