| Summary: |
The businesses we sell to, the problems we solve, and
the solutions we offer have evolved tremendously in the
past 50 years. This raises a few questions: “Can you, as a
salesperson, a manager, or an organization, effectively
compete in today’s market?†The fact is, a high percentage
of salespeople and the organizations they work for haven’t
kept pace with this evolution.
We’re living and working in a time I’ve come to refer
to as “the third era of selling.†Understanding the history
of this evolution is an important factor to moving forward
into Era 3. So let me step back with you for a moment.
Several years ago, I was asked to teach a course in
Instructional Design, at the University of Minnesota, as it
relates to “Sales Training.†As the instructor, you are
obliged—in any introductory course—to work a short
“History of This Discipline†speech into the first class
session. As I surveyed what literature there was on the
subject, I found that sales, unlike most other functions
in the modern corporation, didn’t really have much of a
“history.†At least, nobody studied and wrote about selling
in the same way that they studied and wrote about
Marketing, Logistics, Quality, Operations, or General
Management. Even Purchasing has a longer academic
pedigree than Sales.
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