Consider this... there are plenty of people who buy stuff all day long without a salesperson (no, cashiers don't count as salespeople). On the other hand, no sale ever occurred without a product/service and a buyer. Remove the buyer, and there's no sale. Remove the salesperson, and there may still be a sale, or maybe not. But you need to realize that as a salesperson, you're non-essential to the transaction. The deal is not between you and the customer, but between your product/service and your customer. You're just a facilitator.

No legitimate sale ever occurred until a customer was ready to buy the product/service at the price offered. But surely salespeople are more than just price negotiators, right? What exactly is it, then, that salespeople actually do?

If the customer were completely ready to buy, they would have just placed the order. So the fact that you're "selling" means that they still have some barriers on their end. Odds are that many of them have very little to do with you and your product, but with things like their internal politics, fear over making a bad decision and it affecting their job, competing budgetary considerations, etc. Your job is not to sell them anything, but to help them identify those barriers that they may not even yet be consciously aware of and guide them through the process of eliminating them.

That's why fundamentally, pulling is a better approach than pushing. That's not to say that pushing never works, but pulling generally works better, and most importantly, leaves the customer feeling good about their decision. Rather than push information about your product onto the customer, rather than drown them in a flood of features and benefits, rather than throwing everything you've got at them and hoping something sticks -- instead ask open-ended questions that help them identify those barriers and how they're going to overcome them. Get them to tell you how they are going to buy your product.

This week, we are honoured to have 3 renowned guests from Sipera Systems from US in town to visit some of our resellers and go on sales calls with our sales person.

Mr Paul Henry, one of the world’s foremost global information security and computer forensic experts, with more than 20 years experience managing security initiatives for Global 2000 enterprises and government organizations worldwide, is currently holding an advisory role in Sipera Systems.

Mr John Firnett, Vice President of Asia Sales and Business Development, has 18 years of experience in international sales and business development. He had also previously held high management posts in companies like Agilent Technologies, Syndesis Ltd & Subex Ltd. John also has an extensive experience of more than 15 years in building & managing channel partner relationships.

Mr Drew Bloczynski, Senior Director of Technology, is one of the top ranked sales telecom sales engineer with expertise in packet networks, packet voice control, and network management systems. He is experienced and well equipped with the technical knowledge in the Sipera's technology.