Strategic Selling

We all have to learn our professions and hopefully we all continue learning  throughout our careers.  During the process of planning out what I was going to blog about I thought back to how I learned the process of sales and business development.

I can say without hesitation that the best piece of learning that I have ever had is “Strategic Selling” by Miller Heiman. This type of training may not be applicable to all types of selling but it has been very worthwhile in my career.

What is Strategic Selling and why is it strategic? Strategy is defined as the science and art of military command exercised to meet the enemy in combat under advantageous conditions. The word originated in ancient Greece with a clear military context but it is applicable in business today three millennia later.

Like a general in a military campaign, a sales leader or organization never has enough time, sales people and other resources to be able to engage with every possible customer. It is therefore much more important to be very focused in your business development activities. You need to be able to weed out prospects who will never buy anything, prospects who for whatever reason will not be receptive to your solution.

The key concept that I took from the Strategic Selling training is understanding that the process is about putting you in the right place, with the right people at the right time. Once you have done this, the process becomes tactical rather than strategic.

I firmly believe that creating the right strategy for you and your organization is the most important thing that you can do to lay the groundwork for future success. Future posts will continue to explore the process of strategic selling, how to do it properly and how it can apply to your particular sales situation.


Dave Speed