In my youth, I had a bit of an aversion to the word “sales”. Like so many others, I’d read Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” in high school. It is a book that seems to epitomize the sadness of the sales profession. Getting up every morning, only to spend your day trying to push things on people they don’t want or need.

I’ll get back to my own sales experience in a minute.

Giving sales a bad name

First, let’s ask the question: is “pushing” really what B2B sales is all about?

We have all had both good and bad in-store sales experiences. On the one hand, the pushy salesman – trying to corner us into buying something. Anything. On the other hand, a professional salesperson helping us find the product or solution that is right for us. Even if it means that we go shop with a competitor. Or not at all!

And more often than not, we find that – if the seller focuses on solving our problems, they earn our trust.

And with that, the right to our business.

Good B2B Sales is like that.

The role of the salesrep

In B2B sales, the job of the salesrep is to:

• find prospects you are likely to be able to help (Ideal Customer Profile),
• understand their biggest problems, and then
• structure a business proposition that leaves both the seller and the buyer better off.

It’s the beauty of value creation. And it is the salesperson that makes it all happen.

The power of product-led growth

Today we have many more ways to sell. And sales teams are expensive, so everyone is looking for the magic of user-led adoption and product-led growth.

But you need a place to start those fly-wheels. A way to get the first customers on board. An approach that helps you understand what they really, truly need.

And you may need to do “things that don’t scale” to get the flywheel started.

Today we might call it “customer discovery” rather than a sales meeting. But the aim is still the same. Learn about your prospects’ problems. Understand how you can help solve them. Define a value proposition and structure a deal that leaves everyone better off.

This is where it all begins.

Back to my own sales experience

And what happened to my own sales experience? My first job out of high school was a job in B2B IT sales. It was a challenging, but rewarding experience. And it taught me an important lesson.

When you work in B2B, nothing really happens until someone sells something.

So go find some prospects and help them solve their business problems. And make a sale in the process.