As I continue my series, here’s a quote from The New Strategic Selling, by Robert B. Miller, Stephen E. Heiman, Tad Tuleja and J.W. Marriott: “If you are to be successful in strategic selling, you’ll have to leave the old-time huckster philosophy where it belongs — in the past — and learn how to dig for a real fit between what you have and what your customers need.”

The authors provide the following common-sense advice:

1. The only competitive strategy that can bring you success is a strategy in which you keep your eye on the customer.
2. A Hollywood agent’s advice to his actor client was, “We’re in Tinseltown. If you can fake sincerity, you’ve got it made.” The authors’ response is, “Maybe in Tinseltown, but not in the world of selling. Not if you want to build a reputation for credibility — which, as we’ve said, is the one thing you cannot do without.”
3. By establishing low-pressure relationships with numerous buying influences, you’ll be positioning yourself to capitalize on them when they’re ready to buy.

If you’re responsible for business development, is this how you think and behave? If you’re an owner/CEO or a sales manager, is this the advice you offer to your new-business developers?