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"I Thought I Missed the Party": Graham Hawkins on Social Selling
Podcast

"I Thought I Missed the Party": Graham Hawkins on Social Selling

The Wingman podcast

Brad Barker and Graham Hawkins
The Wingman Podcast, 2020
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Editorial Rating

9

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Recommendation

Graham Hawkins, the CEO of SalesTribe and the author of The Future of the Sales Profession, went in search of perspective from buyers. Their input helped him develop a radical new approach to sales that fits today’s ubiquitous disruption. With information at your buyer’s fingertips through the internet, the “value added” you provide has to be domain expertise and a delightful buying experience. Brad Barker, host of The Wingman Podcast, talks with Hawkins about selling in the 2020s.

Summary

Client “pull” sales rather than “vendor push” sales are the future.

Success in sales requires solving problems for customers. Selling hasn’t changed in 130 years, with “quotas, territories and commission” guiding management, along with the attitude that nothing matters except making the sale. Today, clients have instant internet access to information about your product. They can look up vendor recommendations. Buyers’ intensified access to information is roiling sales departments. In this data-dense environment, your old approaches don’t help buyers, and they’re too busy to have time for anything less than real value.

Buyers may already prefer a vendor they discovered through their own research and could be meeting with you only for the sake of getting a comparison. To win the sale, you must be more sophisticated than in the past. 

The way senior leaders and sales managers measure, direct and reward salespeople is also an obstacle to change. The old idea that a certain number of calls leads to a certain number of meetings, and then leads to a certain number of sales, is dead. The bottom line: Sell to customers...

About the Podcast

Brad Barker is the host of The Wingman Podcast. Graham Hawkins is CEO of SalesTribe and author of The Future of the Sales Profession.

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    J. C. 2 years ago
    The combined effort of a business leader's intentionality and customer experience is crucial for achieving impactful sales in business. This is my takeaway from this great book!
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    V. R. 2 years ago
    Graham Hawkins emphasizes the shift towards client-driven sales, stressing the need for sellers to be deep domain experts who provide real value. Success lies in aligning marketing and sales, adapting to the digital landscape, and delivering a delightful buying experience. Hawkins advocates for a new approach that recognizes buyers' advanced information access, urging sales professionals to be thought contributors and engage on platforms where their customers are present.