Having already conducted multiple company Sales Kickoff Events this month, the 2014 trend is becoming clear: Reps are getting better, yet it's getting harder to sell.

  

It's like climbing a mountain top but now with equipment that is better, lighter, sturdier and easier to use. It's still a tough and challenging mountain yet teams can get bogged down even with apparently improved tools, approaches and strategies.

  

It's a problem worthy of note and insidious in its impact on teams that may go quarters unaware of threats that can undermine their year.

With due respect to the time-tested 4 P's of Marketing (Product, Place, Price and Promotion), it's time to lay out and articulate the 4 P's of Selling, particularly for business-to-business enterprise selling environments. This is especially important today given the mix of young Millennials and seasoned veteran salespeople in today's sales organizations. Let us reset on common ground with an eye toward the changing sales landscape and areas of shifting sand.

  

These 4 P's (Planning, Prospecting, Presenting and Proposing) move along the well-worn spectrum of the selling process yet today it is necessary to highlight the critical junctures and pivot points that must be skillfully understood and navigated in complex enterprise selling. 

  

Anything less than crisp and tight management here leads to stalled, missed, or lost opportunities. As we're seeing the blurring of lines and undisciplined approaches in a variety of sales organizations, it's time to reset and highlight marketplace dynamics and these essential disciplines.

Click here to read the full article

42 Rules to Increase Sales Effectiveness 2nd Edition, 2013, by Michael Griego

  

This popular book provides the keys to sales excellence in today's challenging world. These tools have been taught to thousands of profession salespeople, sales managers and executives from Silicon Valley startups to global Fortune 500 companies.