It is spring as Professor Albert Einstein and his assistant walk across the Princeton University campus. The shy assistant asks the famous physicist if the test he just gave his physics graduate students isn’t the same test he gave last year to this same group of students? “Yes,” Einstein answers, “it is the same test to the same students.”

The assistant asks dumbfounded, “How could you give the same test to the same students two years in a row?” “Well,” Einstein answers slowly, “the answers have changed.”

What about your business? Has business changed for you and are the sales programs that worked so well for you in the past not working so well today? 

Recently, we’ve seen news stories about companies such as Target, Microsoft, IBM, Best Buy, Family Dollar, Caterpillar, GameStop, and Nordstrom planning closures or layoffs. Think their business is changing?

Are you making any changes in your company due to the continued changes in your business environment? One business owner told me he hoped business would improve. Well, business will only improve for you when you improve your business.

In today’s highly competitive marketplace, the sales answers have changed.

– Your customers have changed the way they wish to do business.

– The way your customers purchase products and services has changed.

– The way your customer wants to deal with a salesperson has evolved.

– The balance of who is in control of the sale has changed.

– Are you aware of how your customers want to do business today?

Progressive Insurance and its TV spokesperson “Flo” know what customers want. Between 1996 and 2005, Progressive Insurance grew an average of 17 percent per year, from $3.4 billion to $14 billion in sales.

The Harvard Review wrote, “Progressive’s success is maddeningly simple: It out-operated its competitors, it simply took their customers away.”

Have you adapted to all of the changes in the business world, or are you using the same sales playbook from the past?

In the wonderful past, you the salesperson had all of the power. You had all of the pertinent information about the product or service you offered and knew far more than the buyer. You had control.

Today, the buyers know as much, or to your embarrassment, more than you do about what you are selling and how it compares in the marketplace. They are in control.

Does this mean the end to the art of selling? Yes and No. 

Yes, it will mean the eventual end to the old way of selling. Misleading people, using high-pressure techniques, outright lying, being dishonest or mistrustful, not being totally upfront with the customers, and not knowing what the customers want as an outcome of their purchase will kill the sale and destroy a business. If you don’t differentiate yourself from the competition you will lose the sale.

No, it won’t be the end for the sales professionals that do it the right way. Salespeople that are trustworthy become a partner to the buyers in the sales process, being more of a trusted adviser than a pushy salesperson. Using honesty, integrity, ingenuity, and determining what the customers want as an outcome to this purchase will move you to the front of the line in gaining their trust and their business. Differentiate yourself from your competitors.

If you want to grow your business, just remember, the sales answers have changed. Have yours?        

James McEntire is founder and owner of JM Sales Consulting, a company that says it provides training and coaching for those who want to excel in sales. Contact him at (315) 761-3208, or visit his website at http://jmsalesconsulting.com