![\"relevance-and-competition\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/relevance-and-competition.jpg\")
I had a really powerful conversation with a friend of mine a few days ago. He\u2019d just left his position of several years, managing a sales force selling to (through) independent dealers in his industry, both small and medium sized. He\u2019d done a nice job. His division had posted nice growth, and he\u2019d been recognized by his company. Yet when I asked him why he left, he had an answer that amazed me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI left because I got frustrated. Only ten percent of the people I was dealing with are even relevant in today\u2019s market, and ninety percent not only aren\u2019t relevant, they don\u2019t want to be.\u201d Wow. That\u2019s a huge statement. Not \u2018productive\u2019 or \u2018growing,\u2019 but \u2018relevant.\u2019 When I pressed him for more details, he explained that entirely too many people in his business are doing business the same way as they did 25 or even 50 years ago, and acting like the changes in the business world haven\u2019t even happened. That, of course, put me in mind of our profession of selling and made me wonder how relevant many of us are, or will be. But what does \u201crelevant\u201d mean?<\/p>\n
Merriam-Webster defines \u201crelevant\u201d as: \u201cHaving significant or demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand.\u201d That\u2019s an interesting definition, isn\u2019t it? If \u201cthe matter at hand\u201d is the process of your customers accessing the goods and services that they need and making profitable buying decisions, do you truly \u201chave significant or demonstrable bearing\u201d on that? For too many salespeople, the answer is \u201cno.\u201d Don\u2019t believe me? Think about the last sale you LOST. Why did you lose it? Give me an answer like \u201cprice,\u201d or \u201cperceived benefits,\u201d or something of that nature, and you\u2019ve just said that you were irrelevant in that process. Interesting little word, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
What if \u201cthe matter at hand\u201d is your company\u2019s growth and profitability? Does the meaning of \u201crelevant\u201d change then? If you have \u201csignificant or demonstrable bearing\u201d on your company\u2019s growth and profitability, that means that YOU are a generator of new business, a retainer of current business, and a good developer of current accounts into higher profitability. Does that fit?<\/p>\n
Or, going back to my friend \u2013 if \u201cthe matter at hand\u201d is your place in your industry, are you taking the proper actions to stay current and involved, or are you simply riding the train until the track ends?<\/p>\n
\u201cRelevant\u201d is actually a powerful word, isn\u2019t it? One of the things we know is that in this day and age, being relevant means staying current and staying on top of the changes affecting our profession. For instance, I sold industrial supplies in the mid-90s. Back then there was no Internet, and to access the goods and services that they needed, my customers had to buy from me or from a competitive salesperson. I had \u201csignificant or demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand\u201d simply by taking customer orders and making sure that their bearings and chains got to them when they needed them.<\/p>\n
But what about now? I think about myself in that same job, but in today\u2019s environment \u2013 and I know that those same customers could just as easily hop on the computer (or smartphone), plug in the part numbers that they needed on my company\u2019s online ordering system, and the parts they needed would get there without my help at all. Therefore, my offering to take an order would be neither significant nor demonstrably bearing on their ability to get their parts.<\/p>\n
So, how could I \u2013 again, if I were in that job now \u2013 be relevant? I\u2019d have to up my game. Instead of worrying about orders, I\u2019d have to focus on providing benefits to my customers by asking lots of questions to keep my customer knowledge current and then keeping them abreast of technological developments, spotting best practices, and finding other ways that they could run their machines more efficiently. That would also keep me relevant to my company because the result would be happier customers, more referrals, a better reputation, more growth within my customer base, and a better platform to acquire new customers.<\/p>\n
One of the key battles in today\u2019s quickly changing and Internet driven business environment is just this \u2013 to be relevant. If you want to stay relevant, here are five quick steps to doing that.<\/p>\n
Staying relevant is neither easy nor cheap. In fact, it can get really difficult sometimes because you have to swallow your pride. Unless you do, however, your place in the business world might go away without you knowing it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I had a really powerful conversation with a friend of mine a few days ago. He\u2019d just left his position of several years, managing a sales force selling to (through) independent dealers in his industry, both small and medium sized. He\u2019d done a nice job. His division had posted nice growth, and he\u2019d been recognized by his company. Yet when I asked him why he left, he had an answer that amazed me. \u201cI left because I got frustrated. Only ten percent of the people I was dealing with are even relevant in today\u2019s market, and ninety percent not only aren\u2019t relevant, they don\u2019t want to be.\u201d Wow. That\u2019s a huge statement. Not \u2018productive\u2019 or \u2018growing,\u2019 but \u2018relevant.\u2019 When I pressed him for more details, he explained that entirely too many people in his business are doing business the same way as they did 25 or even 50 years ago, and acting like the changes in the business world haven\u2019t even happened. That, of course, put me in mind of our profession of selling and made me wonder how relevant many of us are, or will be. But what does \u201crelevant\u201d mean? Merriam-Webster defines \u201crelevant\u201d as: \u201cHaving significant or demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand.\u201d That\u2019s an interesting definition, isn\u2019t it? If \u201cthe matter at hand\u201d is the process of your customers accessing the goods and services that they need and making profitable buying decisions, do you truly \u201chave significant or demonstrable bearing\u201d on that? For too many salespeople, the answer is \u201cno.\u201d Don\u2019t believe me? Think about the last sale you LOST. Why did you lose it? Give me an answer like \u201cprice,\u201d or \u201cperceived benefits,\u201d or something of that nature, and you\u2019ve just said that you were irrelevant in that process. Interesting little word, isn\u2019t it? What if \u201cthe matter at hand\u201d is your company\u2019s growth and profitability? Does the meaning of \u201crelevant\u201d change then? If you have \u201csignificant or demonstrable bearing\u201d on your company\u2019s growth and profitability, that means that YOU are a generator of new business, a retainer of current business, and a good developer of current accounts into higher profitability. Does that fit? Or, going back to my friend \u2013 if \u201cthe matter at hand\u201d is your place in your industry, are you taking the proper actions to stay current and involved, or are you simply riding the train until the track ends? \u201cRelevant\u201d is actually a powerful word, isn\u2019t it? One of the things we know is that in this day and age, being relevant means staying current and staying on top of the changes affecting our profession. For instance, I sold industrial supplies in the mid-90s. Back then there was no Internet, and to access the goods and services that they needed, my customers had to buy from me or from a competitive salesperson. I had \u201csignificant or demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand\u201d simply by taking customer orders and making sure that their bearings and chains got to them when they needed them. But what about now? I think about myself in that same job, but in today\u2019s environment \u2013 and I know that those same customers could just as easily hop on the computer (or smartphone), plug in the part numbers that they needed on my company\u2019s online ordering system, and the parts they needed would get there without my help at all. Therefore, my offering to take an order would be neither significant nor demonstrably bearing on their ability to get their parts. So, how could I \u2013 again, if I were in that job now \u2013 be relevant? I\u2019d have to up my game. Instead of worrying about orders, I\u2019d have to focus on providing benefits to my customers by asking lots of questions to keep my customer knowledge current and then keeping them abreast of technological developments, spotting best practices, and finding other ways that they could run their machines more efficiently. That would also keep me relevant to my company because the result would be happier customers, more referrals, a better reputation, more growth within my customer base, and a better platform to acquire new customers. One of the key battles in today\u2019s quickly changing and Internet driven business environment is just this \u2013 to be relevant. If you want to stay relevant, here are five quick steps to doing that. Recognize that what got you here might not get you there. It\u2019s an issue I see all the time \u2013 company owners and salespeople are married to \u2018the way we\u2019ve always done it,\u2019 even when the ground is eroding around them. Constantly update your knowledge. You should be aware of the resources available to you and your customers, not only through you, but through your competitors. Your customer is constantly updating his knowledge, and if you\u2019re falling behind, he\u2019ll know it before you do. Make good decisions. Not all new technology is good or profitable technology. You have to expose yourself to as many new ideas as possible and then make good decisions about what to implement. Commit to personal and professional growth. This might have been #1. Without a commitment to keep growing, both in terms of numbers and in terms of personal capabilities, you\u2019re basically sticking your fingers in your ears and saying, \u201cLa, la, la\u201d to avoid hearing the noise around you. Invest. Staying relevant is costly, both in terms of time and treasure, but falling behind is even more costly. The difference is this: When you stay relevant and invest, you know when, where, and what the costs are. When you fall behind, you don\u2019t even know the bill is being racked up until it\u2019s time to pay. Staying relevant is neither easy nor cheap. In fact, it can get really difficult sometimes because you have to swallow your pride. Unless you do, however, your place in the business world might go away without you knowing it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1866],"tags":[316,2141],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13640"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13642,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13640\/revisions\/13642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}