If someone asks if you are solving or selling, you may be wondering what the heck they are talking about. Your probable answer is that you do both. But do you? And should you? Let’s take a closer look to see if you are solving or selling, and why you need to know the difference.
Solving typically leads to bigger deals in a shorter timeframe since you are providing true business value by helping buyers be more successful. Your time as a sales person is spent:
Selling has its limits. You most likely have been successful but not as consistently year after year. Your deals may be bigger deals from time to time due to sheer luck but they take longer to close. Why? Most likely, you are selling on your timeline and not theirs.
You know the deals I’m talking about. They sit in your pipeline forever, where you have to keep moving the close date from one quarter to the next. This happens because you are selling and just hoping (and most likely praying) that something you say or demo will stick. You most likely are not spending your time on the right activities (seethe above bullets). Instead, you are probably just:
Be aware of the difference between solving or selling, and discern which side you currently stand on and the one where you want to plant your flag. Do you solve problems for your buyers? Or do you just “sell” and hope something sticks?