Which type of Sales is right for my career?

Imagine sitting in a cube for hours on end realizing that this is not what you wanted to do. You wanted to be challenged, rewarded and most importantly paid fairly for what you do. Well, hate to break it to you, unless you become the go-to specialist or number one in your field then sales really is the only place you can begin to generate the income you want. That being said, yes you could start a business but you might not be ready for that. Plus this platform is for salespeople, not Entrepreneurs.

In our opinion, the world of sales can be boiled down to three (3) major types; Transactional, On-Going, and Complex. We will try to dissect the differences and what skills one might need for each.

1. Transactional

This type simply put means that the buyer will be purchasing one time from the seller. An easy example of this is a auto dealership. The buyer needs transportation and thus the seller sells them a car. You should be aware that it is easy to overlap a transactional purchase with the On-Going type. In our opinion, the difference is the length of time between the first purchase and the next one. If there is a significant length of time the sales type really should be considered transactional.

We believe the most important skill set with this type is to create impulse and validate the value of said product. Most transactional sales should really only take one (1) to two (2) sales calls (meetings).

With this in mind, the seller needs to craft a story that paints such a picture that the buyer can’t imagine a world without the product. This type is a great way for anyone to begin to learn the fundamentals of sales and basic techniques of presenting.

2. On-Going

This type happens most often when the buyer continues to purchase products or services from the seller. As you can imagine this type overlaps with both Transactions and Complex. A pure example would be of Office products. The buyer continues to purchase all the products from the seller at a set (contract) price.

We believe the most important skill set with this type is confident conversations about contracts and pricing. Most On-Going sales will take a few meetings and most certainly include a meeting for negotiating.

With this in mind, the seller will need to become confident talking about price and asking about budgets. Additionally, the seller will need to learn how to unplug the incumbent and thus create a sales process around multiple commitments.

3. Complex

This type of sales happens when there are either multiple decision makers or the product effects multiple other functions within the buyer’s business. You can, of course, have a complex transactional sale. Most often though you will find that the complex sales type comes into play with Software-as-a-Service product. An easy example would be a new accounting system. Yes, the accounting department may be the major influencers but the system can affect other departments such as facilities, procurement or even sales.

We believe the most important skill set with this type is deal management. As the seller, it is paramount to understand each buyer’s motives, pains, goals, and vision. This will allow the seller the ability to truly identify if the product provides value to all buyers and what the impact will be to the whole organization.

With this in mind, the seller will need to be very good at asking better questions in order to learn and gather all the data needed to make a valid presentation of the product’s benefit.