This article was published online on Andy Paul’s archive site in June, 2017. The author, Andy Paul, is a popular sales speaker and podcaster who has featured IES CEO Fred Diamond on his show.
Andy Paul hosts a popular podcast that features interviews with some of the leading sales authors and thought leaders on the planet, many who have been featured by the IES. His book, Amp Up Your Sales, has been featured on lists of top sales books.
A frequent question at the IES is whether sales is harder or easier than it was before, whenever “before” may be. Says Andy, “Selling is NOT harder than it’s ever been. However, on the other hand, It’s not easier either.
“To prepare for an interview on Accelerate! last week I was reading a new sales book from my upcoming guest and I was struck by something he wrote. He said, and I’m paraphrasing, “we all know that selling is harder than it’s ever been…” My immediate reaction was “Oh, c’mon man. Not this crap again!”
How do I put this nicely? It’s time for the people who keep spreading this myth to get over it. Selling is not harder than it’s ever been.
Yet, it seems like everything I read or hear about sales today starts with the premise that selling is so much more difficult now than it was “before.” “Before” being the code word for the mythical pre-Internet days of the 20th century when apparently B2B selling was so easy that customer orders just flew into your hands like fish jumping into a boat. (At the same time, you sales sentimentalists who romanticize the past and believe that selling in today’s B2B world is a piece of cake compared to when you carried a bag, need to get over that. It ain’t true.)”
Read the rest of the article here.
