Part 1 of: Barista training just won't cut it.....To me, it’s ironic that the world of 'strategic sales training' has stayed pretty much the same over the last fifteen years, but for most companies; the selling environment has changed dramatically.
Consequently, salespeople have to work harder to penetrate new accounts, while prospective customers are working even harder to keep salespeople at bay.
Don’t blame the customer. In the past decade, downsizing, economy woes, and acquisitions have burdened corporate decision-makers with greater responsibility, oftentimes without the benefit of additional resources. Meanwhile, workloads continue to increase, competitors are getting hungrier, and the overall pace of business has quickened. Even if they wanted to, customers simply cannot afford to spend time with every salesperson that comes-calling.
So what is going to happen?
Well, less than half of today’s business-to-business sales professionals have ever weathered a true economic downturn. These folks learned how to sell when things were good. We've had a decade in which it was one of the longest business expansions in U.S. history. Hey, it’s not that hard to hit quota with double digit market returns and huge growth in the number of new jobs. But what should you do when the economy starts to tap the brakes? How about now...? ..When you actually need to find business and it doesn't walk through your front door?
In today’s business environment, teaching salespeople to be just like “everyone else” puts them at a competitive disadvantage.
The fundamentals in selling have remained the same. Salespeople must uncover needs before they can provide solutions, the product or service being offered must be cost justifiable, and the salesperson with the best relationship has the greatest chance of winning the business. People still do buy from people. But the paradigms of the strategic sale have shifted significantly and differentiation is now the key.
A person that was trained to be a barista...is an order taker that has limited skills in today's market. What the hell is a barista anyway?
The term barista, the Italian word for "bartender" - masculine or feminine; plural: baristi (masculine) or bariste (feminine) has been used in English to denote a maker of espresso based beverages. Its journey into English has been accompanied by a slight shift in meaning. When using the term in English, a barista denotes one who has acquired some level of expertise in the preparation of espresso-based coffee drinks. "Barista" in Italy is the bartender, who prepares both alcoholic drinks and espresso coffee beverages.
In its most basic form, a barista by definition is one who prepares espresso coffee beverages. Someone that takes an order and then fills the order. Ask a barista what they do for a living...and some might say 'they sell coffee.' But come on...do they?
Face it. Office 'interior solutions' are successfully designed and coordinated by professional office furniture personnel...especially the ones that have over 20 years of experience. Take your pick...a professional?....or an order taker?
...more to come....
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