The Evolution of Selling from the 1950's to the Present

The evolution of selling changed the way salespeople, companies and major industries valued their customer's needs. Each organization would use certain methodologies and techniques that over time would develop, mature and grow to make those organizations much more successful and valued. Also as the customers themselves, started becoming more sophisticated, closing sales took more effort and time. Therefore the salespeople had to be trained differently and have more knowledge about the products and services they were offering. From the 19th century until present, a lot more techniques and methods of sales and selling developed further. Corporate selling really began …show more content…

They create a “top-down approach” corresponding to the political and economical power in a buying society. Now, successful salespeople acquired specific expertise to enhance buyers to consume products, as explained in RSVP Selling; “they value their time and the time of others, so they don’t waste valuable resources or emotional energy trying to convince people to buy something not genuinely needed”. Salespeople were achieving more because they carefully invest their time with the right people and ask the right questions. They used what is knows as the “values-based approach” which is based on trust, understanding and integrity expressed through as RSVP Selling states: “genuine interest in the customer, thorough inquiry concerning their problems and opportunities, full understanding of the implications and needs, identifying specific benefits and priorities, negotiating how to proceed, and implementing”. This decade was also know as the partnering era, in which customer relationship management formed, along with the emphasis of customer value. Value-based selling emerged in the 2000's. Value-based selling is a method, opposite to the AIDC and FAB methods. This method of selling had a modern and ethical approach suited to fit the customer. Buyers are now having a more defined relationship with their salespeople, they are buying something that they need and can afford and the salespeople's role is to understand the customers