VINTAGE – A SLICE OF SALES HISTORY
COGNITIVE SKILLS FOR SALES – TRADITIONAL OR CONTEMPORARY?
Since when do you think Sales Success was driven by proficiency in Cognitive Skills?
Our research says as early as 1498! Yes you read that right.. 1498! That’s when the humble Catalogue made its first appearance, in Venice! Thanks to Aldus Pius Manutius – an Italian humanist, scholar, and educator – who founded “The Aldine Press” in 1495 to print the first editions of Greek and Latin classics. He wanted to present the knowledge about these books in an organised way, and the first ever catalog appeared! So, Organizing Knowledge - has been a cognitive skill that defined sales success 600 years ago!
How about another foundational cognitive skill - ‘Problem Solving”? Rewind to 1752! Yes.. That’s when Benjamin Franklin co-founded the Philadelphia Contributionship. This was an Insurance company, that went door-to-door, selling fire insurance in America, long before the United States of America came up.
Okay, what next? Let’s pick ‘Bias for Action’. The year was 1818. James Guild was an independent peddler in USA, a euphemism for today’s salesperson. What did he do differently? He did not sit in one place and wait for Customers to come to him… He chose to take action, to carry his goods ‘peddling’ them in the neighbourhood!
As if rolling all the three cognitive skills together, is the example of the ubiquitous Fuller Brush Man, who is said to have called on 85 of 100 American homes. He made deliveries in Alaska by dog team; he sold to a doctor who set a dealer's fractured leg; he changed a customer's tyre, pulled a tooth, dressed a chicken, hung out the wash”. There was a timeless simplicity to his sales approach based on principles rooted in the 3 Ps:
Price - his abiding belief that a humble brush sold with hard work ( read ‘Bias for Action ), can produce substantial market value.
Pitch - his politely phrased and carefully rehearsed script ( Problem Solving ) one guaranteed to overcome sales resistance.
People - his conviction that a salesforce, when sufficiently supported with catalogues, trained and motivated ( Organizing knowledge ), can move mountains.
All three P’s are as powerfully valid today as they were a century ago.– “> make it work, > make it last, > and guarantee it, no matter what”
Cognitive Skills have been the corner stone of Sales Success over centuries! With the passage of time, with advent of new technology, and changing Customer preferences, Sales strategies evolved too. One thing did not change. The imperative of Cognitive Skills!
“Effortless is a myth. I mean it, I say that as someone who has heard that word a lot … The truth is I had to work very hard to make it look easy.”
– Roger Federer on his celebrated tennis skills
Welcome to the 'New Mercuri Mail'.. The India Journal of Mercuri International!
This is the 'Go To Place Sales Newsletter and Journal' of the discerning Sales Community! Continuing its 35 year long tradition of sharing knowledge curated from the best of sales and management literature, here come interesting new features, all with an unwavering focus on making a difference!
Happy reading and reflecting!
Team Mercuri India
The India Journal of Mercuri International - SEP 2022
