OEM Strategic Selling: The Basics vs. the “Buzz”
By Ken Talentino

This is the first article in a three-part series about OEM strategic selling. The concepts and materials for these articles are from “The Curve,” by Ken Talentino.

Mobile communications and social media networking have had a dramatic impact on the way we do business. We now operate in an environment shaped by the phrase “24/7,” with an ever-increasing demand for instant responses and constant availability. The proliferation of the technologies that enable this state of being, which we’ll call the “buzz,” has only served to magnify the importance of back-to-basic selling skills.

This may appear to be counterintuitive, but history shows us that technology applied without a strong fundamental base is doomed to fail. The introduction of factory automation is one example. This revolutionized manufacturing operations, resulting in increased productivity and improved quality, but only after the basic processes were in place.

The age of factory automation had an incredible impact on production efficiencies, which increased the final output. However, it was soon realized that you could quickly produce as many bad widgets as good ones. Thus, a premium was placed on back-to-basic operational fundamentals, in the form of process controls, supplier relationships, and modern management philosophies, such as six-sigma and lean management. Once the basic processes were identified and controlled, the full value of automation could be realized. The same evolutionary process appears to be true today in regards to OEM technical sales.

The introduction of sales automation via CRM systems, portable communication devices, electronic collaboration, and real-time access to data has had a profound impact on OEM sales. Every major interconnect company offers extensive online catalogs and ordering tools. However, as with early adoption of factory automation, these systems and communications tools are not a substitute for basic selling skills. In fact, they may hinder sales productivity. As with early factory automation, they are only effective when used to automate an existing robust and sound sales practice. It is therefore imperative that the sales basics are not lost in a sea of technologies, or the “buzz.”

The fundamentals to successful selling, including identifying decision makers, building a partnership, creating a unique selling proposition, and continuous follow-up, are as vital today as they were prior to the onslaught of electronic devices. In fact, as with early factory automation, today’s salespeople can rapidly lose their customer base if they fail to develop effective selling skills, especially customer service skills. This puts a premium on the development of basic selling skills and processes prior to relying on sales automation tools. It is imperative that the sales training processes be robust, lest you simply automate an inefficient or defective sales system.

Sales growth is the lifeline of a viable organization, thus effective sales training is critical to the future success of a company. The leverage impact of topline growth is three to one vs. cost-cutting alternatives to profit. Therefore, development of a trained, well-equipped, and professional sales team should be the number one organizational priority. A sales team needs the tools to effectively perform at a high level, but to never confuse the “buzz” with sound fundamental selling skills.

Next time: Learn to strategically select customers that have the highest probability of developing into successful long-term partnerships. 

Ken Talentino has held executive sales and marketing positions with leading technology-based companies over the past 25 years. He has been responsible for selling more than $1 billion worth of products to leading OEMs in a variety of global markets, and has played an upper management role in corporate turnarounds in several technology-based companies, while strategically revamping their sales teams. Ken earned a bachelor of science degree in marketing from Sacred Heart University, an MBA in marketing and finance from the University of Bridgeport, and a Six-Sigma Green Belt Certification from the University of Michigan school of engineering. Contact Ken at kentalentino@verizon.net or 508.789.3211.