What is Selling – Definition

What is Selling – Definition: What is selling and the definition of selling has changed in the last decade. Salespeople's roles now demand new selling skills and knowledge.

What is sellingand the definition of selling is a question is a valid question often
asked by newer people to the profession. Selling involves many different
activities and actions which depend on the customers situation and
where in the sales journey you are at.

What is selling to
a new prospect has a different definition to up-selling to an existing
customer. So, there is no real one size fits all definition to what is
selling.

What is selling

In general, theterm “selling” can be fined as the exchange of value, the process where a
buyer sees the value in paying a company or a seller an agreed price
for a product or service that they want delivered. All selling starts
via a “sales process”. Think of the sales process as a journey towards
an end point taken over a time period. The sales process can be
triggered by either the buyer or seller. For example, a buyer could
phone or email into a company requesting further information on a
product, or a seller could make a cold call to a buyer where the buyer
expresses an interest to learn more. Both of these scenarios trigger the
sales process and by default the activity of selling begins.

Regardless of whotriggered the sales process, the selling activity is made up of two core
activities – Conversations and Commitments. During the sales process,
the seller will engage the buyer in a series of planned conversations to
convince the buyer that their solution will solve a need or issue that
the buyer has. It also entails the seller getting the buyer to make a
series of commitments during each conversation to ensure that the sales
process is making progress towards a final decision. At the end of the
sales process, if the buyer makes a commitment to purchase, they will
agree a price and other terms in exchange for the seller delivering the
product or service.

When we talk about “what is selling definition”, it is important to understand the
psychology of selling. We don’t sell products or solutions, we sell
stories, ideas, commitments, results, satisfaction, relief, trust,
confidence, assurance etc

As mentionedearlier, selling involves many different activities, these sales or
selling skills will include cold calling, cold email outreach, social selling, sales prospecting,
handling inbound calls, business development, nurturing relationships,
overcoming objections, dealing with multiple contacts within an
organization, engaging customers, suggesting ideas, presenting plans and
solutions, negotiating pricing and closing deals. It also includes
skills such as business knowledge of the product, markets, trends and
business challenges. It takes this and more for a seller to enact the
exchange of value between a buyer and themselves.

So, let us take what is selling definition a little further. Selling to customers or indeed anyone is composed of the following.

A Sales strategy; this is a plan on how the seller is going to find buyers, or how buyers
will find the seller. Will you sell direct to buyers or sell via someone
else. In a nutshell, it outlines exactly how the seller or company
plans to get their products and services in front of customers.

A sales model; the sales model is determined by the product or service being sold, for
example, a low-cost everyday product would be sold via a transactional
sales model where the seller attempts to secure the sale on one call or
over a very short time period.  More complex, higher value products will
have a consultative sales model where several conversations will be had
over a longer period of time.

A Sales process;this is the journey the seller wants the buyer to undertake on their way
to deciding to purchase. The sales process is a series of stages or
steps that could include item such as free trial undertaken,
presentation to the buyer, face to face meeting,

Sales tactics;these are the selling skills the seller will deploy to convince the
buyer that what they are proposing is the right choice. Sales tactics
include building up trust with the buyer, having credibility, using
existing customer references, reports, studies, getting introduced by a
mutual contact, free assessments etc.

What is a selling definition

What is selling going to mean in the future

Selling expectations and activities that once dominated the thinking in the world of sales strategy
has evolved significantly thanks to the digital era. Today, any serious
buyer can get access to detailed information about most products
including the companies that sell them. They can read reviews, compare
features, get pricing and narrow down potential vendors without engaging
with a salesperson. So, what is selling going to mean for a salesperson
into the future?

Future sellingskills will require any salesperson to have acquired the ability to
research and understand a buyer’s needs (that includes the ability to
uncover issues the buyer may not yet recognize), provide really useful
insights into the buyer’s industry and knowledgeable on future market
trends. Selling will mean that sellers and buyers will have to
collaborate deeper if they are to have purposeful conversations and
achieve higher levels of commitment. Selling will require salespeople to
be able to convey real business value, not through some sales pitch but
through relevant business impact.

What is sellingand the definition of selling is unique to every seller and
organization. In fact, the definition of selling should be personal as
it defines not only the role of the salesperson but also the
organizations approach to winning and selling to more customers.