The New Power Base Selling: Master The Politics, Create Unexpected Value and Higher Margins, and Outsmart the Competition

Conclusion

Again, sales strategy is the intellectual sword of your sales campaign. But now, we are not going to talk about the metallurgy of the sword. Instead, we look at a new type of sword that is based on the fighting environment.

During the days of feudal Japan, the samurai would carry traditional long swords, one of which was called the katana. Strong and resilient with a sharp and durable edge, it was an amazingly effective weapon. But in close quarters, its length actually diminished its efficacy. The samurai needed an alternative in these situations—as it is with a seller who judges that the selling environment is not conducive to a Direct or Indirect strategy.

The samurai solution to this problem was to carry a complement: the short wakizashi sword. As a samurai entered a house, for example, he would take off his katana and leave it at the door. But the short sword would remain securely with him. It was less powerful, but it was correctly sized to the conditions, just as the Divisional strategy can be in certain sales campaigns. Having said that, the samurai were master warriors with or without weapons—they always had options. And even when no class of strategy appears applicable, so do you.

• You could walk away from the opportunity. That doesn’t sound very good to most sellers, and it sounds even worse to sales managers, but there are times when you simply shouldn’t compete because your cost of sales will be too high and your win potential is too low.
• A second option ...