Wholesale: A Strange Beast

Sell the problem you solve, not the product. That is the essence of Solution Selling, an all-the-rage sales methodology that entails probing around for the buyer’s pain points, then framing your product or service as the solution to their pain.

“Solution” is such a buzzword in sales these days that perhaps you’ve wondered how you, the sales rep for a small wholesale producer, can frame your product as a solution.

Short answer: you can’t.

Your Product Isn’t a Solution

Maybe you could make the case that your handmade goods are a solution to the buyer’s need for products that will differentiate their offerings from other shops in their area, or maybe it’s the solution to their need for products that will provide them with a high margin.

But that’s a stretch, especially in comparison with the types of complex products and services where Solution Selling actually applies. Your product is simple by comparison to, say, an enterprise accounting system, or a complex piece of medical equipment. In those cases, the salesperson acts as a consultant, gaining the buyer’s confidence by demonstrating their knowledge of the field, ultimately providing a one-of-a-kind solution.

But It’s Not Just Any Old Product Either

Compare Solution Selling with Transactional Selling, on the other end of the B2B selling spectrum. This applies to simpler, more generic goods that buyers order based on straightforward criteria like price and lead time. We’re talking basic commodities here, like copper or soybeans. The buyer is already in the market for the product, so there’s little product knowledge that a salesperson can impart, and in many cases these transactions are automated to the point that a salesperson isn’t even needed. These are quick sales, where nothing is gained by forming a long term customer relationship.

This doesn’t really apply to a small wholesale producer, either. Your product is hardly generic, and you’re not after a quick sale. You want to develop loyalty with your buyers, so that they keep placing re-orders.

If you’re not selling solutions, and you’re not engaged in mere transactions, what methodology should you apply to your sales efforts?

A New Methodology

This blog is an attempt at developing a sales methodology that is tailored to the peculiarities of the small wholesale producer.

By clarifying our business needs, we can eliminate some of the confusion that solution-sellers like to exploit. Software solutions in particular. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems like Salesforce are enterprise-level software packages, designed for companies engaged in complex solution sales with large, segmented sales teams and highly regimented sales processes. But they don’t make that apparent to us, and why would they? It would limit their market. To a growing wholesale business, a flashy program loaded with sales buzzwords that promises to “drive your sales performance” and give you “a 360 degree view of your customer” seems like a silver bullet solution to all of your organizational challenges. What you get instead is a very expensive digital rolodex bloated with features that you’ll never need, and that are downright distracting and time-consuming.

The Case for Shelf Life

Methodology and technology are two big areas where small wholesale producers can’t just replicate the conventions of larger, more mainstream enterprises. We will continue to touch upon such differences throughout this blog, gleaning what tactics we can from the advances of these enterprises, their sales processes and technologies, and their sales teams. But at the end of the day, small wholesale producers are a different beast with different needs, and the idea here at Shelf Life is to develop a methodology specific to our trade, and ultimately the technology to serve that methodology.