Sales as a Science? Not for me.
Sales as a Science? Sure, but that’s not all! I keep hearing that sales is now considered a science. And, yes, of course, that’s only natural.
There are methodologies, GTM plans, lead scoring formulas, outreach automation, and then there are also numerous KPIs on each dashboard. It is all planned, tracked, and scalable, and if you follow a certain way of doing it, you can expect predictable outcomes. And that helps up to a point, of course. But let’s face it, as someone who has sold a technically complex solution such as API Management, or Integration (iPaaS), or Identity- and Access Management, nothing beats having trust, having actual conversations, and truly getting what your customer actually needs.
Where Sales-as-a-Science works, and where it doesn’t
Sales as a Science organizes sales efforts. You have funnels, frameworks, and dashboards. It is great when you’re dealing with products that have low complexity and high volumes. You identify your target ICP and automate outreach, and then you can optimize conversions.
But when you blindly automate sales, buy, or contract processes without knowing what your customer is actually looking for, it becomes more of an army of minions running around. Now, that’s entertaining, but ultimately, they’re not doing any good.
But this is not possible when it comes to complex technical solutions, such as API Management, iPaas, or Identity- and Access Management, because this model just breaks down there. You’re not really trying to sell features or solutions, because you’re actually trying to help people who are making architectural decisions that have a ripple effect on their whole business. And science won’t help you out on questions of how you should respond when you’re facing a CIO, or CTO, or CFO who has legacy issues, politics, and legitimate, i.e., security issues on their hands, or when you’re down in a call trying to walk through your technical service or feature set and its relationship to what they’re trying to accomplish today, because these sales just happen at a different speed.
There is no framework that will advise you on handling a CIO that juggles with legacy issues, politics, and serious security issues, or on managing customer sessions that involve guiding your integration solution into a system that is only half documented and is still extremely business-critical. There is no script that these conversations will follow.
People buy from people they trust, and that kind of trust is not developed through sequenced presentations or AI chatbots and templates. It is developed through workshops, hallway conversations, and ‘I don’t know, but I’ll find out’ moments that matter most. GTM strategy is important, and your slides and pitch matter, but they don’t matter as much as why you are getting that sale. The heavy lifting happens from minute 1 through 60.
In this world, connections close deals. Not playbooks, not templates, and certainly not through minions. What I dislike, especially with CCOs, Sales Directors, and similar roles, is when they respond to posts on platforms like LinkedIn with comments such as “YES, SEND ME,” “SOP,” or just “YES,” and then receive some generic content (often AI playbooks and prompts) in return. That completely misses the point. People should be forming their own perspectives, thinking through the implications, and drawing their own conclusions about whether AI actually delivers real value or whether, in some cases, it simply doesn’t make sense at all.
Account Management is not Sales
I’ve never liked the title ‘Sales’ (or more recently, these days, ‘Account Executive’). Prefer ‘Account Manager’ myself. There’s reason for that:
“Sales is all about ‘the process’, forecasting, pipeline, metrics and all that analytics analyst drive that comes with it. While ‘Account Manager’ is all about ‘the people’, managing end-to-end, and then counseling clients on sales, as they ‘need advise’ on many fronts.“
It is all about trust, nothing about products or services being pushed. You are on a journey that lasts, one that helps clients before they become problems they can see. And that is about technical acumen, having a deep, complete understanding of your own offerings and abilities, and actual, honest engagement. API Management, Integration, and Identity- and Access Management, actual success is about alignment, addressing actual complexity, and creating platforms or solutions that endure. There is no way of faking this one. You have to talk the talk, take time, and be able to withhold sales talk sometimes, and actual success begins with listening engaged, or listened to, at that.
Sales people could have targets on a monthly or quarterly basis. An Account Manager examines value on a longer-term scale. You have to speak about complex technology on an outcome that is of value to a business. You have to identify their technology infrastructure, their problems, and goals. Consultative sales are more of a philosophy and a ‘way of thinking’ than an ‘approach,’ and ‘strategy.’ Consultative sales imply that ‘the Account Manager has to have a comprehensive knowledge of (the technical) products & services, that enhance the final offering.’
Genuine contact is still the engine that drives it all
“The greatest moments of sales occur when you don’t have a script.” They occur when you ask questions, when you actually listen, and when you know why your customer is asking for something. It’s then that you’re no longer just a supplier, but a partner.
Real conversations reveal real needs. You don’t just listen to what your customer is saying, you hear what they really mean. It’s here that the actual value begins, and that’s not about features, that’s about relevance. As trust builds, so does the quality of your solution, and ultimately, that’s what gives you the ability to turn complex digital transformation issues into something meaningful.
I am Dutch. In the Netherlands we have an expression like: “Iemand de deal gunnen”, meaning that somebody grants you de deal based on your personality. It means more than just trust, because it is about having respect, having mutual confidence, and having faith that you will deliver value. That is not something that can be automated. “Yes, use your data.” “Yes, develop an intelligent GTM strategy.” “Yes, measure what matters.” but always remember this one thing: Sales, ultimately, is and always will be a human enterprise. You can’t build a sales pipeline without first building trust, and that means it’s time: forget about Sales as a Science and just start making real conversations with partners, customers or any other kinder of relations.
Interested in discussing this further? I’d be happy to connect.
