I Pride Myself on Being a Selling Fundamentalist

Selling

When I began my B2B sales career in 1977, there was no such thing as a sales tool. The only things we had were feet for walkin’, knuckles for knockin’, and a digit for dialing. Dialing from the office, or if you were on the road, from a pay phone — remember those? No cell phones. I never even had a pager. My CRM was a shoebox with month and day dividers, and believe it or not, it worked just fine.

Looking back, I feel fortunate to have had that experience. I was also lucky enough to land with a national firm that had a reputation for providing the best sales training in the industry. They didn’t just hand you a territory and wish you luck. They invested in teaching us how to sell — really sell — starting with the basics and drilling the fundamentals until they became second nature.

And here’s the thing: we had no distractions. No internet. No endless flood of LinkedIn tips, email hacks, AI tools, or daily “10 new sales techniques you must try!” articles. We learned by doing. We learned by listening. We learned by building relationships the hard (and most valuable) way — one conversation at a time.

Sure, it was old-school selling. We mastered handling objections, we practiced hard-closing techniques, and yes, some of the tactics we were taught would be considered outdated (or even frowned upon) today. Selling has evolved, our buyers have evolved, and so have our markets. But the fundamentals of selling? They haven’t changed one bit.

That’s why, all these years later, I still proudly call myself a Selling Fundamentalist.

Today, it feels like the sales profession has swung too far in the opposite direction. Salespeople are buried under an avalanche of tools, systems, and apps — each promising to be the silver bullet that will solve all of their selling challenges. CRM systems, sequencing tools, AI messaging generators, predictive analytics, social selling platforms — the list goes on and on. New acronyms are invented faster than most people can learn the old ones.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not anti-technology. I’m a huge believer in leveraging the right tools to work smarter. (I even teach my clients how to do exactly that.) But here’s the kicker: no tool will ever replace knowing how to sell. No automation can substitute for building rapport. No dashboard will teach you how to ask great questions, listen intently, or handle objections gracefully.

In my experience, a large percentage of salespeople today are consumed with staying up-to-date on what’s new and what’s hot — driven by a fear of missing out (FOMO) on the next big thing. They jump from tool to tool, from tactic to tactic, convinced that success is just one more app, one more plug-in, or one more certification away.

And all too often, while they’re chasing shiny objects, something critical gets left behind: actual selling.

Even worse, the obsession with tools and techniques can create a dangerous illusion. It’s easy to mistake being “busy” for being “effective.” It’s easy to think that because you’re polishing your LinkedIn profile, setting up automations, or reviewing your sales dashboards, you’re moving the needle. But none of those activities — by themselves — close deals.

Conversations close deals. Trust closes deals. Understanding your customer’s needs and crafting solutions that genuinely help them — that closes deals. Fundamentals.

If you can master the basics — prospecting, qualifying, presenting, handling objections, and closing — you can be successful in any era, in any market, with or without the latest tech gadgets. The tools should support your selling, not substitute for it.

I’m not suggesting we turn back the clock. I appreciate a good CRM. I’m grateful I can send an email instead of hunting down a pay phone. I love that I can jump on a Zoom call instead of driving six hours for a first meeting. But those are just delivery systems. They aren’t a substitute for the real work of sales.

At the end of the day, selling is about people. It’s about connection. It’s about trust. And no tool — no matter how fancy — will ever replace the human fundamentals that make selling an art as much as it is a science.

So yes, I am, and always will be, a proud Selling Fundamentalist. And if you ask me, that’s a badge worth wearing. This article was written with the assistance of ChatGPT.

Please be sure to check out these top 100 sales blogs on Feedspot. I am honored to be one of them!

Are you thinking about a CRM? If you would like to explore whether or not Nimble CRM might be right for you, please book a free 30-minute Zoom consultation with me by going to my calendar. To learn more about our Nimble training and implementation services, please visit our Nimble CRM training services page. 

 

In addition to Nimble CRM, I also offer sales training and training on LinkedIn as well as getting started with AI (Artificial Intelligence). I can even assist with hiring new salespeople with initial interviews and pre-hire DISC personality assessments. 

 

I would also be happy to connect you to managed I.T. and telephony services or to a marketing professional who I know and trust or to an automated yet personalized and human-to-human LinkedIn prospecting system. Please reach out to me at craig@adaptive-business.com for an introduction!

Craig M. Jamieson

Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services
Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!
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