Microcosm of Change ­—Michelson

Venturing into new, value-added services also requires a shift in mindset from a transactional (price-driven) sales approach to one that relies on solution selling. This entails targeting vertical markets where you have expertise, truly understanding customers’ strategic visions, and then delivering demonstrable, tangible solutions to help them increase their sales or reduce their costs. As former print shop owner Mike Kind points out in “Secrets to Solution Selling” on page 49, solution salespeople are hard to find and it often makes sense to look outside of the industry to find them. Poll your best customers and prospects for recommendations, he advises, and consider hiring and then grooming people with marketing and communications experience within the demand side of the niche that you’re attempting to penetrate.