Last week, we were preparing to launch a new service to our market. We wanted to introduce something new to the Sales as a Service (SaaS) space, something that would be truly transformative to sales teams and their managers.
We discussed all sorts of catchy branding ideas and potential campaigns, but even after opening up the process internally, we still never found a name for our service. So, we stripped everything back to “what does it say on the tin?”
In doing so, we came up with Sales Transformation as a Service – STaaS for short.
I continued to reflect on this until I came across a neuroscience publication that sparked a truly transformative idea. Those who know me understand my passionate belief that neuroscience is the answer to systemic change both personally and in society as a whole.
Back To My Idea
I believe that sales could (and should) be considered a science. If you look at the genuine breakthroughs in history – the ones that sparked lasting change – it’s obvious that science has been the driving force behind them. From the Industrial Revolution through to the Internet age, the foundations of modern life, and the advances therein, are themselves underpinned by scientific advancement.
We can apply that same emphasis on scientific advancement to sales – but first, we need to “rebrand” sales as a whole. 1 in 2 graduates, regardless of their major, will work in sales at some point, but only 10% of business schools currently have sales on their curriculum.
Without sales there is no increase in business productivity
Sales is not currently seen as a “true” profession, and it’s certainly not considered in the same bracket as engineering or marketing in business circles. But we know as business leaders that without sales teams and sales processes turning the gears, there is no increase in business productivity – and we also know you cannot “cut your way to growth” in a business sense.
With that being said, my thoughts still turn towards the science that continues to flourish; neuroscience, and more specifically neuroplasticity. How can we use this branch of science to transform our thinking, branding and acceptance of sales, but also of Sales as a Service?
Neuroscientists, I believe, have laid the foundations for the breakthrough that we as salespeople and the wider community of sales enablement should have vision for; demonstrating that sales is a “proper” profession, and can be viewed through a scientific lens.
This should be at the heart of our next business conversations, alongside digitisation, AI and marketing as compelling growth and investment factors.
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