The history of selling
Selling is one of the oldest activities in history. With preliminary records dating back more than 10,000 years in regions of the Mediterranean Sea, the exchange of precious stones, leather, food and other materials has been part of human daily life. [1]
With the creation of exchange currencies and the advance of societies, especially given the great navigations, free trade between countries intensified in the mid-14th century and had its expansion — in part due to the colonization processes — strongly solidified in the 18th century.
After the first decades of the 20th century, especially after the period of the two great world wars, the globalization process linked to global economies of scale such as the American and British ones, also began to dictate trade relations. Treaties were established between blocks that shared the same interests and in this way, commercial activity became part not only of daily microtransactions but also to manage dynamics with macroeconomic scales.
In the 21st century, when the internet has become part of our routines, it would not be surprising that mobile phones and their applications play a crucial role in sales activity. If you’re thinking about selling your products online, it’s easy to find different tools today to get your stuff into the hands of other people. Established platforms such as Amazon, eBay or even Craigslist have been offering useful services to their users for years.
Even ecosystems that were not developed for the commercialization of products and services like Facebook already have sales platforms among their applications. With users in over 70 countries and 800 million users, Meta (formerly Facebook) Marketplace is used by 1/3 of Americans. [2]
Building Networks
Although the act of selling something is trivial for most people, establishing a professional buying and selling relationship between two entities (usually supplier and buyer) requires something more complex, consistent and permanent than a simple occasional sale.
Commercial relationships are designed to last and one of the secrets for them to prosper lies in the fact that these relationships must promote not only the exchange of products and services but also the provision of information and advantages among their participants.
Understanding that every business relationship is also a relationship between people is the key to creating an environment that allows exchange and growth. The best way to do this is to build a network of contacts in which each element can help, not only commercially, but also providing a support structure in exchanging contacts, opportunities, leads and also fostering the development of all its participants.
Building these networks plays an important role in the sales cycle as the salesperson’s job changes throughout this process. In some scenarios, it is possible to activate your general network to get more leads and in others, it may be necessary to activate specialists to close a deal. [3]
As we can see, there is a need for these networks to be fluid and change over time. This implies in networks that are dynamic in their construction with new entities and members entering and leaving them as needed.
Addressing these networks is therefore of critical importance for companies that could benefit from members who develop constructive relationships and expand the domain of the networks themselves (whether it is retail, services or specialized products).
Expanding your network
If networks are the core of a good sales relationship, how can we expand them to the point of making our business even more efficient and profitable? We at the OSR Alliance can help you and your company grow through a platform specifically focused on selling networks.
Through integrated communication tools, private groups and networks, territory management using geo-location and sales opportunities, we are able to provide a complete platform so that all phases of the sales cycle are covered.
Our tools allow you, the individual seller or the company you are a part of, to increase and consolidate your sales networks in an exponential and sustainable way without giving up the use of cutting-edge technology to indicate the best business opportunities.
Contact us and schedule a demonstration of our products now.
References:
[1] Barbier, E. (2015). Nature and Wealth: Overcoming Environmental Scarcity and Inequality. United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.
[2] CNET: Facebook Marketplace is used in 70 countries, by 800 million people monthly (2015) https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-marketplace-is-used-in-70-countries-by-800-million-people-monthly/
[3] Better Sales Network, Harvard Business Review (2006) https://hbr.org/2006/07/better-sales-networks