Luxuries and Necessities

When luxuries become necessities people become soft.

• Leads that are generated by marketing are a luxury. Countless B2B businesses exist–and grow–without marketing generated leads. If marketing generated leads are a necessity, you have a serious challenge as a sales organization. It’s not that marketing shouldn’t generate leads. It’s that you should rely on your marketing department to open opportunities within your dream client accounts for you.
• A product or service that is already so compelling that your prospective buyers are lined up in front of your building waiting to buy is an extreme luxury. That luxury may belong exclusively to Apple, for now. If it is necessary for you to have a product that sells itself, then you’re not a salesperson. You are an order taker. A compelling product or service is a luxury, and a lot of sales organizations sell things that are necessary and not very sexy.

Luxuries cannot become necessities without causing damage. If something that is “nice to have” becomes something you “need to have,” then you are dependent on something that you don’t really need, and you will be at a competitive disadvantage when competing against those who see your necessity as an extravagance.