No doubt you’ve caught some of the hype about the new Apple iPad tablet computer. Apple is calling it a “A magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price.” And if you have read any of the early product reviews, you know this marketing tagline is not too far off the mark.

It is the kind of product every Sales Rep dreams of carrying.

• Breakthrough technology
• Huge market potential
• Pent up demand
• No competition

And it is coming from a company with a reputation for innovation.

But the point of our story is not to extol the virtues of Apple or the iPad. It is to discuss the Sales Profession.

Chances are, if you had the opportunity to sell a product like the iPad – a high demand product with no competition - you would jump at it. Any rational Sales Professional would. The truth is this is one of those rare situations where a product sells itself. The only skill or training needed by the Sales Rep is to get out of the way and let the orders flow.

And the orders would flow…for about 90 days. That’s when competitive products to the iPad begin to hit the market.

• HP has one running Windows 7
• Asus is planning one to run Google Android
• And there is a rumor that Google and HTC are partnering on a Google branded tablet

In 12 months it is estimated there will be 13 – 15 competitive products to the iPad. And companies like HP and Google certainly have the resources to compete with Apple on the marketing side.

So what happens to our iPad Sales Rep? If he is like most Reps, he cashed those first few big monthly commission checks and immediately established a lifestyle based on his new higher income. But by month 4 the hype buyers, early adaptors and tekkies have all made their purchases and are out of the market. In their place are the value buyers who will be comparing the iPad to the other available options in order to get the best value for their purchase.

Value buyers comparing available options to get the best value for their purchase…Sound familiar? It’s probably the environment your Reps are selling in today.

The truth is our profession is called “Sales” and not “order taking.” And if you are lucky enough to sell the “hot product” of the day – more power to you. But it won’t last because it never does.

So for most of us we will be selling in highly competitive markets for the majority of our sales careers. And faced with this truth, the successful Sales Rep must possess:

• The ability to present in such a way the prospect can clearly differentiate his offering from competing ones
• The ability to truly motivate the prospect to buy
• And the ability to link capabilities of his solution to the business impact expected by prospect.

And a Sales Executive’s primary obligation is to develop the concise, clear processes and structure by with Salespeople and Sales Management can succeed. Then you can take ordinary people, place them in that structure, teach them the processes by which you know they can succeed, and manage them to extraordinary results.

The Truth about AXIOM Sales Force Development… For a sales improvement program to succeed, everyone in the sales organization has to take OWNERSHIP. And that is our true differentiator. Only AXIOM Sales Force Development™ guarantees total buy-in and ownership as a final outcome. After completing the AXIOM Selling Sciences Program™, our customers achieve ownership at every level – from the “C” level to EVERY front line sales representative. Everyone believes the program is the TRUTH, the right way to achieve greater sales performance. As a result, they enjoy increased revenue, improved margins, higher close ratios, better business performance and, most importantly, more satisfied customers.