Zero Sales is a theory about creating value. The more you can demonstrate your ability to create value in business, the more likely that you'll be successful. This applies to internal co-worker relationships as well as external relationships like partners, customers, and vendors. In today's complex business environments, the fastest path to creating value is in the identification of business challenges and the thoughtful prescription of solutions. In Zero Sales, the salespeople do not go away, and neither do their revenue targets or their ability to achieve them. In fact, you will likely find that both targets and achievement go up. What goes away is "selling."

The old-school image of salespeople is that their job is all about the "win," and winning is the primary goal of every sales organization. In fact, every sales technology platform I've seen has the concept of a win designed right into the solution. The problem with promoting winning is that it creates a binary dynamic--if there is a winner, there is also a loser. If the salesperson is the winner, this suggest someone (the buyer) loses.

But the purchase of a product or service does not have to be a zero-sum game; there can be winners on both sides. For this to happen, the right environment must exist; (1) the buyer must have a need or a problem, the desire for a solution, a desired time frame for the solution to be implemented, and a budget to acquire the solution, and (2) the seller must have a solution to the problem that precisely fits the budget and time frame.

At the core of the Zero Sales Theory is the idea that to create growth for your business you must demonstrate to a buyer that you understand what matters to them, that you can and will create a relationship with them that they will believe is valuable, and that you are well-intentioned.

As I have said many times to those who have worked for me, "If the buyer feels like you are selling something to them, you're doing it wrong."