“Troy, you’re not going to believe this,” my friend told me last week. “Twenty-two years with the same customer—gone. And I never even saw it coming.” My friend is a veteran in manufacturing sales who’d serviced this particular account since the early 2000s. “Twenty-two years!” he exclaimed. “I’ve been their go-to problem solver, knew every maintenance supervisor by name, responded to every emergency call. And the company that replaced me? They never once met with my contacts! They might not even be able to FIND the maintenance cage!”
What blindsided my friend wasn’t a competitor selling the same products—it was a supply chain integrator. While he excelled at selling specialized components for their production line, this integrator pitched a program that optimized the client’s entire supply network, no matter what the supplies were and where they were needed. My friend had cultivated deep relationships with the plant’s operational team, but had never established connections with the Chief Operations Officer, who ultimately green-lit the new system. The COO didn’t even know my friend’s name.
The integrator didn’t sell products—they sold a business system. Where my friend focused on product specifications and service reliability (important, but concerns limited to the plant floor), the integrator went straight to the executive suite with promises of supply chain efficiency, inventory optimization and management, and metrics that would impress ownership. The guys in the maintenance cage probably won’t get the level of individualized service that they got before, which is a shame – but the people who sign the checks and the PO’s will be happier and get their needs met. Hence, the new system.
This pattern is accelerating across every industry today. I call it “solution elevation,” and it means salespeople who remain in transactional mode are watching their competition take a comprehensive approach that makes traditional product selling obsolete. These strategic sellers understand that when you solve enterprise-level challenges, you gain the product sales as a natural consequence. Sell the system – drag the products with it.
But the reverse rarely happens—selling products rarely leads to solving strategic challenges. It’s the difference between “top down selling,” where you initiate your interactions with top management and THEN filter down to implementers, or “climbing the ladder,” where you start with the plant-floor implementers and attempt to go up. Helpful hint: Going up rarely works well.
Consider the cybersecurity industry. For years, security vendors have approached sales similarly: identify vulnerabilities, demonstrate superior detection capabilities, then compete on features and price. It’s predominantly technical and transactional. And it yields a race to the bottom, with companies playing chicken to see who’s willing to take the least profit.
Now, forward-thinking providers sell comprehensive risk management frameworks. Instead of hawking point solutions, they map business processes, quantify potential breach costs, and implement complete protection strategies that align with business objectives. The security products become components of the larger solution. Not surprisingly, these engagements typically deliver higher margins and longer contract terms.
Here’s what’s different: these system salespeople engage with executives who control company-wide strategies—CEOs, CROs, and board members—not just IT directors (who often need multiple approvals for significant purchases). If your contact has to ask permission to make a change, you’re not talking to the decision maker.
What does this mean for you? You need to elevate your thinking—and your sales approach—right now. You might believe your particular offering doesn’t warrant C-suite attention. But I guarantee someone is figuring out how to position similar capabilities as essential to company strategy. If it’s not you, you’ll be left fighting for the scraps – or out the door entirely.
How can you make this transition? Start with these guidelines:
Identify the Core Business Driver. If you’re selling transactionally, you’re likely addressing a subset of a Core Business Driver. My friend was selling maintenance components, but these were merely elements of a Core Business Driver better described as “Operational Resilience.” In manufacturing environments, maintenance purchases traditionally fall under middle management authority—but when reframed as part of operational resilience, suddenly it’s worthy of executive attention.
Similarly, cybersecurity tools are components of a Core Business Driver called “Business Continuity and Risk Management.” Individual security purchases might not demand board-level scrutiny, but an enterprise risk strategy absolutely does.
Target Strategic Decision-Makers. For smaller organizations, this means the CEO or owner. For larger enterprises, identify which C-suite executive owns your Core Business Driver. Remember: Core Business Drivers are managed at the executive level, not by middle managers. This means you must develop the skills and confidence to engage effectively at this level. If your target contact doesn’t have a title starting with a “C” or, at the very least, a “V,” you’re aiming too low.
Articulate Strategic Value. You’re probably comfortable explaining your offering’s tactical benefits to your current contacts. But executive-level value must connect to enterprise-wide objectives and measurable outcomes. This requires a fundamentally different conversation—one that addresses profitability, market positioning, or strategic advantage rather than features and specifications. That also means that you need to ask better questions that are more centered around “big picture” company needs, rather than the day-to-day needs. As I constantly remind salespeople in my training programs – 80% of your chance to win or lose a sale is determined by the questions you ask.
You may need to develop new partnerships or completely reimagine your approach. But consider the alternative: being blindsided like my friend after two decades of loyal service.
I’m convinced that over the next five years, more business will shift to solution providers who can elevate the conversation from transactions to transformation. The question isn’t whether this shift will happen—it’s whether you’ll be leading it or becoming its victim.
Time to elevate your thinking—and your sales strategy.
