“Theory and practice sometimes clash. And when that happens, theory loses. Every single time.”
Linus Torvalds -- best know for being the creator of the Linux Kernel for the Linux operating system was quoted stating this, and this observation is absolutely and unequivocally correct.
I would argue that theory and practice always clash, especially when to comes to the sales process in conjunction with the events that unfold during a B2B sales engagement. There are no shortage of books on sales, and one could fill several Olympic sized swimming pools with ease.
These sales books provide a rough guideline of skills that can be implemented throughout the sales process, however when put into practice, the tools need to be tempered with the right level of experience for maximum efficacy. This is why a seasoned, and experienced sales professional with real field experience in his craft is absolutely invaluable to an organization either in a direct staff role, or as a consultant.
The nature of interactions with people engaged in business transactions are as random, chaotic, and unpredictable as ever. There is rarely, if ever the same situation encountered twice. It is only through pattern recognition gained from decades of experience that one could only begin to master the art of sales with any success.
The theory on sales and the sales cases ascribed in many writings online and in books, and used as structure or guidelines for would-be sales professionals fail more often than not to prepare sales professionals for the reality of sales practice in the real world. A battle-hardened sales professional bridges the gap between this theory and practice, as they see how sales techniques are applied, short-circuited, and distorted in practice.
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