--- title: Not Selling | The Sales Blog description: Taking an order when a client reaches out to you to place an order is order-taking, not selling. Asking the questions necessary to create value for that client, shape their order, and cause them to engage with you on a more strategic level is selling. Skipping right to proposing a solution—even when your prospective client […] image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_1044023293.jpg --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! 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Asking the questions necessary to create value for that client, shape their order, and cause them to engage with you on a more strategic level is selling. Skipping right to proposing a solution—even when your prospective client asks for a proposal—is not selling. It’s straight pitching. [There is a time to pitch](http://thesalesblog.com/2015/01/28/let-pitch/), and when you have done the work to put the pitch in context and win, pitching is part of selling. Providing your prospective client with pricing because they asked for it is not selling. It’s giving up the opportunity to sell and is akin to transacting, as if there were no greater value than the product and no compelling differentiation.[ Pushing for a meeting](http://amzn.to/2hXXgCx) that would better serve the prospect in helping them make a good decision is selling, and a lot of the time you need to sell a meeting to sell at all. Replying to an unsolicited [RFP](http://thesalesblog.com/2012/03/11/wait-before-you-respond-to-that-rfp/) is not selling. It is sometimes necessary, and it is mostly administrative work, but because there is no real interaction with a human being outside of the written word, it isn’t a conversation, and it isn’t selling. Doing the work to position yourself as the right partner before an RFP is selling, especially when you have shaped the primary questions that make up the RFP. Avoiding the [difficult conversations](http://thesalesblog.com/2014/10/24/difficult-conversations-are-growth-opportunities/) to not have to deal with conflict between what your prospective client wants and what is the right thing to do is not selling. The difficult conversations are important, and the fact that you have to change someone’s mind is why we call it selling. The things that you might do to make selling easier and [faster](http://thesalesblog.com/2017/01/17/fast-is-slow-human-relationships-episode-19/) tend to slow things down and make things more difficult. Like any other profession, the best performers work on their effectiveness. That means doing what is right over what seems to be easier. ###### Tags: [Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/sales) [2018](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/2018) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on December 21, 2018 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. You can email Anthony at [iannarino@gmail.com](mailto:iannarino@gmail.com) [Follow me on my website](https://www.thesalesblog.com/anthony-iannarino) [Follow me on Facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/thesalesblog) [Follow me on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/iannarino/) [Follow me on Twitter ](http://www.twitter.com/iannarino) [![AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27.jpg?width=400&height=400&name=AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27.jpg)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/authority) [![ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1.jpg?width=318&height=179&name=ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1.jpg)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/free-cold-calling-video) ![salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover (1)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover%20(1).jpg?width=768&height=994&name=salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover%20(1).jpg) ### Free Sales eBook: Sales Call Planner Planning your sales call improves the likelihood of making a successful call, and it demonstrates to your dream client your professionalism. 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What we’re doing right now **is working**, even in this challenging economy. **Would you like some help?** [![Solve for Sales](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035) ### Join my Weekly Newsletter for Sales Tips Join 100,000+ sales professionals in my weekly newsletter and get my *Guide to Becoming a Sales Hustler* eBook for FREE! --- ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2021-06-15T6:29:40 PM", "datePublished" : "2018-12-21 21:00:41", "description" : "Taking an order when a client reaches out to you to place an order is order-taking, not selling. Asking the questions necessary to create value for that client, shape their order, and cause them to engage with you on a more strategic level is selling. 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