The annals of military history are full of examples where underdog armies vanquished superior arch-rivals. Outnumbered two to one, Hanibal Barca and his Carthaginian army defeated the powerful Roman army at the battle of Cannae in 215 BC. At the naval battle of Salamis in 480 BC, 360 ships of the Greek fleet were victorious over the Persian fleet of 780 ships.

How do underdogs defeat goliaths? The difference between winning and losing is strategy. There are two basic types of warfare strategy: Direct versus Indirect. In both examples above the victor used an Indirect Strategy.

In sales, the direct strategy is a full frontal assault on the customer to convince them to buy based upon features, functions, and business benefits. Conversely, the indirect strategy is out of the box thinking that is based upon intelligence, finesse, and the element of surprise, rather than frontal assault. This time-tested strategy involves understanding one’s own abilities and concentrating resources on the enemy’s weaknesses. Above all, the indirect strategy truly appreciates the importance of momentum and the role human nature plays in determining the winner. Seven principles underlie the indirect strategy:

1. The Indirect Strategy Is Based upon Psychology and Human Nature.
2. Communication Is the Cornerstone of the Indirect Strategy.
3. The Indirect Strategy Requires Privileged Intelligence.
4. The Indirect Strategy Is Flexible, Employing Attacks, Retreats, and Defensive Fighting Based upon Circumstances.
5. The Indirect Strategy Employs Rapid Dominance to Defeat the Ultimate Enemy—Time.
6. Deception Is at the Heart of the Indirect Strategy.
7. The Indirect Strategy Seeks to Create a Turning Point or Moment That Determines the Winner and Loser.

The first and foremost principle is that the indirect strategy is a psychological operation (“psy-op” in military jargon) based upon understanding, predicting, and influencing human nature. Psy-ops include the manipulation of information, movements, and positioning to gain a strategic battlefield advantage before and during a war. On the battlefield, the mission of psy-ops is to cause the enemy to quit by inflicting mental and emotional trauma. The goal is to elevate the enemy’s combat fatigue and skepticism about winning because a halfhearted warrior is more than halfway to losing.

The second and third principles are based upon the elimination of the “fog of war,” the natural uncertainty and lack of knowledge that occur during the heat of battle. The word “war” is derived from the Frankish-German word werra, which means “confusion,” “discord,” or “strife.” The second principle is that effective communications are necessary to eliminate miscues and mistakes, while the third principle is that privileged intelligence is a requirement to win a war. Only through privileged intelligence can one determine the enemy’s position and find its weaknesses.

In battle, the only certainty is change. Constantly changing battle conditions require flexible tactics. A General’s success lies not only in his initial plan but in how he adapts his plans once the initial plan has become inconsequential. The fourth principle is tactical flexibility, knowing when to use the optimum maneuver—a surprise attack, calculated retreat, coordinated counterattack, or defensive position—at the appropriate time. The fifth principle acknowledges that time is the ultimate enemy. During a prolonged engagement, the relentless march of time depletes supplies, weapons, troops, and morale.

The sixth principle, that deception is at the heart of the indirect strategy, and the seventh principle, that every battle has a turning point, are intimately intertwined. The indirect strategy is based upon the creation of deceptions to confuse enemies. This confusion creates a critical turning point, causing enemies to lose momentum they can never regain.

All wars can be broken down into three elements: grand strategy, battles, and battlefield maneuvers. The grand strategy is the overall approach to winning the war. In sales, the grand strategy should always be based upon an approach to influence the people, selection process, and politics of the customer’s decision making. In other words, we want to build a personal relationship with the customer that’s deeper than the competition’s, change the selection process to better suit us, and influence the politics of how the decision is going to be made by winning over the senior executives making the decision. The grand strategy is accomplished by executing a series of battles (sales calls, presentations, demonstrations, and so on). Finally, the smallest element of war consists of battlefield maneuvers (such as phone calls, letters, and e-mails)—specific actions intended to move a salesperson to the next battle.

Battlefield maneuvers prevent you from standing still, getting stuck at a certain stage in the sales cycle, or being pinned down by an opponent’s tactics. These maneuvers are usually based upon a direct approach. The figure below illustrates the interrelationships between the grand strategy, battles, and battlefield maneuvers.

If you are in sales, you are perpetually in a state of war. All salespeople are warriors who must fight the relentless march of time and enemies who are trying to defeat them daily. Sales is an intense hand-to-hand battle fought between two people or two groups of people who are each trying to win over the customer. The victor outsmarts, outmaneuvers, and overwhelms his enemies. In sales, just as in war, there can be only one winner, and today’s conqueror can quickly become tomorrow’s vanquished. The deciding difference is strategy.