If you think about one of your most recent household purchases, such as a car, grill, or even a lawn mower, it is a safe bet you found yourself on the Internet. You were pouring over specifications, opinions, consumer reviews, buying experiences, and where to buy. On some of these items, you were pleasantly surprised to find that you can "customize" the product to your specification and even have it shipped to your front door!
Remember, just a short few years ago, when we were first able to use the Internet for so called "research." Basically, we found nice brochures that were uploaded and we could view or download. Herein lays one of two trends that are affecting sales and the selling profession. The trend that buyers will conduct research before purchases has been underway for a while. However, what is changing in the business world, as we are seeing with the consumer world, is the ability to not only research but to configure a solution that fits a specific problem or issue. This can be a scary proposition for sales and the selling profession. What it could easily mean is that buyers today can "cut out" sales altogether. Buyers may rightfully be asking: "Why do I need sales representation when I could easily do this myself?"
The second trend affecting sales and just beginning to gain a foothold in the consciousness of buyers is the concept of "social media networking". For those of us who have been around a while in the selling profession, who could forget those days of your first sales manager beating you over the head about referrals. We are all sure to remember the VP of Sales screaming at the top of his or her lungs at the all important National Sales Meeting: "Referrals are the lifeblood of our sales success!!!" And buyers back then would ask and some meekly: "Do you have any references I can talk to?" The almost shocking rise of social media networking in the last two years has changed the concept of referrals and references. Industry based communities and blogs have sprouted everywhere and even some of the corporate giants who at first resisted the idea of communities and blogging are jumping into the fray.
This has taken the notion of "referrals" and "references" to a different orbit. What revolve around buyers today, through social media networking, are the many sources of peer reviews and recommendations that are available. Essentially, this has decreased significantly the need for buyers to rely solely on a sales organization for references.
Sales and the selling profession today must ask itself: "If buyers today can research and configure their own solutions as well as find peer reviews and recommendations, what is the future role of sales in the buying process?" The key to answering this question is to attain a deeper understanding of buyer personas and buying process scenarios. This key opens the door to revealing future insights into how buyers will welcome sales into the buying process. Insights sure to develop the first outline of the role sales can play and in a way that provides the advancement of the selling profession to a new level.
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