This blog is inspired by reflection on what has changed in selling - the answer is EVERYTHING. My background includes being a VP of Sales for many years, working for one of the world's most renowned sales training companies and now working in the lead generation space. This mix has given me a forward thinking perspective on what is Web 2.0 Selling and here it is.
First, the Buying Process. By now, you've heard everybody and their brother talk about this yet FEW companies have a documented Buying Process - how their customers buy, how they go through their decision making cycle, who is involved, what kind of information are they looking for and when. But, boy can they tell you about how they Sell! How customers buy is THE game changer for sales. No longer do they need to pull in a rep to get education - they get it online and actually use information gleaned from online to go deep into their buying cycle and YOUR sales cycle.
So, what has happened? MARKETING, not sales, is now using powerful "lead management" systems that help them look at, track and automatically respond to online behavior. They get a lead qualified, pass it to sales who now has a lead to follow up on - IN THE TRADITIONAL WAY. Most sales groups have no further insight into online behavior! Did I miss something here? Why is this insight only in the hands of marketing. As a sales person, I would want to have access to ALL information around what an opportunity is thinking, doing to help me shape better pursuit decisions.
I predict this will change dramatically in 2009.
1. As marketing gets more educated and comfortable with these tools and begin to work more with sales in bringing this capability into the SALES process, we will wind up with a group of sales people who will find they cannot live without this invaluable digital behavior.
2. The lead management companies are coming to market with additional solutions that are just for sales people to use as they pursue opportunities
3. This entire market is maturing rapidly
It is going to be a lot of fun to introduce digital insight and behavior into the sales process and see how it all changes in 2009. And, at the end of the day, this is a response to how our prospects and customers have changed.
How do you think sales will change in 2009 with these new tools and behaviors?
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1 comment:
Debbie,
you make a great point about the change in sales. It will be interesting to see if the typical persona of the sales professional evolves in the same way as the typical persona of the marketer has evolved recently. I would agree with your suggestion that sales professionals who are comfortable reading and understanding the profile of buyers in a buying process will be tomorrow's rockstar performers.
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