Sales 2.0 has been lauded as giving the customer control of the sales process since they can now research their options and make purchase decisions long before ever speaking to a salesperson—IF they ever speak to a salesperson.
Much has been written about how this new buyer controlled process will destroy the sales industry since more and more purchasing decisions will be made without ever consulting a salesperson; how buyers will continue to demand access to more and more free, objective information; and how all of this information will make the purchasing process quicker, easier, and more efficient for buyers.
I suspect that all of the predictions will prove to be absolutely, totally, unquestioningly incorrect.
I’m willing to bet that there will be a huge increase in the number of professional, highly specialized sellers as a result of the avalanche of information made available to buyers..
I’m also willing to bet that the sheer amount of information available at one’s fingertips will increase the complexity of the purchasing process for most goods—even relatively simple purchases.
Just two very quick examples:
My wife and I are in the process of a major home improvement project. We have ripped up perfectly good carpet from two rooms and perfectly good ceramic tile from three other rooms in order to put down a stone floor so we can cover it with more carpet in the form of rugs (what humans do sometimes makes no sense from a logical standpoint). In years past the selection of rugs for the foyer, den, dining room and kitchen would have been easy—we have a few stores in town that sell rugs and we’d make a selection from their inventory. In reality we’d select from maybe a few hundred rugs with a couple dozen being actual contenders.
More of the Sales and Management blog post from Paul McCord
