(article originally appeared in The Hartford Business Journal, August 28, 2000)
Pete Peterson, SaleMetrix, Inc.
Online reverse auctions, where the sellers bid against each other for a buyer's order, are only the latest in a long string of technology changes designed to make the shoe-leather sales person obsolete. Why would a purchasing agent allow herself to be "sold to" by a succession of salespeople who each need "only a few minutes of her time?" Instead, that same purchasing agent can place a detailed request for quote (RFQ) on one of a dozen auction sites and in a few days have a bidding session in which sellers try to win the business by driving the cost down by 10%, 15%, 20% or more.
This sort of disintermediation is precisely the value offering of most of today's business-to-business Internet start-ups. Simply put, the web drives down the cost of transactions and broadens the customer reach of most companies.
The Internet is also providing a low cost way to compare offerings of various vendors. Most buyers prefer to "buy" rather than be "sold" and a wealth of information is available for them to do their research in a non-threatening way and on their own schedule.
What's a salesperson to do?
First, recognition that the role of a sales person is and will continue to change rapidly is essential. No longer is a "smile and a shoeshine" enough to win and keep business. Today's sales professional must become a true partner with his or her customers, jointly developing markets, networks and solutions that strengthen a buyer's competitive position. There are five key areas that a sales team can add value well beyond its cost:
- New business opportunity development
- Differentiating products
- Relationship forming, strengthening and management
- Needs analysis and solution delivery
- New product initiation
Finding New Business
The Internet, powerful as it is, is still largely a "pull" technology. Buyers and sellers must know about each other's needs and offerings and must take action to participate in the web community designed specifically to bring them together. The Internet is a passive vehicle waiting to catch a buyer and pull them in.
A sales person operates through "push" technology. A selling company relying solely on the Internet must wait for a buyer to analyze their need and then come and find them to see if the seller's solution fits. Simply put, a sales person takes his company's solutions to a buyer, rather than relying on the buyer to come and get them.
Conveying Relevant Differentiators
It is rarely in either party's best interests, buyer or seller, to allow price to become the only differentiator among competitors. If your product or service is different in meaningful ways from your competitors, a highly trained sales professional is the best method of conveying those differences.
Building Relationships
A sales person's first role is to initiate a trusting relationship with a potential buyer in order to determine their exact needs. It is often the case that even hardened purchasing managers will opt to do business with a company with whom they have a trusting relationship-even if the price is higher. The salesperson is the personification of that relationship and can help his or her company do more, and more profitable, business with its existing customers.
Crafting Solutions that Work
There will still be a tremendous number of complex sales to be made that require an intense discovery process that, as yet, doesn't lend itself well to the Internet. Someone still has to ask the right questions, probe for nuances in needs, learn who the key decision makers are and what is important to each of them.
New Product Initiation
Evolving customer needs require evolving solutions and those solutions are usually a collaborative process between supplier and producers. The outside sales team serves as the eyes and ears of its company and because it is closest to the customer (and subsequently the competitors' offerings) it serves this other mission critical function.
The role of today's sales professional is a vital and changing one, and one that should never be underestimated or undervalued. As a pioneer, consultant, coach and facilitator, the sales team, in conjunction with the opportunities of the World Wide Web forms a powerful competitive advantage that is, and will be, crucial to the success of companies for many years to come.
Pete Peterson is president and CEO of SaleMetrix, Inc., a sales force development consultancy that combines technique and technology to give companies sustainable competitive advantage.