The Evolution of Sales: How the Landscape
Has Changed
Depending on whom
you are selling to, and how, the nature of the sales process has changed
since the birth and incredible growth of the Internet. However, with all of
the changes in how we communicate with digital connectivity, some things
have not changed much at all. Sales are still sales. It is the targeting of
sales that has changed more than anything else.
A century's worth of knowledge about how to go about selling something has
not been made obsolete, but it has experienced some competition. The old
guard, presenting the "correct" path for sales taught new
recruits the art of manipulation. Jeffrey Gitomer, Zig Zigler, Brian Tracy,
Tom Hopkins, and many other authors on the subject have outlined a strategy
for increasing sales on the basis of this manipulation. They have shown us
a successful, proven model for sales. So, what has changed?
Old School
The mantra for the old school approach was to establish and maintain a sort
of control over potential customers by answering questions with questions.
Establish some common ground and build a rapport. Spend all the time you
can, build value, and only then reveal the price. Once a value has been
established, even a higher price will seem more acceptable. It must be said
that this approach has achieved much success. And, in fact, there remains a
place for it, depending on the medium used for conversation.
What the Internet and digital communication have done, however, is to
change the speed of interactions to the point that available time has
collapsed. These days, spending a lot of time has become counter-productive
if the medium is the Internet, for example. Studies show that most web
surfers, even when looking for a specific product, will spend very little
time searching before making a decision, one way or the other.
This makes building value more difficult, and when transactions occur
online, there is no face-to-face interaction and no rapport building.
Digital customers have very little time for elaborate presentations
building product value. Typically, they already have a price in mind and
are most interested in your price for the sake of comparison.
New School
Today, sales are being made with a rapidity that has never before been
matched. For that to occur, some of the old ways have been relegated to
other media, as the Internet has expanded to take over some of their space.
Online sales are continuing to explode exponentially, so it is quite clear
that new approaches are being validated.
To a certain extent, a person's approach is tailored to his or her
personality. Some people are built for face-to-face interaction. Some can
do without it. All sales become a contract and there is a personal comfort
zone that must be attained even in the quickest of transactions. Serious
shoppers who demand a greater depth of information do exist on the
Internet, but the Internet can easily adapt for these shoppers by offering
the information to those who demand it, while streamlining the sales
process for those who do not.
There is really nothing inherently wrong with the old school approach to
sales. There will always be a time and place for it in certain contexts.
What the Internet has introduced to the process is flexibility. While there
is no flesh-and-blood person speaking to the buyer, there is a wealth of
information available if the buyer really desires it. As a result, website
building has become something of an art form, so the needs of customers can
be addressed as those needs emerge rather than in a pre-determined sales
presentation.
It seems old school and new school can live together, after all.
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