Flash Forward…10 Years in Sales on the Net
Have you given thought to how you sold 10 years ago on the web? Where it is now and where it will be in 2019? 20 years of coverage that seems like it is in fast-forward currently offering tremendous value!
10 Years Ago:
Working in the late 90’s many changes took place and I was fortunate to be in my late 20’s with a flexible personality. We saw tremendous growth that was being integrated into sales organizations on a regular basis. The Internet was still in its infancy and we used it for simple emails, presentations and information centers. Not available, were the countless social networks, ease of use creating websites and viral video productions. If you were involved in sales, you were probably spending minimal time doing a few reports and correspondences with your customers and company on the web. Those who created sites found much difficulty in creating, writing code and found high costs associated with each.
Your company website was merely an information center that was used to spread information to the masses. Company’s were reluctant to post prices and competitive information and were still struggling to find value on the web.
Sales people were still using simple cellphone technology. Phone/Web browsing as unavailable and chances are, you used a Palm Pilot or similar device to keep your business organized. These were great innovative tools at the time, but had us rely on multiple tools to be organized. Online viewing of schedules was available if you used outlook, but you had to manually plug in devices to sync. Many errors occurred and it always made you concerned over losing data to your devices. I personally used to update these devices 2-3 times a year to keep up with technology and to have the latest and greatest at a very high cost.
Ordering on the Internet was still a scary process. We all were reluctant to give credit card numbers and did not trust placing this information out in someone else’s hands. It wasn’t until sites like Ebay, Amazon and others that online transactions became second nature.
Networking was still building the relationship at the street level. It was still a face to face conversation, phone conversation or exchanging of business cards and information. Some future potential involved, but we still relied on the meet and greet for best results.
All in all, it was a great time to be involved in sales. The economy was cruising and we all knew the Internet was going to be a valuable tool someday but were not sure how.
Today’s Sales Market:
Our current sales market on the web is being steered by Social Media, which allows us to network anywhere, anytime and anyplace. Our lives never seemed so instant as we all can get information on people, places and things immediately. We have come to expect it.
Today’s Internet allows us to connect globally or locally with the click of a mouse…or your phone! For our customers, they can find out about you, your company and your competition immediately. This is also making our customers not very loyal when it comes time to purchase, because decisions are being made with the content available online. They can be easy pulled away with some of the negativity the web can bring.
No longer is the web simply used for emails. Now you can have your own personal website up in about 10 minutes. Not too mention the countless ways to be recognized as an expert by providing valuable content is at an all time high with the introduction of Blogs. People that were unknowns yesterday have become web branded people if not stars in the sales community!
With all of these changes and tools you could make your sales career a 24/7 position just trying to keep up on the web. And now, the CRM tools that have been introduced allow for customer involvement as well, from tracking to ordering to buying habits. It really could make you crazy when deciding to Twitter, Facebook and Xing…or to do none of it!
One thing remains true today in sales; relationship selling is still as strong as ever. With our economy down, many of us have refocused on being in contact now and bringing value face to face to our customers. We are learning how to strengthen these relationships with all of the great new tools on the net today!
10 Years From Now….2019:
If you look at how drastically the web has changed in 10 short years, try to imagine selling in 2019. In my opinion, given the growth of Social Networking, I would expect to the customer to be in tremendous control. The (VOC) Voice of the Customer will be vital in planning, selling and deciding what to roll out to the masses.
The customer’s ability to gain knowledge will get better and better, at a faster pace. They will have instant access to knowledge on features, benefits, user lists, references and many other categories that can be positive as well as damaging to your company and career.
Relationship Selling and finding ways to build and improve it will be more important. Keeping yourself and your company in good standing will be vital to success.
From an individual’s sales perspective, you will be seen as both local and global because of the web. Expect translations in many languages to become standard and video/online-meeting presentations will grow in popularity.
Finding 1 key “home” or “Hub” for all of these tools will be important and necessary as well to keep from being watered down and spread too thin. Tools such as personal websites may become the central landing zone for customers, friends and colleagues all working through viral tools such as a combination of CRM, Facebook, Xing, LinkedIn. They will all combine with customers feeding off of each other as well as your company offerings.
Tools such as Tats Augmented ID’s will be commonplace as your affiliations will follow you, your career and your customers.
Selling will remain a “relationship business” but business will be close to instant, knowledge will be spread fast and growth can be much quicker. The key is being prepared and learn about the new tools to keep the upper hand. Good selling!
About the Author:
Jim Langelohis a leading Medical Sales Professional with over 14 years of successful growth of revitalizing under-producing territories. He has trained, mentored and managed some of the top producing Medical Sales Representatives. He has a Business Degree from Eastern Michigan University, was awarded All-Academic Honors and received a full football scholarship. Finally, he is the Founder of MySalesRep.com, and currently involved as a resource to the company. www.mysalesrep.com
