Sales 2.0 yes, a tectonic shift in the sales world has occurred
Posted by Gary Ares
Imagine the earth's crust shifting and bumping, with continents moving in slow motion, like you might see on a Discovery Channel special. This is what has happened to the human community, and in particular the Sales and Marketing world, somewhat in parallel with the maturation of the internet. Just a whole lot quicker.
If you missed this monumental event, it's not too late because we are now in the next phase of an ever changing virtual world and it's called Web 2.0. Or, if you'd prefer in this case, Sales 2.0.
This concept is critically important to understand and embrace if you own or run a revenue generating area of a business. Why, because the good 'Ol-boy nostalgia centric network is being replaced with new rules.
Today, we'll explore the term efficiency as it applies to this new landscape. Instead of calling what we do today in sales as broken, useless, or other names which may be completely appropriate, we'll use the more gentile and acceptable term of inefficient. Here is a word that can be easily embraced, thought about, and eventually replaced with practices to increase sales.
The trick here is the continent of sales is not where we thought it was, but has shifted, so our dated ideas of revitalizing this area will no longer work as they did in the past.
I believe efficiency is an excellent word because it partners well with measurement, quantification, or at least the question of "how", as in how efficient. Additionally, the end result of applied improvements are usually beneficial.
To this end, let us use the automobile as an example of a platform into which we place a motor to make it move. The gas engine is somewhere in the vicinity of 25 - 30% efficient at performing work. The electric motor, on the other hand, is often in excess of 75% efficient at performing the tasks of pushing & pulling.
The good news is electric vehicles, bikes, scooters, motorcycles and cars, are all ready and able to eliminate our reliance on the gas burning automobile. A good example of efficiency triumphing over what has worked for decades but, as many view it today, was never a really good idea.
The same can be said for the world of interrupt driven sales where the number of cold calls (read interruptions) a salesperson was able to inflict on the unsuspecting person who answered the phone was a measure of their success.
Consider that people have become pretty good at blocking the advertising hits, like wonder woman with the bracelet, but we generally call it TIVO (imagine a giant 8 track device recording all your TV programs). Instant messaging - not phone calls. Email - not discussion. Blogging - not advertising, news programs, and news papers.
Here is where we must unapologetically point out that people do not want to be interrupted...we're done. The overwhelming majority of us/them are saturated with over 3,000 daily hits for our attention. Again, we're done.
Finally, you ask, what's the answer? Tell me, so I can call my sales force and redirect them before they hit the iceberg!
In a word, permission. Please try to remember this word, because it is one of several that constitute the new 2.0 environment.
To be efficient we must gain permission to enter into another person's world, otherwise selling will be as rewarding as pushing a rope. I believe the more open & transparent my approach is, the better chance I have to be allowed to continue with the conversation.
Don't worry, the solution is not as painful as you might think.
Some take-aways;
- interrupt-driven sales and marketing techniques are NOT the way of the future
- permission and trust are the new guide words
- efficient is good
- effective is better
- together, they are devastatingly excellent
- Sales 2.0 methods are more efficient and effective at developing a relationship with a prospect which lead to a sale (much faster and with better returns than the old methods)
Please return here to the VeloRep blog as we'll continue to develop ways to not only survive, but to reinvent our business persona and build a true following of supporters.
I look forward to hearing your ideas and welcome your comments.