How the Internet Changed Sales

Up until recently, good salespeople were a protected species. As long as you had a successful track record, you could sail through bad times unscathed; with your suffering being restricted to a reduction in bonuses or a clamp-down on your expense account. At worst, you’d need to switch employers – because even if your boss went broke, you could generally move straight across to their biggest competitor.
Well, times have changed. The protection is gone. Salespeople are suddenly expendable...they’ve been replaced by a website, an on-line shop – even an iPhone app! Some retail staff have become full-time demonstrators for products they will never sell. Buyers visit them for the tactile experience, decide on the model they want, and then go on-line to get the best price. But, this is not the most significant difference. Some products will, inevitably, only be sold on-line. It’s how the internet has changed buyer behaviour for everything else that threatens ‘traditional’ salespeople. One of Australia’s top business magazines (Business Review Weekly) reported in its June 3rd edition that 25% of salespeople will lose their jobs in the next five years.
What’s happened? In the past – before around 2005 - the buying cycle and the sales cycle were in sync with each other. The buyer needed the seller to provide information before they could go to the next step. In 2007, two researchers (Trailer and Dickie) reported in the Harvard Business Review: “Now the buy cycle is well under way before the seller is even aware there is a cycle.”

Last year, I needed to buy a new car. Now, if this were twenty years ago, my first port of call would have been the car showrooms. I would have sat in a few cars, perhaps even gone for a test drive or two and, hopefully, walked away with a nice glossy brochure that I could read from cover to cover over the coming days or weeks (until, in fact, I could convince my spouse to agree to the model I wanted – not just the model I needed!).

This time, of course, my first visit was to a website. I spent weeks making my decision (and getting agreement) and when I had done that, I visited the showroom. The poor salesperson didn’t stand a chance.

• He tried to tell me about the features – I knew them all. I’d studied every word the manufacturer had ever published about this car.

• He tried to tell me about the reviews – read them all.

• He tried to tell me about the reliability. I’d visited every forum of users of this make and this model and had the opportunity to communicate with them from around the world.

• He tried to tell me about the special deal. I showed him an even more special one I’d found on the internet.

He had no real opportunity to influence my decision. The buying cycle had been three weeks for me – and I’d only involved him in the last 20 minutes of it.

The trouble is, the sales models used by most companies nowadays – excellent as they are in themselves – were designed before 2000 - before customer behaviour changed. Salespeople who try to use the ‘old’ process with a buyer using the ‘new’ process are like the primitive peoples who tried to defend their land with bows and arrows against conquerors with firearms. They don’t stand a chance. In this case, they are reduced to ‘commodity’ salespeople – selling on price alone. And it’s easy to see that these salespeople will soon no longer have a role – or, if they do, they certainly won’t command a premium income.

So, will salespeople become redundant? For those who sell only on price, probably. But the good salespeople will be even more essential...yet their role must change. Here are three examples.

Old

1. The salesperson was the primary source of information

2. For a company, first impressions were created with your premises and publicity

3. For an individual, first impressions were created with your first meeting or telephone conversation

New

1. The customer has as much – or more – information about their specific product than the salesperson. Here is one of the primary roles of the ‘new’ salesperson – as an interpreter, clarifier or facilitator helping them make sense of all the data. More information does not mean better informed. Once we reach ‘information overload’ decision-making actually becomes more difficult. The ‘new’ salesperson has the skills and techniques to assist them to confidently make a buying decision.

2. For a company, the first impression for most is through their website.

3. For an individual, the first impression may well be via their social networking profile (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc). The ‘new’ salesperson uses this resource to create more powerful first impressions and build trust more quickly through common connections.

This is the greatest change in consumer behaviour in two centuries. Unfortunately, those salespeople who fail to adapt may go the way of the dinosaurs. For those who do, exciting times are ahead!