Death Of The Salesman? And What Would That Mean For Marketers?
Summary
Pop open a bottle of champagne and celebrate the demise of what many marketers feel is the never-ending whining of salespeople who want another data sheet and complain about the quality of leads? The overly aggressive hunters have made “being in sales” a rather negative career choice; we steer away from these folks at parties and refuse to give them our business cards or phone numbers. As organizations, we even try to disguise them by calling them anything but salespeople: account executives, business development managers, solutions analysts, consultants, relationship managers… But sales, as a discipline, is growing and is beginning to increase in stature. As buyers rely more and more on social media to inform their purchase decisions, the salesperson becomes a later “touch” a consumer has with a brand or product. Whatever you call it, there is one thing that is clear: Engagement between the buyer and the seller will be the ultimate factor that determines whether or not a product is sold.