Information abundance. A threat to the sales profession, or is it? Is information availability and access a good thing for buyers?

To start, let’s play a little game. I’ll give you four quotes, one each from the years 1907, 1912, 1953, and 2015. You have to determine which year each quote is from:

Quote #1: 

“A salesman is no longer the essential factor, since (advertising or self-service) has become so generally popular and so prolific a source of orders.”

(the word in parenthesis is either advertising or self-service, I’ll let you know which later)

Quote #2: 

From an article titled “Death of a (B2B) Salesman”: “The majority of…buyers…are self-educating about products and services, or who already know what they want.”

(the … is two omitted words that would give away the answer)

Quote #3: 

“…the answer is to get rid of the salespeople and concentrate almost entirely on self-service techniques.”

Quote #4: 

“Buyers know more nowadays. The knowledge of buyers has increased…”

What do you think? Which quote is from 1907, 1912, 1953, and 2015?

The Answers:

Quote 1 is from 1907, in an edition of Salesmanship Magazine
Quote 2 is from 2015, In an article from Forbes stemming from a Forrester analyst report predicting the elimination of 1 Billion B2B sales jobs by the year 2020.
Quote 3 is from 1953, from a book titled Why Do People Buy? published by Fortune Magazine
Quote 4 is from 1912’s Thomas Herbert Russell book, Salesmanship

How many did you get right?

In each instance, the discussion centered around the general threat information availability and self-service had on the sales profession…through advertising (in the first quote), eCommerce (in the second), and easier mail/catalog ordering in the third. In the early 1950s, most economists felt that selling is “an excess of capitalism, a kind of bug in the distribution process.”

In reading all four articles, each could have included the fourth quote – “buyers know more nowadays”.

The professional hasn’t seen its demise. It’s actually flourished!

Why?

Arthur F Sheldon

“True salesmanship is the science of service. Grasp that thought firmly and never let go.”

That’s a quote from 1911…Arthur Sheldon in his book, The Art of Selling.

This quote from the early 1900s is the reason why information abundance hasn’t led to the demise of the sales profession, it’s actually increased the need. The proliferation of information and self-service hasn’t made things necessarily easier on buyers, it’s made it harder. The sales professionals and marketers who realize that our job is not to convince; it’s to help them predict.

Your opportunity

Winners do the homework for the buyer.

Ever take a child into a toy store? It’s exhausting for you…and them. Too many choices. Endless information. And when a choice is made, often it’s followed by a fear that they made the wrong choice.

You, as a sales professional, know more about the buyer’s choices than they do. The homework they need to do you probably already know! What are the pros of your solution versus their other choices? What are the pros of THEIR solution versus yours? What are the cons of each? If you were in their shoes, what should excite them? Where are the risks? If you were a buyer doing research, what would you find? Google “(your company) reviews”. What would you find?

BE HONEST! When I say “do the homework for the buyer”, I mean actually present both perspectives as if you were the buyer. There’s a reason why you win. There’s a reason why you lose.

“If the truth won’t sell it, don’t sell it.”

Arthur Dunn in his 1919 book, Scientific Selling and Advertising

You’ll differentiate in the way you sell, but more importantly…

1. You’ll dramatically shrink sales cycle lengths
2. You’ll dramatically increase your win rate, partially because you’ll qualify IN better, and partially because you’ll qualify OUT faster
3. By qualifying OUT faster, your pipeline efficiency will go way up, meaning you’ll be spending more time on opportunities you are optimally likely to win, or searching for more instead of working deals you’ll eventually lose
4. You make it very difficult for your competitors to message against you, or even build trust with the buyer.

Information abundance to buyers is, counterintuitively, why salespeople who do it right are more important, not less. Do the homework.

It’s sales kickoff #SKO planning season. Would love to be a resource for you and your team – either in the form of a keynote, workshops, or a source of referrals to those who do things better than I do – or things I don’t do. Head back to todd.caponi.com, or email me at info@toddcaponi.com.