Where do you stand on the spectrum of sales needing to be sales rep-led versus making it easy for customers to buy without ever speaking to one of your people?
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CEO in Services (non-Government)21 days ago
The answer to this question lies solely in how your customers and potential customers want to buy your products and services. If a sales or revenue professional is critical to adding value during the process, they will be part of the buying process. If not, then they are not needed and a self service buying option is likely a good option.
On the other end of the spectrum, if you sell a highly complex product, you need a sales team to connect the dots between the problems being solved and how the product addresses those issues. Unfortunately, many teams struggle because they focus too much on the product and not enough on helping buyers connect the dots. This often leaves it up to the buyer to determine if the product can actually help them, which is why many deals are lost to indecision or status quo.
I believe sales will look very different in the next five years. The number of B2B salespeople is likely to shrink, not because of AI, but because there aren’t enough sellers or products that solve significant problems to sustain themselves. As buyer attitudes shift and the way we get information evolves, the cream of the crop in sales will rise, while many who have been in sales for the last decade may start to struggle if they don’t adapt.
It’s not all the salespeople’s fault; products also need to evolve to ensure they are truly solving problems. Companies need to think about how to make their products as easy to buy as Uber or Airbnb. This involves building products from the perspective of solving an end-user problem, rather than focusing solely on massive enterprise initiatives.
Companies need to think about creating products that are so easy to buy that they almost sell themselves. This approach can significantly streamline the customer journey and drive revenue growth.