A Repless Experience? Here We Go Again
The sky appears to be falling.
Again.
Gartner released another study last fall suggesting that more and more buyers would rather not deal with a salesperson at all.
I’ve heard this story before… This is the same research and consulting organization that told us 10 years ago that five years ago we would lose millions of sales jobs to AI.
They do great research, and they’re terrific marketers. That particular thread garnered a ton of citations and dominated the conversation about “the next generation of buyers” for a couple of years. Here we are again.
Be careful not to mistake good marketing for the truth.
Facts are facts
Here’s what I know
The buying process does not line up with the selling process
Neither is as linear as we’d like it to be
The future of selling is definitely along more digital and frictionless channels
I’m not going to argue with the data, but I’m jumping up and down over here about how people are already interpreting it. The gut response seems to be that we should remove salespeople from the process and enable more customers to make decisions on their own.
Here’s what I also know
There’s more information out there than can be comprehended
Your buyers still want a guide to show them away
Being a trusted advisor is never going to go out of style
You’re kidding yourself if you believe your customer knows everything they need to know in order to make a decision. Except for highly transactional sales, there is just too much information out there for one to consume on their own. The buyer starts with research, then the paradox of choice sets in, then there’s information overload, and then something else inevitably comes up, leading to no decision. You and I both see this every day.
It happens to me as I’ve struggled to decide on a new email marketing platform for the better part of a year while MailChimp continues to be good enough. It also happens to the VP-level prospect who’s trying to make a decision that will impact her team of 250 employees.
What are the risks and downsides of her decisions? There are a lot of people who could be impacted. Do you think she wants to go that route alone? Do you think she wants to browse your company’s FAQ page for six hours while she contemplates the idea that her job could be on the line with a decision like this?
Give me a break.
Your buyer wants a guide. Someone who specializes in a very specific area, who can give them the insights they need in order to make the best decision they can make. Not just the CliffsNotes of the data, but what the data means, along with what the implications are of changing (or not). Bonus points for that person or salesperson who can share stories about others in her position faced with the same decision.
The real problem is that there are still a lot of clowns calling themselves sales professionals. Take a look at the average seller and their cheap tactics and tell me you wouldn’t rather buy from a website!
The customer is not always right
Henry Ford is often quoted as saying, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have told me faster horses.” Your customer thinks they know what they want.
They know the information is out there, and they’re capable of doing research. They know that most sales reps aren’t as helpful as they should be. They also know that it’s usually pretty safe to not make a decision at all. In these circumstances, a repless experience makes sense.
But your prospect doesn’t know what they don’t know, and that’s where the professional seller needs to step in. Buyers need a guide with complex decisions. They need someone they trust to lead them. Fewer salespeople means fewer decisions and fewer purchases. The only winner in that situation is the status quo.
The answer for salespeople is not to fold and find another profession, it’s to rise to the occasions and be who your buyers need. The current state of sales is not working for the average customer. We, as a profession, have an obligation to respond.
Take a good look in the mirror. Do you treat your sales job as a profession or just a role? What are you doing on a daily basis to learn how to be more of what your customers need from you? Are you an order taker or a resource? Do you have enough expertise and business acumen to help them work through their challenges, or do you just show up when the invoice needs to be paid?
If you left your company tomorrow, would your clients follow you, or would it be a good reason for them to shop for a new solution? Worse yet… are you being shopped right now?
There’s a lot of work you can do. You can zig when everyone else zags. You can be the standout, linchpin rep that your customers can’t live without.
When one out of three of your customers thinks they’d be better off without you, you’ve got to do better. What will you choose to do? Share your experience in the Rethink The Way You Sell Community.
I also encourage you to join me for a weekly sales workshop, where I tackle one topic at a time, provide an exercise for you to think and grow, and answer your questions in real time. You can register for free and I hope to see you there.
Jeff Bajorek
Real. Authentic. Experience.
There’s a big difference between knowing how to sell and being able to. Jeff Bajorek spent over a decade in the field as a top performer. He’s been in your shoes. He knows what it will take. He can help you succeed.
Join the Community
Related Posts
