Is the Professional Salesman On the Verge of Extinction?
By Angel Pomales
It is undeniable that the world is changing. Today, many people communicate through text, check their news by phone, even seek their partner by searching through the latest apps. How has this fast paced, transparent world affected business? Well, in many cases, it has enhanced it. Technology has definitely made the world a smaller place and communication easier than ever before. We can use services like Facebook Messenger and Skype to talk face-to-face with anyone, anywhere, at any time and the ability to have instant feedback and reviews from our customers is invaluable, especially if we learn to survey our customers wants before they ask for it.
Another big advantage is the mobility these advancements have brought us. Many of the larger companies have gone virtual, allowing their employees to work from home or really from anywhere in the world for that matter. Many entrepreneurs have become nomads, traveling from city to city, armed with nothing more than their knowledge, laptop, and cell phone.
All of these advancements raises the question, what is the downside? Well, the obvious downside is that with all of these advancements and technology, many things can be outsourced and sometimes these jobs are outsourced to other countries. This means the loss of jobs. One of the biggest mistakes that companies are making is getting rid of the professional salesman. Recently, I sat down with a fellow entrepreneur that asked the question, “Do you know what the difference is between advertising, marketing, and sales?” His reply, “Advertising is a targeting campaign to attract potential clients, and effective marketing will not only build value in your product or service, but take them all the way through the transaction phase until the money is in the bank. In fact, if you see companies like Amazon, they don’t only serve around the world, but their salesforce strategy is like no other. For starters, like EBay, if you have a product and want Amazon to be your dealer, you can do it in just a few seconds, just add a picture of your item or product you want to sell and submit, their smart website does all the selling for you, in fact all advertisement, payments, etc., no need for a real salesman. Amazon do this all over the world, their salesperson is the website. Brick and mortars stores are falling to this type of internet sales very quickly. There is no doubt the professional salesman is on the verge of extinction, thanks to the modern era. In the future the whole sales spectrum will be totally challenge by new technology.
Today, hiring a salesman is what is needed when your marketing has failed. Companies that have to hire a salesman to go out and build extra value are failing miserably on their marketing campaigns”. As I thought about my friend’s point, I have come to realize that there is some truth in what he is saying, especially in certain fields; however, this is largely incorrect. Today, we live in a society where the whole world of people claiming to be in sales are nothing more than clerks and order takers that lack even the basic fundamentals of the sales game. The image that some have of the ‘used car salesman’ with the open shirt collar who tends to use shady tactics, is not at all what the real sales professional looks like. The true sales professional knows the difference between high pressuring a potential client and building value and being persistent. Their customers rarely feel pressured and send them repeated business again and again. With the advancement in technology, we have the ability to speak face to face from our computers, but why is it that when we are doing big business or any business of importance, we are willing to hop a plane and fly to another state or country? The answer is because people still need human interaction and face-to-face communication. The person that embraces the game of sales and learns to become a professional sales person, will not only find himself at the top of the income charts in this tech savvy world, but will find job security since they cannot be replaced. In fact, let’s remember that.
“A handshake and the right approach to a technological tool, can bring a million-dollar deal to the table” –Angel Pomales
