Phil Lauterjung

Has the Sales ‘Game’ Really Changed?

May 24th, 2009 |

Think about who has the most control over the buyer/seller relationship.

If you’re old enough, think about that relationship before we had internet browsers, cell phones (remember when pagers were high-tech?), email, or any of the other tools we now take for granted. Back then, where did buyers have to go to get information on products and services? Most often, it was only available from the suppliers via their friendly sales rep.

Fast-forward to the 21st century (OK, maybe the end of the 20th century) – where do buyers typically go to get product and service information? By now you know where I’m going with this – right?

This injection of technology into the sales game has dramatically changed the playing field. Buyers don’t really need salespeople as early in the process as they once did. But, they still need our information; and, they can very easily get that from their comfy office chair over the internet – without seeing a sales rep.

To a lot of you this isn’t lightning bolt information. You’ve been living with this for a number of years. Many of you have already adapted to a certain degree. You’ve engaged marketing deeper into the process of lead generation and nurturing. You’ve revised your sales processes and developed tools to better track your leads.

But, here’s a sobering statistic. In a recent survey of leads that were originally discarded as ‘bad’ leads, 80% (Sirius Decisions) of those buyers bought within the next 24 months. And, it wasn’t from the company that had the original lead!

What do you think? Has the ‘game’ really changed significantly for you? Have you adapted? What tools have been most helpful?

Photo – Flickr