Posted on by Dave J.

Marketing Eye: Internet killed the Sales Star?

MTV never killed radio, and the Internet won’t kill salespeople, or so says Mike Smock (vSente blog) in this oddly-titled post: Mark Babej, Nobel Prize Winners and the Coming Extinction of Salesmen.

Mike’s post picks apart this article by Mark Babej in Fortune Magazine that said:

“1. Salesmen in the before Internet (B.I.) world existed only because they held all the cards when it came to information.

2. That consumers in the A.I. (after Internet) world now hold all the cards driving salesmen into extinction.”

And while statement 2 can be true in some circumstances, Mike says the Internet has also boosted the power of the salesperson:

“In other words the signal to noise ratio is much greater today with the Internet than it was without. The need for a trusted, educated, experienced source of information is greater than ever. And the ability for consumers to really become educated consumers is more and more difficult due to the daunting number of alternatives and the complexity of the decisions. Smart sales folks will understand this and learn to use the Internet to make themselves indispensable. For better or worse, the Internet has tilted the playing field in favor of the salesman. Are salesmen going extinct? Quite the contrary.”

In case you missed the gem in that paragraph, let me repeat: “Smart sales folks will understand this and learn to use the Internet to make themselves indispensable.” To that extent, the Fortune article does provide good advice for being a salesperson AI:

  1. Respect your customer.
  2. Defy comparison.
  3. Offer the best proposition to the right target.
  4. Deliver what you promise.

Marketing Eye tip: Make your website a tool that your sales team can use to their advantage. One savvy salesperson said to me “we’ve got all the information our website when you need it”, hoping his company would be the one I turn to when I am ready to move forward. Be the marketing person whose website can back-up such a promise.

12 Replies to “Marketing Eye: Internet killed the Sales Star?”

  5. Dave, great article about the ongoing need for salesmen. More noise is the truth. I spend most of my time helping customers and prospects make sense of all that is flying around out there. Keep up the good work!

  6. Dave, great article about the ongoing need for salesmen. More noise is the truth. I spend most of my time helping customers and prospects make sense of all that is flying around out there. Keep up the good work!

  7. The internet and the abilty use it as a sales tool has been a great asset to our people. With everyone having broad band you can guide people through your products over the phone with ease.

  8. The internet and the abilty use it as a sales tool has been a great asset to our people. With everyone having broad band you can guide people through your products over the phone with ease.

  9. Ian–great point. Inside salespeople are probably those who rely on the website the most and maximize their effectiveness with it.It’s field sales who still need to integrate the web (effectively) into their presentations.

  10. Ian–great point. Inside salespeople are probably those who rely on the website the most and maximize their effectiveness with it.It’s field sales who still need to integrate the web (effectively) into their presentations.

  11. The internet will make a great sales person even better. I remember trying to sell before everyone had email. It sucked. It is so much easire to send information and a good website drives leads and closes. I love selling more with the web than without.

  12. The internet will make a great sales person even better. I remember trying to sell before everyone had email. It sucked. It is so much easire to send information and a good website drives leads and closes. I love selling more with the web than without.

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