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Could we be entering into a new phase where we don't need sales people? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Max Altschuler, CEO of Sales Hacker and author of Hacking Sales, on Quora:
Could we be entering into a new phase where we don't need sales people? Not in the near term, but potentially yes, in five to twenty years.
Here’s my logic: Look at how the process of buying has already transformed over the last few decades. It used to be that to buy a TV, you’d go to a store and discuss the purchase with a sales representative. Now, that’s usually done without ever talking to anyone. Instead, people put their faith in crowdsourcing. Customer reviews have major influence in buying decisions. A recommendation or endorsement from someone you trust is way more effective than a suggestion from a sales rep you’ve just met.
New technologies are taking this process to the next level by updating how online crowdsourcing works. They take steps to make sure the reviewer actually bought the product or service. And they’re adding all kinds of filters that allow you to look at reviews only from people who are the most like you. I expect that to gain tremendous popularity and become the new way people shop.
So rather than focus on vendors who can sell their products, savvy creators are learning to focus on reaching key demographics directly, and making sure those buyers are happy. That way, they’ll post positive reviews and sales can snowball. This simplifies the entire process.
We’re seeing this with the rise of new software categories that support the modern buyer experience, including:
- Advocate Marketing (Influitive, Zuberance, etc.),
- Vendor Ratings/Reviews (G2Crowd, TrustRadius, etc.)
- Live Chat and Messenger (Intercom, Drift, etc.)
- Customer Success (Gainsight, Totango, etc.)
- Net Promoter Scores (Delighted, Promoter.io, etc.)
Right now, many traditional companies still follow a model of using Sales Development Reps (SDR) and Account Executives (AE) to qualify leads, tell their story, and get deals done. As things transform, those positions will be needed much less often.
But there will be a place for sales engineers - people who are able to help buyers implement the product or service. In business-to-business sales, buyers will still want to reach real people to help them implement a new software system at their company, for example. And in business-to-customer sales, individuals who buy phones, for example, will want to reach someone when they need help troubleshooting.
So sales as we know it will completely change, and there will be a need for fewer salespeople overall. But there will still be a role for some within the new system, particularly those focused on customer success (supporting the customer and making sure they’re happy, then up-selling them to a higher priced package).
I say five to twenty years because companies following this new model still have a ton of market left to penetrate. They’re only in the first or second inning. Buying and selling habits are very hard to change. But as the Millennial, Gen Z, and younger generations become more and more of the workforce, the way people sell will have to change with them.
These are generations native to cell phones, instant messaging, texting, review sites, and large peer networks. They do not function like previous generations, in which sales meant handshakes, steak dinners, and golf outings.
What makes a purchase attractive to them is what online crowds of people like them have to say. To win them over, businesses will have to adapt to the new economy.
So yes, we may be entering a world in which traditional salespeople as you know them disappear.
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