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In September 2010, Slate.com published an article by one James Ledbetter quoting statistics that he claimed suggested that the world no longer needs salespeople. Of course he referenced the biggest sales loser who never actually walked the planet, Willy Loman, and his eventual demise. All we can say is…good grief. One more such tired, misdirected reference to a fictional concept, and we should all heave a large rock at whoever utters it. Let’s get one thing straight: Willy Loman was not real. And to continue to use “him” to discuss professional sales is like using Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge to exemplify the banking industry. The article went on to say that sales is a dying profession and soon will be as outmoded as oil lamps and the rotary phone. Really?

The assumption that technology, especially the Internet, will replace person-to-person buying and selling is as ridiculous a prediction as the ones that had television replacing radio. Has selling changed? Of course. Is the Fuller Brush Man gone for good. Absolutely. But when it comes to B2B sales, the profession is only going to become more valuable and more professional in the future. While it’s true that a lot of retail sales jobs, including car sales, have been replaced by the Internet and eliminated by dealership closings, even a cursory glance at the Selling Power 500 reveals that professional sales is alive and well.
Selling Power magazine invited a handful of sales professionals and experts to weigh in on the future of B2B sales. Their comments just might surprise – and inspire – you.

The Sales Managers
John Sutton, VP of sales and marketing, Sendside (send side.net). With more than 10 years in the sales industry at start-ups and established B2B companies, Sutton has a wealth of knowledge about sales management and the evolving needs of frontline salespeople.

Chris Cowan, senior VP of sales and business development, LOYAL3 (loyal3.com). Cowan bases his belief that the basics of sales will always prevail on his two-plus decades leading large-business development teams for top-notch financial services organizations, including American Express.

The Experts
Troy Harrison, author of Sell Like You Mean It! (SalesForce Solutions, 2006) and president of SalesForce Solutions (salesforcesolutions.net). Harrison has shared his expertise with a wide range of B2B sales groups, from start-ups to Fortune 200 organizations, helping them with sales development and refinement. He helps companies establish and develop winning sales teams.
Steve Kloyda, “The Prospecting Expert” (theprospect ingexpertblog.com). With more than a quarter million sales phone calls under his belt, Kloyda is an expert on the sales process. After analyzing more than 25,000 sales calls, Kloyda has firsthand knowledge of what works and what doesn’t and how the sales process has changed.

The Academic
Chris Westfall, instructor, Texas Christian University and the Business Leadership Center at Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business. With his extensive background as a B2B salesman and manager, Westfall offers his MBA and leadership students a sales-savvy perspective on business.

Question One: Is B2B selling dead?
The panel’s answer was unanimous: Things may look a lot different – and will indeed continue to change – but professional sales careers promise to be around for some time to come.

Our panel agreed that the sales profession will continue to evolve, but the role of the salesperson is a vital one to the organization as a whole. Said Chris Cowan, “One-off sales can certainly take place without the need for a salesperson; however, in a B2B environment, where companies typically have a unique set of needs, you need a salesperson to uncover those needs and help the customer understand why your company is the best equipped to meet those needs.”

Sales is still critical to business longevity, agreed Steve Kloyda. Someone must define the company’s value proposition and unique message and communicate it to the market, and that person is the sales rep. What is dying, though, is the account-maintenance role – what Troy Harrison calls “the order taker.”

“Those people – the ones who stop by the office on Friday with a box of donuts and say, ‘Hey, got anything for me?’ – they are making themselves very replaceable,” said Harrison. “They’re not adding any value to the process.” As a result, their function can easily be replaced by automation. Who will have job security? Those who excel at new-customer acquisition, relationship management, and account growth with existing customers.

Question Two: How is the Internet changing the game?
Those who venture to predict the death of sales like to point to the ready availability of information on the Internet. It has all the data a decision maker needs and offers the ability to place an order at the click of a button. What value could a salesperson possibly add? Plenty, according to our sources. Sure, information is available, but that doesn’t mean the decision maker knows where to access it or has the time or ability to make sense of it and how it applies to his or her particular business needs.

“The Internet can take orders and disseminate content, but what it can’t do is discover customer needs. It can’t build relationships, and it can’t prospect on its own,” said Harrison.
The main shift seems to be the point at which the salesperson now enters the sales process. “Technology isn’t replacing  salespeople,” said John Sutton. “It’s augmenting their activities and changing the (continued on page 2)

trajectory of sales.”

Chris Westfall agreed: “The conversation with the customer starts online.” Customers often come to the initial meeting already having done their homework about you, your products, and your competitors. As a result, they’re not looking for a dog and pony show; they’re ready to go deeper.

Instead of focusing on educating, the salesperson needs to move into the discovery and relationship-building phase, uncovering pain points and focusing on the prospect’s business, not on a product-centric, canned presentation. “The role of the salesperson is to take the basic facts and bring them to the next level,” said Cowan. “It is a distillation process, taking a wide range of facts and making them relevant to a prospect’s needs.”

Question Three: How do salespeople keep social media from becoming the tail that wags the dog?
Blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter, message boards, Facebook, Ning, MySpace...the list goes on. Social media is top of mind for most businesses, and with the sales organization’s emphasis on external communications, the pressure to stay current is high. Our panel of experts agreed that sales reps and managers need filters so that social-media use remains a sales tool, not a distraction.

It’s easy to become an expert at, say, Twitter, but still be lousy at serving customers and making sales. “Social networking is a strategy for marketing promotions and relationship management. It is not a prospecting tool,” said Harrison. “A lot of those functions are going to slide down to the lowest-paid person who is competent to do them.” In other words, a top-level sales manager should not be focused on keeping the company’s Facebook page updated and responding to tweets.
Even beyond distraction, Kloyda warns that many communication tools are actually doing a disservice to salespeople. “Too many salespeople are hiding behind such technology as email, text messaging, and LinkedIn,” he said. These are simply tools that allow us to connect and engage, not replace the sales process. Westfall added, “You can’t get your story out in 140 characters.”

So how are we to keep current with whatever is coming next without chasing rabbits down dead-end trails? “In the midst of uncertainty, focus on the customers,” said Westfall. “That’s where your attention has to be. What’s going to help you reach your customers and make them take action?” If a particular technology doesn’t help you save time with your existing tasks or make it easier to acquire and develop new customers, then don’t waste your time.

Question Four: What skills do professional salespeople need to refine to meet future challenges?
In a broad sense, prospects as a whole are now better educated, but what’s missing for them is application: “How can this potential solution make my job easier, my company more successful, and my business more efficient?”

Because of the fundamental changes in the sales process, the salesperson needs to see him- or herself more as a questioner than as an educator. The rep must lead prospects through the maze of information and data and help them come to a successful business decision. Think of a mountain climber who has read every book about climbing Mt. Everest: He or she knows the mountain’s altitude, what gear is necessary, and the potential dangers of the climb, but without an experienced guide to walk the trail with him or her, the climber is in danger of becoming hopelessly lost. That’s where the salesperson comes in. The salesperson creates a relationship with the prospect, asking the appropriate questions, providing a breadth and depth of experience the decision maker does not have. That trust is what sets the professional salesperson apart and cannot be replaced by automation.

Our panel named many of the high-level sales skills that have been critical through the ages: Relationship building, negotiating and persuading, questioning, and persisting. “[High-level selling is] the relentless tenacity to help the customer make the best possible business decision,” said Westfall.

Question Five: What habits or beliefs do we need to eliminate?
As we move forward to meet future challenges, there’s excess baggage we’ll need to leave behind so we can travel lighter. Our panel had much to say on what outdated habits and attitudes are holding professional salespeople back. First and foremost on that list: the idea that sales is a numbers game. As relationships become more and more important and companies begin to focus on the lifetime value of each and every account, the burn-and-churn approach of many businesses needs to be eliminated. Loyalty is key, and if a customer is treated as a number, where’s the loyalty coming from? “Companies that move away from relationship building risk commoditization,” warned Sutton.

Another belief that needs to be dropped like a hot potato is the idea that sales is easy. “Sales is a highly disciplined field that requires daily activity,” said Kloyda. “The bottom line is there’s no easy path.”

Sutton agreed: “Get rid of the, ‘If you build it, they will come.’ Give up the belief that people are buying features, functions, and technology. People want solutions. They want to know, what moves their needle? What makes their job easier?” And salespeople need to answer that question, not just show off their products.

Question Six: Crystal-ball gazing – what’s on the horizon?
When asked what’s next for the sales profession, our panel agreed that the only constant is change. The economy will continue to have ups and downs, technology will continue to evolve, and information will continue to become more available. And those (continued on page 3)

looking for a long-term career in professional B2B sales will need to respond.

The bar will continue to rise: “Midline salespeople of tomorrow will be displaying the same level of expertise ten to fifteen years from now that the superstars display today,” said Harrison, “and the superstars will be on to a whole new level. [Staying on top] will require a higher level of mental commitment.”

Sutton believes that responsiveness and speed of follow-up will become increasingly important. Today’s on-demand culture will become even more prevalent, with potential clients expecting nearly instantaneous responses to their requests for information. As a result, salespeople will need to have more touch points, better systems, and excellent time-management skills.

What won’t change is the human condition. “People still buy from people,” said Westfall.
Kloyda used almost the same words: “One thing hasn’t changed in the last 6,000 years of recorded history, and that’s human nature. People buy from people they know and trust.” Salespeople who can build relationships, answer customer needs, and move the prospect to a decision will be successful, regardless of what else changes.

In sum, business is changing, but that very change is business as usual. Said Cowan, “It may take on a different appearance, employ different tools and techniques, and adapt to the changes in the marketplace, but I don’t think you can ever replace the value of a strong sales team, particularly in a B2B environment.” •