According to estimates by the Gartner Group, current Internet browsers and surfers range from 45 million to 50 million people. The dramatic rise in the number of Internet users is making it increasingly important for companies to develop strategies for using the Web to sell their products.

Based on an average growth rate of 75 percent each year through the year 2000, the company forecasts that by the next century, there will be as many as 140 million users. While such estimates vary widely among the forecasting elite, one thing seems certain: Internet use will continue to grow, especially in business markets.

As more people are becoming comfortable with surfing the Net, the buying process, both for consumers and businesses, is changing. Customers are turning to the Web as they search for information or for a solution to a particular need. But most organizations are not yet making the most efficient use of the Web, using it primarily as an alternative advertising medium – a means of disseminating marketing collateral electronically. The most successful companies, predicts the Gartner Group, will be those who tap the unique power of the Web to build ongoing relationships with customers, thereby attaining the competitive edge that can translate to increased revenues.

At the heart of the issue of selling on the Web is how people use it to buy. When prospects come to a Web site, they are typically more qualified buyers than ones who are uncovered during cold calls. They have identified a need and are now looking for information that will provide them with a solution to that need. They’ve come to your Web site, hoping your company will provide them with that solution. Chances are, your company has its annual report online, its brochures and some customer success stories. Prospects can fill in a questionnaire and ask for more information or for a sales rep to call. That’s where their experience with the site usually ends.

Now, picture this: The prospect visits the Web site and is met by an electronic salesperson who enters into a back-and-forth dialogue, asking probing questions to uncover additional needs and learn more about who this person is. Based on the responses to these questions, the “salesperson” follows up with other questions and takes action accordingly. Sound far-fetched? The technology is called a sales emulation system, and it’s here today. Says Robert DeSisto, director, Gartner Group Sales Leadership Strategies, “There’s a company called Brightware that has developed a sales emulation system. They’ve just signed up two major clients within the last few months: Wells Fargo and Fannie Mae. You will see within the next year or two a tremendous push in this area – because the minute a competitor has it, it becomes a must-have.”

DeSisto explains, “In the field of technology-enabled selling, the idea is to provide technology to help salespeople sell to the actual end user. We’ve coined the term technology-enabled buying, where the focus is on providing technology to help buyers buy. On the Internet, the model completely flips from the selling process to the buying process. Buyers are now the ones in control and are seeking companies’ products and services. Providing technology to help them through the buying process is the objective.

“The metaphor I use,” continues DeSisto, “is if you’re buying a TV and you go to an electronics store that has cashiers – they are like electronic commerce servers. A retail electronics store that you actually walk into has sales reps whose job it is to explain to you the differences between the TVs. Imagine going into that store and there are no sales reps. That’s what Web sites are today. If you know what you want, you buy it. If you don’t know what you want, you leave. And that’s what’s happening today, because nobody engages the customer. That’s the metaphor that positions technology-enabled buying against electronic commerce.”

According to DeSisto, the real issues for the Web are threefold: (1) How do you get prospects to the Web site? This is done through advertising or strategically placed hot links. (2) Once they’re there, how can you build a relationship with them? The key is to help them solve problems – whether they’re trying to get information, develop a product solution to a need they have or get a customer service question answered. (3) How do you get them to come back? The answer is to invest in learning who they are – just as a polished sales professional would.

This is where a sales emulation system comes in, DeSisto says: “The system emulates what good salespeople do. Just as a salesperson customizes an interaction, a sales emulation system codifies the knowledge and experience of salespeople, and it will make the Web site a personalized experience. So if you and I both go to the same site, assuming our needs are different, we should each have a different experience. Just as you wouldn’t want a salesperson to read from a script, it’s the same parallel in the Web. A sales emulation system allows you to customize the interaction on the Web site for the buyer that accesses the Web site.”

New opportunities for the Web-savvy sales rep

Does this mean that the Web will replace the professional salesperson? “No,” says DeSisto, though those who are low-level order takers might find that job opportunities will dwindle. “The reason is that customers still want to be able to communicate in a variety of media. It will be used in conjunction with the salesperson. In many industries, there will never be a replacement for the personal skills required for working with a customer. The Web site is useful primarily for offloading the work of the traditional sales rep and for extending the time during which a customer can get his questions answered.

“Cisco Systems (maker of computer network products) is a great example of this,” DeSisto continues. “People can log onto Cisco’s Web site and get their customer service questions answered. The reps used to have to do that. The customers are happy because they’re getting good service. The reps love it because they can spend more time selling. Moreover, Cisco compensates the salespeople for products sold over the Web. This is important because companies will lose opportunities if their salespeople are competing against the Web.” In fact, DeSisto maintains, companies should motivate their salespeople to promote its use.

The growth in the importance of technology-enabled buying systems will likely create a new position, predicts DeSisto, that of the Web sales manager. “The Web sales manager will have a look over where customers are in the buying process and will be able to (1) nudge the buyer along by sending out appropriate e-mails and communications to people in the organization such as, ‘the buyer appears to be hung up on this particular issue’; and (2) see a big account come onto the Web site and play the role of understanding where that buyer is in the buying process and who that individual is and of letting the appropriate people know. This will be a big step – the sales organization will play much more of a role in the Web site. Sales organizations have typically not been involved in Web site design. It’s usually the marketing department who has been interested in putting out marketing material.”

Linking customer, manufacturer and supplier in a value network

In the near future, predicts the Gartner Group, companies on the leading edge will combine Web-based buying with optimized manufacturing, distribution and logistics processes to create a value network. A value network takes all of the constituents that participate in a transaction, from the suppliers to the manufacturer to the customer, and makes everyone “win” from a business perspective. For example, explains DeSisto, “Dell (the PC maker) has a supplier for memory, a supplier for hard drives, and so on. The consumer comes to the Dell Web site and the Web site recommends configurations based on the inventory of the supplier for that day. The value network is the way you take the constituents and optimize the processes so that the network is optimal as a whole. The Internet has allowed all of this to come together because of the communication medium – as the customers bring in the information, the system can query and understand the manufacturing capacity for that day.” While Compaq and IBM can have PCs sitting on dealer shelves for months, Dell doesn’t begin ordering or assembling components until the order is booked. This can translate to a 6 percent profit advantage.

Sums up DeSisto, “Successful selling over the Web will be measured by a company’s ability to use the medium to create a long-term relationship with the customer. The technology coming out today will help transform the Web site from just a display case to a medium through which organizations can establish a tightly linked buyer/seller relationship, achieve greater customer satisfaction and create a more competitive enterprise.”