Sales 2.0 Evolution. It will happen.
I had the opportunity to write a guest posting for Jonathan Farrington a few weeks ago. It was geared towards the Sales 2.0 Conference that hit the “Streets of San Francisco” a few weeks ago. You can read the post Sales 2.0 Conference – Another Perspective. or at Sales 2.0 which is run by Nigel Edelshain. I touched on the subject of evolution in the post and now for some reason it hasn’t quite yet left my mind. There is definitely a pattern change going on in the sales world. I say “pattern change” since a few of my old co-workers were always talking about J2EE patterns and since then, the concept of patterns has been stuck in my head. So I like thinking of “things” in in terms of patterns. When you think about it, a good sales process is nothing more than a pattern for success – so patterns and pattern matching are really good concepts to think about if you’re a sales minded person.
What is the pattern I see today?
- Extinction of the old Sales 1.0 Rep.
- Birth of the new Sales 2.0 Professional.
Notice I call out the distinction of Rep vs Professional. Sure, I used to be called a rep – I was a “Sales Representative” to be precise! I was actually called Sales Representative I, then Sales Representative 2 and then I finally reached the 3rd level of honor – Sales Representative 3. It was a blind path to follow and conform to. I worked for one of the largest computer companies after I got out engineering school. It was the thing to do. VMS is VMS is VMS right?.
Let me go back to this previous post and take 2 points because I feel they are really important to re-iterate.
Natural selection suggests great Sales 2.0 professionals will emerge
We have to get used to sharing, collaborating and aligning our interests with our customers. New sales people will be born into this new way of thinking. Most existing sale people will successfully make this transformation and emerge. But others, like the dinosaurs, will get trapped in the tar sands and perish. Survival of the fittest will naturally occur across existing sales organizations.
The conference crowd was a mix of young and old, but surprising more weighted to the older side. Many great sales leaders are older, and come pre-packaged with Sales 1.0 processes and methodologies. It’s this group that will need to make a more dramatic transformation. The new and younger sales generations are generally already on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and others. Social media is part of their sales and social world. And they’ve done so very openly and naturally. Has the process of natural selection already started?
Genetic drift suggests there will also be Sales 2.0 superstars
This genetic drift concept is interesting – since you might be thinking this conference produced 450+ Sales 2.0 robots. Fortunately, our ability to absorb, interpret and action new information varies by person, location and industry. This represents an opportunity.
How will superstars emerge? My opinion is that true Sales 2.0 superstars will leverage these new processes and applications and successfully align these capabilities with their customer’s buying patterns. Superstars will add their own unique personality and reasoning in the application of Sales 2.0 – something a robot can’t do just yet.
Conclusion
The evolution has started as evidenced by this conference. It is now the time to decide if you will perish or emerge as a Sales 2.0 superstar. Your customer is waiting.
Scary? It must of been for the trapped dinosaurs too! So – heads up. Start making some changes now to the way you think and the way you act.
I’ve been thinking like a dinosaur too – so don’t feel alone. I am trying to be a Sales 2.0-y CEO – so much of this week has been twittering, commenting on blogs, and product design. Twitter is an amazing tool for anyone in sales. As part of this evolution, why not sign up and start playing with it today? It’s free – so it’s within everybody’s budget especially in today’s economy!
Go one step further and ask your customers “Are you on twitter?” and see what experiences (positive and negative) they share with you. You can search for your customers and just follow – but of course its a great topic for new conversation and insight into how they are adopting and leveraging social media into their work and personal lifestyle. It would also be interesting to see what corporate governance is being applied to their tweets. Are they free to openly tweet or are there specific restrictions in place? Make sure to add you own personality and reasoning to every tweet you post to make sure you reflect yourself as a Sales 2.0 superstar. More on twitter in an upcoming post.
Evolve now. Get on twitter. You can follow me @tomcanning.
So what can I do with AccountTweet?
The Power of Less.
Burt M. is discussing. 
Are You A Sales 2.0 Robot?
promote our beta. A big thanks to 
Time To Light Up Your Sales 2.0 Strategy? Starting something new is always a pain isn’t it? Why bother…
Are you Sales 2.0 licensed yet?
Let’s talk about marketplaces! We’re all familiar with 
Rotkapchen 1:29 pm on July 10, 2009 Permalink |
Yes, a fundamental 2.0 principle is simplicity: shorten the distance to done.
In reality, however, we have dumbed ourselves down in the use of the word ‘complex’. It turns out that if you pull back far enough to notice the patterns in complexity, it is actually very simple. What we call ‘complex’ is is often just a ‘mess’ — residuals of bad attempts to artificially stuff reality into an over-linearized world.
Complexity is the reality. It’s the other stuff that’s artificial — and you know how bad artificial can taste : )