sales

The Salesperson of The Future. Will They Truly Evolve and Be Different or Is it Just About Living It?


During a recent interview, I was asked, “What does the future hold for the work force, especially for salespeople? How will the salesperson of tomorrow change or be different to adapt to the times?”

Of course, my visceral reaction was to come up with something so transformational and insightful that it would reshape the landscape of professional selling and salesmanship. But after I paused and thought more about this question at a deeper level, I realized this may not be truly possible. After all, when it comes to selling, outside of the apparent changes in technology that continues to shape the Sales 2.0 evolution, what has changed over the years? Is there really a new definition for professional selling? If we were to look at the role, responsibility, skill set, behavior, attitude and overall disposition that makes a sales champion, is the anatomy of the top salesperson from 50 years ago to today and well into tomorrow really all that different?

While I believe there are some inherent changes we will see within the workforce when it comes to redefining the role of the traditional salesperson, the real difference will be evident in those companies who truly embrace and implement these changes and actually model this definition of sales mastery, as opposed to those who simply know about it but don’t do anything measurable to change. The economy over last two years has certainly done a wonderful job validating and exemplifying this ever widening gap. Consequently, this exposes the real opportunity for us and the timeless distinction between knowing it and doing it.

We are a society that is knowledge rich but execution scarce. While we are wealthy in wisdom and information, we are often lacking in seeing new ideas, strategies and activities through to completion and implementing the new behavior, thinking or technology to the point that it produces the desired change we’re looking for. After all, intention without action is still a diversionary tactic. (The real evolution will take place with the sales manager, who needs to become a sales coach to ensure these changes are, in fact made, but that’s a different blog and a different book ;-)

Regardless, I do have my view of tomorrow’s salesperson and this is the transformation I envision that salespeople must not only understand and embrace but put into practice so that it truly becomes part of their DNA.

The salesperson of tomorrow will continue to evolve beyond their traditional role and become more embedded into their customer’s business and the decisions that affect every facet of their operation.

The true sales professional will be relied upon as a valuable resource and a trusted, consultative adviser throughout the entire selling process; and beyond. This doesn’t mean focusing solely on relationship selling because those salespeople who are doing so are the ones who are struggling today. Great relationships don’t always equate to more sales. While additional time must be spent fostering stronger relationships with key clients, this isn’t about calling them just to ‘check in’ but having a more strategic set of timely questions that will help you better understand how the current economic climate has affected the way they do business and make purchasing decisions.

This will help us accurately connect to what the true meaning of value is to our customers, as opposed to what we generically assume it to be and as such, enable us to deliver on this at a much deeper, more significant level.

We need to take a closer and more holistic look at ourselves from the inside out while challenging our customers, the media and status quo. Therein lies the opportunity to elevate yourself and become the champion you know you can be.