Can Computers Really Do the Job of Sales People?

This interesting article highlights the fact that people are more willing to buy online these days and are doing so for higher dollar value items than before. This, combined with the high costs of running a sales team, can mean some businesses are seriously questioning the number of sales people that they need.

“Particularly at risk are salespeople who essentially are order-takers, dropping by companies once a week to see how many industrial fasteners a manufacturer needs. Big distributors are putting their field salespeople on only the top 10 per cent of their customers, who account for 70 per cent or more of their sales and need the most attention”, said Jonathan Bein of Boulder, Colorado-based Real Results Marketing.

Sales people need to make themselves indispensable by adding value to sales relationships, offering services and solutions that an online purchasing systems can’t.

Check out this story from the NZ Herald …
http://nzh.tw/12120241