The Sales 2.0 Conference is coming up this week in Boston, and as a sponsor, I've been inviting my customers to attend the event. What I've learned in talking with VPs of Sales and Marketing at my customer sites is that they aren't familiar with the "Sales 2.0" term. It seems to only be used by vendors and authors, not practitioners.
This was validated at the SiriusDecisions Summit last week when a speaker asked a room full of sales and marketing folks "Who's heard of the term Sales 2.0?" About 25% of the hands went up, almost entirely vendors.
My take on the reason for this is that the definitions of Sales 2.0 that the vendors are bandying about are too focused on the usage of Web 2.0 tools by sales reps...namely social networks, blogs, wikis, etc. I've got a very different definition of Sales 2.0, and it starts with the buyer...
Because of all of the social media resources available to buyers today on the web, power has shifted from sellers to buyers. No one can deny that buyers today are much better educated about a seller's offerings long before they talk with a sales rep.
Sales 2.0 is all about how the changing buying process requires changes in how companies sell. Buyers get frustrated if sales people are giving them the same general information they already have. They are demanding that sellers add much more value, by giving them information that's tailored to their unique needs, at the exact time they need it.
Once we stop talking about Sales 2.0 as Web 2.0 tools for sales reps, and start recognizing it as a fundamentally different way to sell, it will become more relevant to and recognized by sales and marketing practitioners.
In a Sales 2.0 world, sales reps need to be better prepared than ever. What are you doing to prepare your reps?
