theFNG

AE (Account Executive)

True Value of a Salesperson?

Can anyone simply define the exact/tangible value of an outbound salesperson from the customer's perspective?

The digitization of the world is cutting out middle men left and right. Music on Apple Music or Spotify for example cuts out agents and label companies.

It seems that professions that don't add true, tangible value will be erased in the near future.

Sometimes as a salesperson it feels like sales is already not the profession it used to be because we exist in such an Information Age.

So, what is the value of outbound sales people?

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TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

you are right. sales is not what it use to be. and its 100% because of the amount of information out there, and HOW ppl buy products has shifted.

in the past, Sales folks held all the information. If you wanted to learn about a product, you would hear about it at a trade show, or learn about it from a sales person.

sales ppl had to create demand for a product as well as capture that demand.

depending on how simple the product is, will determine if sales ppl will be needed in the future.

the complicated the product, the more there will ALWAYS be a need for a sales person to help companies buy it.

I think we will start to see a premium put on industry experience even more than we see now. because sales ppl are going to need to be a hybrid of sales/marketing/CS

theFNG

AE (Account Executive)

This is a very helpful answer. Makes me want to choose industries I love and know a lot about to sell into. I still have conflict about TELLING on a demo and am a big proponent of asking thought invoking questions but can get confusing. From what you said, SOLID salespeople illuminate a problem or teach them something they didn’t know. Will use this info going forward

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Absolutely, I think for the posts here about the need for industry experience show the trend in hiring

Lambda

Tycoon

Sales Consultant

I have been worried about sales as a profession for a while
why sell me when i can be marketed to the point of clicking a button

RedLightning

Politicker

Mid-Market AE

For outbound specifically? I think a big part of it is the maturity of the market you're selling into. So, if you're at a disruptive tech company - the value would be a different perspective.

For a more mature market, I'd say that outbound outreach (when done well) is a hyper targeted marketing channel, which may also add a fresh perspective.

@TennisandSaleshit the nail on the head with the information flow being different and the biggest value of a good salesperson is a level of expertise, albeit one that's inherently biased.

My guess is that over the next few years, we see PLG start moving more upmarket (at least in SaaS) and organizations investing in "growth" centric titles for sales reps

However, good outbound sales processes (IMO) will always have a place especially in ENT sales or in younger or more disruptive companies.

theFNG

AE (Account Executive)

Another great answer. In a well known industry you probably also need the right timing (customer is frustrated with current vendor) or some other way your company adds massive value for them they should consider over the competition.

On the bias part, how do you deal with that bias when selling?

SaaSsy

Politicker

@TennisandSalescoming with the facts! The one thing I’ll add is that the human element will not disappear from sales probably in our lifetime. If it’s purely a transaction, sure people would rather buy online but for more complex solutions, buyers want to work with expert consultants that can help them and also negotiate fair pricing based on need and value. An AI chatbot can not use emotional intelligence and critical thinking to pivot during negotiation or closing. People will still want to do business with those that they trust.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

I agree! I think there are a number of companies that sell products that could do it with no sales team or a much smaller one. So the need to specialize and niche down i think is a really really good idea for sales ppl.

Also another reason to get out of small, “nice to have” products.

GingerBarbarian

Opinionated

Lead Sales

Sales should be there to help customers cut down on information overload. It is our job to be an expert in our niche. We spend time reading and researching different solutions so they do not have to.

A salesperson should be like a doctor. Most customers come to us with symptoms, not causes. They tell us they have a cough and trouble breathing. We tell them whether it is a cold / flu / pneumonia / lung cancer.

Likewise they tell us that they have implication X (Low profit, employee dissatisfaction, high customer churn, etc) and we help them understand the underlying cause and create a treatment plan to solve it.

Cold outreach can be as simple as this. "I have recently found a number of (Ideal customer) like you have been having issues with (Problem). For some, it has gotten so bad it turned into (Implication). Have you seen this happening at all at (Their Company)?"

activity

Politicker

VP, Business Development

There will always be a need for outbound but it will be heavily dependent on the industry. Unless ChatGPT figures out how to cold call, which I wouldn't be surprised if they had an auto dialer in the future. This could lead to outbound laws being put in place potentially.

Lambda

Tycoon

Sales Consultant

the shift to selling high ticket items will always exist, just need to find a way into those markets

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theFNG

True Value of a Salesperson?

11 comments

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