To Sell or Not To Sell...That Is The Question Posted by Doug Davidoff Jan 23, 2015 2:30:00 PM A fascinating conversation emerged on Twitter last night, initiated by a post on LinkedIn titled, Why This CEO Will Never Hire Another Salesperson. Two of my favorite sales thinkers (Mike Weinberg and Anthony Iannarino) weighed in on the subject. The post that provoked the conversation (which has clearly hit a nerve since it has more than 2,000 comments) attempts to make the argument that salespeople are no longer necessary (and may even be harmful) in today’s new world. In his post, the author states: At Aha! we purposefully dont have a sales team nor do we pay commissions on new customers. Thats because we believe it drives the wrong behavior and outcomes. To support his argument he quotes a research statistic that I often use myself; that 60% (or more) of the typical purchase decision is made before talking to suppliers or sales reps. Iannarino wrote a post that appears to be equally popular taking apart that claim. In his post he put forth this argument: He also believes the data (data which I believe to be deeply flawed, self-serving, and erroneous) that up to 60% of a buying decision is made before talking to a supplier and 90% of the buying cycle is complete. If this last point is true, then more sales organizations and salespeople have stopped prospecting and nurturing their dream clients than I would have ever imagined. And if that last point is true, you should right now be experiencing a massive increase in incoming calls from people who have all but decided to hire you. [Note: The sound you hear is the sound of your phone not ringing.]
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 00:36:21 +0000