Apr 06 2011
Sales 3.0 Is a Myth – No, Really?
Audio version ….
One subject that is guaranteed to whip up a storm amongst certain sections of the “Sales 2.0 community” is the very mention of Sales 3.0 – it’s as if Dracula has entered the room, and they scatter clutching their crucifixes. Note that I say “certain” and not all, and that is significant, because the “thinking section” is far more open-minded, after all many of them helped to create the phenonomen that is now Sales 2.0. Like me, they are open-minded when considering what might come next – and we can be assured that something always comes next.
I am in the midst of examining the current state of the sales space – specifically, the impact that Social Media and Sales 2.0 has had – is having – on the way we sell. I am talking to and interviewing good chums, who are recognized thought leaders, with many years’ experience working at all levels within organizations, like myself.
The reality is that as much as 80% of the global sales population is still not clear - absolutely clear - what Sales 2.0 is all about. I am not really surprised by that figure, neither am I surprised that the figure is even higher for the “buying fraternity”
An entire “sub-industry” has been created around the term – and good chum, Nigel Edelshain, who first came up with the expression in the summer of 2006, will be the first to admit that he hardly anticipated what has happened since (Oh, and lookout for my Sales Hardtalk interview with him over at Top Sales World next week)
My quest for answers will leave few stones unturned. I have no point to prove, I simply want to discover if Sales 2.0 exists, or if it has all been a case of “smoking mirrors” as one commentator felt moved to describe Sales 3.0 recently.
Tomorrow, I’ll be examining a simple formula for sales success, and asking where Sales 2.0 fits into that - and if indeed it is relevant.
Do join me ..
PS: From now on in, I have no intention of mentioning the dreaded “Sales 3.0″ expression again – well at least for a while. From henceforth, I shall refer to anything that might come next as “Sales 2.1″ – that shouldn’t worry anyone, should it? Time to put the garlic away chaps!
