Death of a salesman: So you think you know what the next 5 years holds for your business!?

 

 

Take a look at the following clip to begin to grasp the nature, scale and pace of change that has taken place in a very short space of time and, inspite of economic conditions, IS GATHERING MOMENTUM RIGHT NOW.

You need to know and visualise how this can impact your business before you can even attempt to create a strategy.

Don’t think that your competitors aren’t already considering the most effective means to secure competitive advantage…even in tough economic times it isn’t always about being cheaper.

Of course you want to capitalise upon this but it is never that simple is it?   

 

    

Have you ever really considered the potential impact of web 2.0 (social media) upon your industry? If not I strongly suggest that you think about it now because “the future” has already had a major impact on some established industries…

Music: File sharing and loss of royalties have been instrumental in some high profile industry figures publicly debating alternative models

Journalism: Well you are reading this blog aren’t you!? I am no journalist and am small beer in blogging terms. Analysts believe that up to 600 papers may close over the next five years.

Television & Advertising: Online advertising spending in the UK has overtaken television expenditure for the first time, a report has said.

Marketing is changing too. Customer attitudes and buying patterns are changing.

For anyone who has become fixated with their own business model this should serve as a reminder that The Customer IS King

Customers have all the tools they need at their disposal to determine WHAT AND FROM WHOM THEY WILL BUY. OK so that doesn’t mean that outbound selling will disappear or that salesmen the world over will be redundant BUT it does mean that to derive the benefits of this huge market companies need to put their customers (not the business model) at the very heart of everything they do.

You need to engage with customers (and employees) to offer genuine value and service. If not, they can/will use the very tools that facilitate the opportunities to ensure that other customers, prospects and prospective employees know what they can expect from you. 

The message: Get your house in order!!!