A discussion about sales, sales tips and advice, and about those who land the deal

Ninth in a series

A lot of companies look for ways to reduce the need for salespeople.  Seth Godin points out that this might be a bad strategy:

I know you'd like to get rid of me and just take orders on the web. But that's always going to be the low-hanging fruit. The game-changing sales, at least for now, come from real people interacting with real people.

So true.  Face to face selling is where long-term relationships are made, and where the real money is made. 

Back in the late 1990's there was a theory going around that a successful company of the future was one that eliminated human contact and, instead, focused on "zero gravity" business practices that was purely electronic.  I never bought into it.  People will always need to interact personally in most businesses.  Sales professionals can be an integral part of that business strategy, as Seth Godin points out here.