The most common lament in the business world today is not that the economy is too weak or regulations too strict. It is not the presence of competition or the absence of innovation. No, the worry that is gnawing at business leaders in general, and sales leaders in particular, is that buyers have changed.
Once, sellers could parlay a scarcity of available information into face-to-face meetings with powerful decision-makers. Their knowledge of products and solutions made them indispensable. But, as Stewart Brand, co-founder of the Global Business Network, observed back at the dawn of the internet era, “Information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time.”
Fast, free, hyper-available information has proved to be a boon for buyers and a stumbling block for sales organizations. The good news is that it is the nature of a sales force to always be