There are certainly some products where face to face interaction is critical in the selling process. However, with more people doing research beforehand on social media sites and seeking out opinions/reviews on products, will marketing have to monitor those areas to make sure the correct message and information can be found. This role of gatekeeper seems more suited for marketing than sales to me.
Marketing's key role is communicating with the customer until they are ready to buy. Social media sites provide a great venue for this conversation. I do not think it is too far fetched to think that marketing could become a key player in turning prospects in customers without interaction from sales.
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2 comments:
They will never replace true sales. Maybe it will be another channel for retail, transactional sales but never for high end or complex sales.
Sales is the second oldest profession in the world and it will never go away. Not many people want that quota hanging over them every month, thank God!
True. I just read 2 Business Week stories that touched on the same topic
Amazon: The Web giant's cache of consumer-generated reviews lures ever-more shoppers, who increasingly research products before buying
http://bit.ly/48WDui
FaceBook: They're reaching customers via new tools such as Facebook Connect and pushing the social network toward profitability
http://bit.ly/32p1ns
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