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I got the idea for this topic from my good friend Vince Cramer and his group on LinkedIn—Technology Sales & Service Reps. He was expounding on an earlier post by David Brock on—Semiconductor Sales & Marketing, “The Death Of The Funnel, Long Live The Funnel”.
My opinion is, “nihil novi sub sole”, there is nothing new under the sun; whether it is the Sales Funnel, Pipeline, Social Media, or the great Internet and Mobile connectivity.
It is generally agreed that the first written language was by the Egyptians in 3100 B.C. and those hieroglyphics (sacred writing) contain sales records! Goods and services were being sold, or bartered to people who wanted to use, or consume them: grains, animals, fermented beverages, and slaves were among items of commerce found in those records. The scribes that drew those pictographs
could be considered the first Sales Operations teams!
Clearly changes in technology provide different tools for us to use. That being said, even with the tools available today, most scholars can’t agree on how they could replicate the Great Pyramid at Giza, built almost 5,000 years ago.
I think the focus needs to be on the process, which can be aided by available technology and tools. I believe the process is the same for goods (tangible) or services (intangible). Unless you are a monopoly, you will have competitor’s. Whether your product is tangible, or intangible; it needs to be differentiated. That differentiation is what we commonly call the Value Proposition.
Finally, opportunities need to be qualified, and closed. That last sentence covers a lot of ground and Marketing Automation, Segmentation, Lead Generation, et cetera, are ripe with ways to accomplish those important tasks.
Caveat Venditor, “Let the Seller Beware”, and I say that because too often we become enamored with the tools—don’t loose sight of the process, and KISS.
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