In recent months, the news media has been all over a story called “the rise of the empowered customer.” Experts proclaim that customers surpass salespeople in product knowledge.
In fact, the Kurryer team has already debated this state of affairs here on the blog.
The rise of the empowered customer is nothing new. It was born along with the internet search engine. Remember Excite, Infoseek and AltaVista? If the answer is yes, you’ll know that some of your customers have been very “empowered” for a long time.
Without a doubt, today’s customer is a better-informed decision maker. This applies to all product categories, even the pharmaceutical industry, where the FDA has come under question for underestimating the consumer’s drive to make medical decisions.
From the Kurryer team’s viewpoint, the more thought-provoking trend is the rise of the empowered salesperson. The same technology that’s empowering customers is also producing a different type of salesperson: someone who helps customers by adding value and helping them to make the right decision. Call it the rise of the “subject matter expert” – salespeople who have a finger on the pulse of the latest trends, research and insights.
What traits characterize empowered salespeople?
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They are immediately responsive.
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They understand their customer’s needs and goals.
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They curate information and share it frequently.
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They are more like a consultant than a salesperson.
No single person can stay on top of all industry information, and it would be a waste of time if you tried. (The era of the lone wolf hunter is long over; empowered salespeople are part of integrated teams.) Curating information is best performed by a team.
All curators need support. That’s where a communications platform is essential. Having the technology in place to support your team with the latest data, research, videos, social media chatter streamlines the process, making it possible to share data easily and more efficiently. It’s a challenge that platforms like Kurryer solves. Making the latest information available round the clock to your team might be obvious, but it’s a key stumbling block for many sales organization.
If you know an empowered salesperson, they likely have the right technology at-hand and the right tools to work collaboratively with each customer. In an economy where knowledge is valued at a premium, empowered salespeople not only offer each customer more value, they also close deals faster and more effectively.