Salesperson 1.0 Vs Salesperson 2.0 - Which are you in 2024?
Updated: Mar 18, 2024
Sales professionals now find themselves at the forefront of the biggest revolutionary wave in close to a hundred years. The sales landscape has experienced a seismic shift propelled by vast technological advancements and changing complex customer behaviors.
Welcome to the Sales Revolution 2.0, where the outdated traditional sales 1.0 rules and tactics have dramatically been replaced and evolved into an exciting new era of digital sales strategies which now takes center stage into the future.
Whether you work directly in the sales industry or not, sales is a life skill because it involves the ability to effectively communicate, persuade and negotiate in various aspects of life - not just in a professional sales setting. Developing these skills can enhance personal and professional relationships, improve decision-making and contribute to overall life satisfaction. So if that’s the case, why do salespeople so often get such a bad reputation? One thing is for sure, the movie industry over the last few decades has not helped.
The Reputational Damage & Perception of Salespeople 1.0
The 1987 film ‘Wall Street’ directed by Oliver Stone was one of the most iconic movies of popular culture in the 1980s. Near the start of the story, the father Carl Fox (played by actor Martin Sheen) says to his son Bud Fox (played by actor Charlie Sheen) who is one of the lead characters “You coulda stayed at Bluestar and been a supervisor, 'stead of going off and being' a salesman”. Bud later on goes on to be heavily influenced by the infamous and notorious fellow main character ‘Gordon Gekko’ played by the actor Michael Douglas who won an oscar for his performance in the movie.
Although his role in the film is about a ruthless and unscrupulous Wall Street corporate raider who engages in unethical activities to achieve financial success, his character is often negatively associated with the sales industry. This is mainly down to his most famous line in the movie which is "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good," which encapsulates his belief in the power of self-interest, ambition and personal excess.
This dark theme is closely related to another 2006 movie blockbuster "The Devil Wears Prada" featuring the character ‘Miranda Priestly’ played by Meryl Streep who is the powerful and demanding editor-in-chief of the fictional fashion magazine Runway. Although she is not directly involved in sales, her senior role decides how well the magazine sells while using old school management methods of putting fear into the hearts of her subordinates. Her character is often seen as a stereotypical representation of a hyper demanding boss in the fashion industry.
This obsolete and archaic anti-role model is also manifested in other movie blockbusters including Glengarry Glen Ross and The Wolf of Wall Street. It’s actually incredible to think that many heads of sales departments who grew up working in these intense boiler room pressured workplaces - still choose to apply these outdated management techniques to their sales teams today.
Gone are the Salesperson 1.0 days of using the local phonebook to make cold calls and aggressive door-to-door pitches. In Sales Revolution 2.0, professionals are harnessing the power of technology to smartly connect with customers in ways never before imagined. Social media platforms, AI and data analytics have become the new arsenal in a salesperson's toolkit. LinkedIn has morphed into a bustling marketplace where sales professionals can virtually engage with key decision-makers, share valuable content and build meaningful relationships. The art of selling is no longer just about the product; it's about creating a compelling narrative and establishing a brand presence that resonates with the digitally-savvy consumer.
The Sales Revolution 2.0
So we’ve covered some of the past Salesperson 1.0 scoundrels and serial offenders; however in the current Sales Revolution 2.0, what does a Salesperson 2.0 look like and are there any real examples to take a look at?
Known as a ‘Top Voice’ on Linkedin with over 2 million followers, Steven Bartlett embodies a number of Salesperson 2.0 traits and is regarded as one of the leading Digital Entrepreneurs (his startup 'Thirdweb' is valued at $160m). He is known for his innovative & disruptive approach to Social Media Marketing while his hugely popular podcast ‘Diary of a CEO’ is one of the fastest growing Podcasts in the world which can get up to 10 million + downloads a month. In this recent Linkedin post, Steven proudly said 'Sales is the most Important Skill in the World’.
Another innovative spark representing the Salesperson 2.0 generation is Whitney Wolfe Herd who is an American entrepreneur and is the founder, executive chair and former CEO of Bumble, an online dating platform. Whitney became the world's youngest female billionaire when she took Bumble public. When she launched Bumble in 2014, unlike other dating apps at the time, her digital sales innovation was to focus on female empowerment in the online dating scene - where women who date men would have to make the first move to message a new match.
Since 2017, the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have put sexual harassment and gender discrimination at the heart of cultural conversation which her and her Bumble platform fully support. The future of Bumble is bright as the BBC suggests where Whitney wants to use AI to help "teach people and show them and guide them, how to behave better" and to "instil confidence in all of her daters".
As innovative leading examples of the Sales Revolution 2.0, both Steven and Whitney have fully adopted and embraced the power of hugely successful digital sales strategies within all their online brands.
Why do Salespeople need a Digital Sales Strategy?
A digital sales transformation study from SAP supported by Oxford Economics revealed that 80% of companies who implemented digital transformation reported increased profitability. 85% said they increased their market share while Sales leaders expect 23% revenue growth than their competitors.
Digital sales transformation is the process of companies leveraging digital technologies and smarter strategies to optimize the sales process. Digital sales transformation connects sales prospecting, lead generation, lead nurturing, sales forecasting while helping companies understand their customer needs more precisely. Digital Sales Transformation (DTS) is no longer a nice to have luxury, but a crucial imperative necessity for companies to stay competitive, improve customer experience and grow sales in a digital-first world.
Any organization that decides not to adapt, risks being left behind where a company’s successful future depends on how agile sales leaders can pivot to the latest digital technology and trends.
Sales Is Art has leveraged best practice sales research from our network of expert high performing sales professionals and companies to create an effective and robust Digital Sales Transformation Strategic Framework ©.
This simple and easy to use framework contains five key interconnected areas that can be used immediately as part of your organization's go-to-market Digital Sales Transformation Strategy:
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