The Future of Business: Will Salesmen Become Eliminated?
Business as we know it is constantly evolving and changing. Some brands change as the industry does, while some don’t and wind up going out of business. So, what is the future of business? Will the common salesmen of today have their positions eliminated due to the heavy e-commerce presence and trend? Here’s my two cents (maybe three if you’re lucky).
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The Future of Business as it Pertains to Salesmen
For so many years businesses have leaned on their salesmen to go out and be the good little foot soldiers that they are and produce sales. Yet, these days we have online behemoths like Amazon showing they can produce over $4B in one day known as Prime Day (which is an increase of 33% over the previous year). Now let’s make one thing extremely clear… that $4B was in ONE DAY. I repeat… ONE DAY! There are companies out there who have never reached $1B ANNUALLY, yet Amazon is standing in front of everyone flexing.
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Amazon does not have salesmen knocking on your door and trying to close more deals. They do not have people cold-calling you at all hours of the day trying to sell you something. You simply go to their website when you want something and you make a purchase. If you have Prime, it shows up two days later. So, is this the future of business? Honestly, I see it trending that way where e-commerce and automation will eliminate millions of jobs across the nation.
Look at fast food restaurants for example. If you pop in your local McDonald’s, you may find kiosks now where you can place your order via a touchscreen. It’s similar to a Sheetz or Wawa where everything is automated until the order touches someone’s hands to make it fresh for you. Ultimately, it’s cutting out the salesmen. No more “would you like fries with that” because no one will be there to upsell you. It’ll all be digital on some type of screen. Or better yet, you can use your smartphone to order while you’re out and about, pull up to the drive-thru, give them your order number and pull up to the 2nd window to grab your grub.
And we are all aware of the “used car salesmen” and their questionable sleazy sales tactics. Well, not anymore because you can purchase a car online, go to a hub, give them your information and out rolls your brand new whip. Easy peasy and without the headache of a potentially deceptive salesmen doing and saying whatever it takes to get you in one of their vehicles. Are automation, AI, and e-commerce the future of business? I think so.
Brands Focusing More on Marketing
On top of automation and AI, marketing, advertising, content and copy, are all the future of business and will work synergistically to grow a brand. Many brands these days are creating a “community” to engage their audience and customers through things such as a blog. It’s not only the social aspect but a sense of “belonging.” People want to feel like they are a part of something these days and online-only brands are doing and creating just that.
Brands are hiring top content writers and copywriters (like myself) to help them tell their story and build traffic to their site where they can convert sales. They want to engage their audience. Show them how special their product and brand is. How it solves a problem the individual has. And shows why the overall value for the product is worth the investment. They don’t need salesmen. We live in a digital world. We buy our clothing online. We order flowers online. We email and text people versus talking with them face to face or mailing them a letter via snail-mail. This is the future of business. There will be a limited “in-person” interaction between businesses and consumers. Why? Because it’s unnecessary in today’s world.
If I were a salesman in today’s age I would be extremely worried about my job security. It’s a here today gone tomorrow market. Not only that, but companies with a sales team expects results – which only makes sense. If someone isn’t producing, there’s someone in line waiting to take over his or her account list. But, in a few more years it might not even matter. All of the salesmen out there today could be looking for new positions in new roles that are unfamiliar to them.
Times are changing. And if my thoughts and opinions are correct, every human in the United States is going to be controlling their lives via their smartphones and voice (think Alexa and Siri). Food, clothing, prescriptions, toys, EVERYTHING will be ordered online and delivered to your doorstep. “Hey Alexa, order more toilet paper.” “Hey Alexa, order a large cheese pizza from Pizza Hut.” Our homes will turn into “smart homes” where anywhere we walk within our walls we can interact and buy from businesses. My friends, welcome to the future of business.
What Say You?
How far off are my future of business predictions from yours? Are we aligned or totally different? I’d love to know. Comment on social media or drop me an email.
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