Is e-commerce the death of your salesman?

I’ve picked a sensitive time to discuss how technology may be replacing some of your workforce.

Thanks to the GFC (apparently not a recession in Australia but try telling that to your co-owners, bank manager et al), Politicians of all persuasions are agreed on one thing. Job maintenance and creation is the number one priority to keep the ‘R’ word away from the door.

But sentiment won’t stop managers looking at ways to improve their bottom line and if a new technology will slash their overheads they’ll poke it, prod it and implement it before you can say “fair shake of the sauce bottle”.

No wonder one of my clients has taken an age to introduce some basic online ordering capabilities. In addition to being appointed to look after the website, he is also the retail manager or lead salesperson.

Talk about a conflict of interests!

We produce a monthly e-marketing report for said client, which makes recommendations on improvements to their website and e-marketing tactics. For at least 12 months we have recommended that instead of simply displaying their product range on their website, they go to the next level and actually sell the stuff, particularly given the low cost of this important ‘sales closing’ capability (more on how retailers can do this online here).

And for more than 12 months I’ve been getting excuse after excuse as to why they can’t do it, despite being a perfect candidate for selling online.

The threat of e-commerce?

But recently the penny dropped. Quite simply he does not want to introduce e-commerce capabilities because he fears that his role will become diminished.

Why should his bosses employ a skilled salesperson when their e-commerce enabled website not only provides passive orders and money straight into the bank account while they are sleeping, but doesn’t require public holiday loading or take sick days? And of course, it costs a fraction of his wages.

On the face of it it’s a scary thought for the nervous salesperson.

Credit where credit is due

My theory was proven when he was asked by the management team to produce a report on where sales leads were coming from.
Instead of identifying which of the in-person, phone and email sales enquiries emanated from an online source, he reasoned that only the email enquiries could be attributed to the web. Why? Because they were delivered online, of course.

The results of course were a waste of time, because he wrongly assumed that phone or in-person traffic could not have come via their online activities.

Despite my pointing this out and re-jigging the survey procedure, a subsequent report in the correct format has failed to appear.
But while on the face of it he may well fear that a fully enabled website may only succeed in showing him the door, really the opposite is true.

Reasons to be cheerful (in four parts)

The most obvious reason why his fears are unfounded is because the firm has a showroom that needs to be attended by professional people. No matter how good the website is and how much it succeeds in selling product, the firm has no plans to shut down its valuable and effective showroom.

As long as they continue to service ordinary consumers, many of whom prefer face to face contact with a knowledgeable salesperson, the human element will still be a critical component of their sales process.

Secondly, the web is actually improving their own sales performance by providing them with qualified leads. No matter how secure and seamless the online purchasing process is, the truth is that many consumers still (again) prefer to deal with a human. In fact the combination of online and human sales capabilities is the perfect blend for this firm.

Thirdly, given that the firm’s website and e-marketing strategy is succeeding in providing qualified leads at a return on investment better than traditional media, their overall performance and profitability is improved. While the firm succeeds, the chance of shedding staff (particularly good ones) is minimised.

Finally, orders still need to be processed. As good as their current technology is, it doesn’t activate a production process, ensure the quality of the end product, arrange despatch or track these procedures automatically – though of course some technologies can!

So really, this retail manager has little to lose and much to gain by embracing e-commerce. He really needs to move his thinking away from his own performance to the performance of the firm overall – which in this case will only improve rather than reduce his longevity with them.

Yes, this realisation that an impersonal technology like the web can indeed replace a portion of his sales may be a blow to his ego, but in the scheme of things will not only enhance his chances of being retained, but even lead to a pay rise!

Which sales people are safe?

But while this client representative can sleep easier in the knowledge that the web is a friend instead of a foe for their business, that may not be the case for others.

Case in point is the travel industry where simple travel bookings have all but been wiped out by cheaper direct online bookings. Or the music industry, where not only have the sales moved but the actual delivery of the product is now rapidly moving online.

So while this salesman can sleep easier, others may well be tossing and turning for some time to come.

What about your business? Is the web a friend or foe to its sales team? Let us know by commenting below.

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Craig Reardon is a leading eBusiness educator and founder and director of independent web services firm The E Team which provide the gamut of ‘pre-built’ website solutions, technologies and services to SMEs in Melbourne and beyond.  www.theeteam.com.au