Image credit: Bloomberg
The above graphic from Bloomberg shows how companies like Atlassian are disrupting the average cost of sales and marketing in the industry, basically by slashing the cost of human sales professionals. There are many examples of extreme Zero Salespeople organizations, from Aha! to Atlassian, and more recently to Slack.
It’s interesting to rethink the role of the sales professional. How do we fit in the digitally empowered, socially driven, modern organizations?
In a VUCA world, we need to shift from Efficiency to Agility and Creativity. Just recently Foxconn, a major manufacturer for Apple and Samsung, announced that 60.000 jobs have been replaced by robots.
The key is to be Agile, adapt to a shifting and challenging environment and be Creative to add value, not be replaced and shape your future. In our profession, how do we adapt to these tectonic shifts?
In our research, sales professionals need to:

  • Emerge as mini-business units
  • Apply Corporate Marketing Automation Strategies to the Individual level

At the Geneva Business School we have developed a framework to align both the Corporate Sales Process and the Individual Sales Professional Process.
Here’s a high level approach:

Image Credit: Execus, Geneva Business School
That’s how we will survive and bring value to the organization. More to come on this framework.
What is your opinion? How do you see these trends affecting our profession?