I do not remember exactly what the advertisement was selling, but I do remember the ad vividly.  It was a picture of a guy, similar to the one in this article.  The ad read something like "...if you do not have this guy on your staff your technology is falling behind..."  I am not sure why I remember the ad so well.  Perhaps it was that I thought of myself as a technology buff, but did not look anything like that guy.

Anyway, you know the guy.  Nick the tech guy ruled the office.  He could walk into the CEO's office, spout off a few acronyms, mention hacker and virus a few times and then leave with a raise.  He was the only person in the whole office who knew anything - and never let you forget it!  And then there were the projects designed to save time and money yet it always seems to cost more money and take more time than you ever could have imagined.  But what could you do?  You are a mere mortal.  You don't know anything about installing, configuring and maintaining software.

I have great news.  There is a new sheriff in town and it comes in the form of hosted or "cloud based" and open source software.  From a business prospective, it is probably one of the best evolutions since email.  So what makes it so great?  Let me take a stab at both.

Hosted or "cloud based" software is a delivery mechanism where you don't buy or install anything on your local machines or servers, but rather rent the product from a company who maintains the product for you.  Accessing the product is a simple as connecting to the internet.  I am sure you can see tremendous advantages to this model.  You have a fixed cost, usually by user, and you can scale up and down as you need.  You no longer need servers or people to maintain software.  Sounds good already.

Now enter the world of open source.  The premise of open source software is that by giving many programmers access to the same code, they can use that code to build products for clients.  The programmers make money on the products and services they sell and then give back to the community in the form of new code.  Most people don't really get the concept of open source because it is hard to imagine getting anything of any value for free.  In reality, there are some tremendous values to be realized with open source.  Most open source products are very functional right from install.  You will need some service work to get things just right for you but you will almost always have service cost associated with any new software deployments.  Not having to pay for the software could save thousands.

So what's my point?  With shrinking headcounts and budgets, now is the time for all businesses to re-evaluate their technology decisions.  Don't get caught in the trap of thinking "...but we already bought the software and server..."  You are only one server crash away from an expensive and un-budgeted distraction.   Ask questions about open source software.  I can say without any reservation that there is an open source product for every company.  Finally, it's time to look Nick square in the eye and tell him you may be interested in moving things to "the cloud".  Just uttering those two words will mysteriously realign the balance of power to its rightful position.

I think it is safe to say we have all seen changes in business over the past two years.  Whether it is a reduction in people, revenue, profit, increase in workload because of those reductions - or a combination of all, change seems to be the word of the times.  The nature of this article is to talk about one element of change you may not have really dialed in on at this point.  That would be the change in the way we are forced to sell our products today.

I have yet to find someone who said "...I just love to be sold by a salesperson..."  We all like to buy - but no one likes to be sold.  To prove this, just look at any car dealership.  Most are focused on "no haggle pricing" or "easy purchase" options.  None tell you to "...come on down and talk to a salesperson..."  In fact the salesperson only serves as an escort and paper pusher while you are at the dealership.

I think the reason for this dramatic change is the overwhelming amount of information available to anyone with a computer and internet connection.  You can find pretty much anything you want, about pretty much anything and there is really no way to filter what is true and what is false.  Gone are the days when you could simply share a good round of golf with a new prospect, spout a few features of your product and close the deal at the 19th hole.  First, you probably will not get the prospect on the phone to schedule the round.  Secondly, the prospect will likely leave the 19th hole and log on to the internet at the nearest coffee shop to compare what you told them with what you have on your site as well as your top competitors.

If you are a scratch golfer great, but if you don't have good computer skills, you may want to try your luck on the PGA tour.  You will have better luck making money there than you will as a sales professional!

Today's prospects are much more sophisticated and informed than those in the past.  What we would consider a "traditional sales call" actually happens over the course of many days, weeks or months.  In some cases, there is no personal sales call.  The prospect simply takes all the information they have gathered and makes a decision - without ever seeing or speaking with anyone.

Doom and despair for salespeople around the world right?  No.  Salespeople simply need to re-craft themselves to sell in the new environment.  As shocking as this may sound, trade in your favorite putter for an iPad or laptop.  Join social networking groups relevant to your industry.  Write a blog article about something your prospects may find interesting and valuable.  Provide prospective clients will lots of electronic information on your products and services.  Make it easy for them to learn about what you are offering.  And most important of all - keep some sort of electronic database so you know what you sent, when you sent it and what you need to send next.

In summary, whether you are seeing a change in your industry's sales process today or not, I assure you it is coming.  The generation soon to enter the workforce brings with them a heavy reliance on social networking, web groups, Facebook, LinkedIn and an above average understanding of search engines.  It may be time to make sure you are ready for them.

My kids won't even take calls from me - what makes you think they will take a call from a sales person??!!

BTW - if you are interested in discussions on sales topics such as this article, I have made it easy for you to take the first step in your change.  Join the Sales on the Edge group and share your thoughts.  You can join by clicking here.