If buyers have better-than 75% decided on what to buy *before* they engage with a company, is there any room for the sales team?
Some while back, the sales director of a large software company admitted to me that the customer support team brought in more revenue than the sales team. The support agents would naturally recommend and sell upgrades, increased subscriptions, and additional products.
To add insult to injury, the support team had no sales targets. Simply by helping customers to succeed, they sold more.
Oh, and by the way, the subscription renewals team beat the sales team, too.
Clearly, though, both the support and subs teams are working with *existing* customers. The sales team works to bring in new customers.
Now, if every current customer could bring in just one net-new customer through referral, would that spell ‘Good-bye sales teams’?