Death of a Tech Salesman

I can’t take credit for this idea: the death of a the salesman. It’s not playwright Arthur Miller’s either, but tech blogger Michael Vizard’s. In his May 21 Channel Insider blog, Michael suggests that the “type A” tech salesperson risks becoming the modern equivalent of a traveling salesman.

He writes that in this economy, “Instead of relying on high-priced salespeople with expensive tastes to sell products, many solution providers are relying more on low-key field sales engineers that are more effective at building relationships with customers over the long term." He concedes the Type As will be needed for new account sales, but these will be a specialized minority of the sales force.

I was intrigued by this hypothesis about the future sales model and circulated it at Channel Partners Network, the PHONE+ LinkedIn community.

One CPN member said: “Although IT technical engineers can and do create great relationships with customers, and become their trusted advisors, few have the necessary skills to open doors. Without the ability to open new doors, a company dies.”

Another said in addition to opening doors, traditional salespeople are trained to transform customer pain into opportunity, which could be overlooked by a specialized technical person focused on implementing specific solutions.

It’s possible these voices are the Type As arguing for their own existence, but are they right? Or is Michael’s premise that salespeople are being displaced – painful as it may be to salespeople – the reality?

Plus, I have to wonder if the answer varies by technology. So, in the more hands-off world of carrier services, is the salesperson’s role on more solid ground than it is in the premises-based IT environment? I would argue yes, BUT ... the more tech savvy the account executive can be, the better they will be able to fulfill a consultative function for the customer.

If this is true, then would it not stand to reason that a similar approach would emerge in IT as it moves to the utility-based model like managed services and cloud computing?

I disagree with Michael’s argument that the salesperson is a dying breed given that there are ample and evolving reasons to the contrary, as noted. However, his blog does shed a harsh light on the shifting and emerging roles within the tech sales force. A layered and complementary approach combining various skill sets is increasingly required to win, maintain and grow technology accounts.