Tools of the Trade
I have heard a lot of discussion this week at the FPDA/ISD Summit about the future of sales and the supply chain. One of the topics within that discussion is about using technology to communicate, including social media. In the past, face-to-face selling and follow ups by phone and mail were the standard. Those were the tools of the trade for field sales people in most every industry. Obviously, things have changed and continue to change in the area of communication. I have even heard that communication trends have changed the actual need for field sales representatives. Outside of serving existing customers, some experts feel that the value of face-go-face selling is declining, especially because so many people prefer to be contacted electronically. When I started in the business world several decades ago, the briefcase and telephone were two of the key tools of the trade for sales people. Ok, I am really dating myself here but you get the po...