Harsh words about Sales 2.0

The following quotes have not been written by myself. I found these different statements regarding Sales 2.0 in discussions on LinkedIn. I’m leaving out the names of the people who wrote them as I didn’t ask for their permission to put them on a blog.

The first one actually was in response to me saying that the emergence of what is called “Sales 2.0” (which puts the buyer in the driver’s seat) does not really help to fix the broken relationship between Marketing and Sales but maybe having both departments report to the same person would:

“I did not know what Sales 2.0 was so I read the below on some website:

Sales 2.0 brings together customer-focused methodologies and productivity-enhancing technologies that transform selling from an art to a science. Sales 2.0 relies on a repeatable, collaborative and customer-enabled process that runs through the sales and marketing organization, resulting in improved productivity, predictable ROI and superior performance.

OK, That does not address the relationship between sales and marketing.

As far as Sales 2.0 goes, I think I’ll stick to making friends, helping others, and providing as much value as possible. It’s simple and it WORKS.”

The following two quotes were responding to someone’s question what Sales 2.0 really is:

“Sales 2.0 is many things. It is a book written by people with big company experience who do not really understand the needs of medium size companies. It is the justification for marketers who like to say “Cold Calling is Dead” (because they don’t actually understand how it works or have never been provided with the right service). Finally, it is an umbrella under which otherwise rational marketing executives exist while they pacify senior management with apparently low-cost solutions that provide output that is far inferior to more appropriate, more expensive solutions.

Some years ago, and issue of ZD Market Intelligence contained the following quote: “Many tech marketing departments are mere arrays of disparate tasks and uncoordinated contractors. These firms ignore the basics, like positioning statements. Many of these groups deceive themselves because either they have won some award for a tiny part of the marketing mix, or, not thanks to their efforts, the company’s overall success in the market to which they sell is increasing.” Harsh words. True words.

The more things change the more things stay the same.”

Next person, same discussion:

“Sales 2.0 reflects the seachange of how today’s customer wants to be approached and sold to. Cold calling is totally dead. It is an utter waste of time. Research, social media cred, word of mouth, learning seminars, etc are way better use of mktg and sales dollar. Example… 4 months ago, I was cold calling businesses trying to get info, contact info, and then get past the screening. Hours and hours, days and days. I switched to specific strategies on LinkedIn and Facebook, and I made contact immediately — within hours, with total strangers. Sales 2.0 is becoming the de facto way to do business.”