Seems obvious, right?

But if you look at many sales solutions, it’s intriguing to think that salespeople could eventually be replaced by automated solutions. Solutions that will reach out to buyers, deliver perfectly calibrated pitches and then send them the contract to e-sign. Even Consensus, with its ability to remove many obstacles from the paths of effective salespeople, could be mistaken for a path to a human-less sales future.

But is this really true? Are salespeople really so easily replaceable? Can technology ever replace everything salespeople do? Recent research on the topic gives a firm ‘no’.

In the 2015 SiriusDecisions B-to-B Buying Study, more than 1,000 B2B executives were asked when and where in the buying process sales representatives provided useful information. Regardless of what type of sale situation, the survey found that sales reps were indispensable at every stage.

About this epiphany, SiriusDecisions’ Marisa Kopec commented:

“Loud and clear, buyers expressed the need for personal interactions to create trust, validation and confidence in the decision they were making. This is ultimately why the sales rep still matters. Furthermore, the buyer’s need for a contextual fit of the information that’s being delivered to them to inform their decisions was also articulated as a key driver for interacting with a representative from the provider organization.”

Suffice it to say, the human touch in sales is just as vital as ever. Even with all the ease, convenience, insight, and speed provided by sales technology, it still takes a human ear and eye to spot a buyer’s unique needs and situation and tailor a solution’s benefits to those needs.

So where does this leave the balance between effective salespeople and their technology? There’s no denying the competitive advantages that technology can offer sales teams, giving them the upper hand in how fast and how often they convert leads into prospects and then convert those prospects into customers. There’s also no denying the value of the human intuition and personalization that salespeople bring to the table.

I would propose, then, that the future of salespeople and their technology is not a winner-take-all scenario. Rather, everything points to a partnership. Technology will automate or eliminate the manual tasks that don’t require salespeople’s unique human touch. This, in turn, will free up salespeople to more diligently connect with buyers, understand their needs, and coach them to a purchasing decision they feel comfortable with.

To learn how Consensus gives sales more time to serve their buyers better, click on the orange “Watch Demo” button below.