Inc magazine has an interesting article on the future, or lack thereof, of Selling Face to Face. A few interesting claims are made:
"Corporate hiring for "outside" sales positions had leveled off at a measly 0.5 percent annual growth. By contrast, corporate hiring for "inside" sales positions was growing 15 times faster"
"More than two-fifths of all customer conversations conducted by "outside" salespeople are done over the phone."
"The shift away from face-to-face selling is driving many top companies to hire and cultivate people who can become subject-matter experts and communicate with customers with a combination of email, phone, texting, social media, and Web conferencing."
What do you think? take this poll:
Btw, hat tip again to Keith Parker & Associates for a tweet referencing this article.