by Roy Tell

Like the supposed global Apocalypse in December 2012, business in general, and the translation industry and the sales profession in particular, are reaching a climatic apex.  Life as we know it will forever be altered.

Let’s set the stage:
1. Globalization: “Information will find you [and] will connect everyone in business, customers—everywhere, and all the time…Entirely new business models, supply chains, customer care networks, markets and industries will be born from this always-on global connectivity. —Get ready now for this shift.” Institute for Global Futures, Global Trends Report 2009

2. Translation technology is changing the localization industry: “Google leaps language barrier with translator phone and [Google] has already created an automatic system for translating text on computers, which is being honed by scanning millions of multi-lingual websites and documents.” (Times Online-UK, February 7, 2010)

3. Traditional sales techniques no longer work: “Consumers frequently consult search engines and websites before heading for the store. This trend will accelerate.” Why Traditional Sales Techniques No Longer Work Well, Marketing Turnkey Systems, August 18, 2009

So how do we achieve Ordo ab Chao – Order from Chaos?  What is Neosales and what in the world do we mean by a Translation Industry “Apocalypse”?

Translation Apocalypse doesn’t really mean that fire and brimstone will rain on the industry (although it should on some vendors!).

Apocalypse means the “unveiling” and it is clear that technology is the virtual hand that is lifting the veil on global communications.  From how we can now access information, to how we evaluate what we read, technology is facilitating the translation of this information and helping us reach that Tower of Babel stage where we once again all speak one “virtual” language.  The entire Translation Industry is going to see dramatic changes, and only the companies that are prepared to integrate technology are the ones who will survive.  In a following article, I will discuss this more in-depth.  For now let’s look at the sales aspect.

Traditional selling in this scenario is like trying to hold a three-martini lunch meeting – no time, and it no longer fits the cultural zeitgeist.  Dr. David Steinberg in his article “Why Traditional Sales Techniques No Longer Work Well,” states that most savvy consumers are being introduced to a company via a 1-2 minute website visit, and he asks ”why would a potential customer invest 30-60 minutes [meeting] when they can kick the tires online first?” Would you waste that much time if you can narrow the field to five potentials within ten minutes?

Selling in this changing landscape, whether it is translations or anything else, will require a fundamental paradigm shift.  Traditional sales approaches will be thrown out, old methodologies scrapped, and a Gestalt-type sales approach is embraced.  This new, all-encompassing attitude is the foundation for the Neosales solution.

Neosales and the art of Neosalemanship (in the gender neutral sense), is the approach that combines traditional philosophies of “get to know you meetings,” relationship selling, etc with technology and its applications, to create the desired result of providing your customer with the convincing information to reach a buying decision.

Neosales starts not just with the actions of the individual salesperson, but with a company’s entire philosophy and the way they communicate with their target markets.  Using technology as the framework for reaching out to potential buyers and then training your sales force to take a “wrap-around” consultative approach using the key steps of understanding your customer, creating solutions, and delivering positive results is going to be how your company survives into the next corporate-industrial age.

Training the new wave of sale professional is going to require that companies implement technology and teach the salesperson how to use that technology to create effective solutions.  Will that mean all salespeople are going to be technobots?  Not by any stretch of the imagination!  While AI has progressed quite extensively, there still is that unquantifiable aspect that makes a salesperson a successful sales professional.  Crafting together the different pieces of the puzzle will still remain an art form to some extent, and the outstanding Neosalesperson will be the one who flavors their technologically driven solutions with the art of closing.  Companies who adapt that philosophy and ingrain it into their team are the ones who will be standing on the top of the hill. That is if the word doesn’t end on December 21, 2012.