D i g i t a l i z a t i o n i n S a l e S

Alex Shuler

February 9th, 2015

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IntroductionO , W o n d e r !

H o w m a n y g o o d l y c r e a t u r e s a r e t h e r e h e r e !H o w b e a u t e o u s m a n k i n d i s !

O b r a v e n e w w o r l d ,T h a t h a s s u c h p e o p l e i n ’ t !

S h a k e s p e a r e , T h e T e m p e s t , V : i

The salesman is the workhorse of a business. He is the link between the product or service in which a business deals, and the customer. The salesman has evolved many times over the years from the ‘traveling salesman’ of the mid-20th century, who drove from door to door selling his product to homeowners, to the modern ‘inside’ salesman who makes countless calls to potential and current customers through a telephone. While the methods of reaching customers have changed throughout the years, the employment of the salesman has remained of upmost importance in the profitability of businesses. The link between product and consumer will always be the most vital communication bridge in any business, and the salesman that forms this connection must employ an entire arsenal of communication tactics.

In the 21st century there has been global movement toward digitalization and away from traditional communication methods. World-wide, brick and mortar libraries consisting of thousands of volumes of literature are being condensed to electric folders and drives. Personal information

previously stored on paper in a safe are now being stored on a drive behind a password. The same applies to the business world; because of cost efficiency, most businesses now have highly sophisticated computer networks which remove the need for physical storage of information and removes the need for ‘slower’ forms of communication, replacing ‘slower’ forms with texting, messaging and email. With

the accepted change toward digitalization in world-wide business communications, questions of the salesman’s accompani-ment in the change are raised. The communication aspect of the salesman’s job is the topic of this report. The purpose of the report is to analyze the style and methods of communication

between the salesman, his co-workers, and the clientele. Through this analyzation, it will be found that the modern salesman’s main forms of communication are more digital than traditional. Data on modern sales communication will be achieved through the information provided by Ralph Shuler, the Manager of Sales at Clark’s Home Services located in Irmo, South Carolina. Methods of attaining

information will be stated in the following section, with the information itself being described in the results section. Lastly, the discussion will contain analyzation of the results with recommendations based upon the conclusions.

Through this analyzation, it will be found that the modern salesman’s

main forms of communication are more digital than traditional.

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The information for this report was gathered through a face-to-face interview with Ralph Shuler, the Manager of Sales at Clark’s Home Services. Mr. Shuler answered a series of written questions read aloud to him. His answers were then paraphrased onto the written document. In order to gain an audience with Mr. Shuler, a weekend had to have been taken to travel to Chapin, South Carolina, his place of living. A few weeks notice was given to Mr. Shuler to allow him scheduling time to fit in the interview. The interview lasted about twenty minutes, with most of the time being spent recording Mr. Shuler’s responses and clarifying on what was being asked.

MethodsProcess and Preparation

This series of questioning was influenced by the observation of modern changes in everyday communica-tion. Globally, there is a change from traditional forms of communication to digital forms of communication. This line of questioning was designed to allow Mr. Shuler to elucidate this change in terms of the sales world. An emphasis was placed on the comparison of old and new forms of communication. The remainder of questions on the participating parties of communication aimed to gain insight into the reciprocating parties of digital and tradi-tional communication. Question nine could be fairly accused of being called a ‘leading’ question, as more emphasis was needed following the response to question eight in regards to written documents. Question nine was an effort to record whether or not Mr. Shuler writes notes on paper or on his electronic devices, furthering the theme of digital vs. traditional. Question ten was designed as an ultimatum question; one question that would sum up the previous questions by directly comparing digital and written communication with quantitative percentages.

Reasoning Behind Questions

Questions Asked:

1.) How do you use digital media in communicating with customers and co-workers?

2.) How do you use hand-written communication?

3.) How do you use verbal communication?

4.) Do you use any other forms of communication?

5.) Who are the main people or kind of people you talk to during any given day?

6.) What percentage of your time at work is spent talking with customers/potential

customers vs. percentage of time spent talking to co-workers?

7.) Do you have to read anything for your profession (magazines, books, articles,

business reports, etc.)?

8.) What kind of writing activities does your job entail?

9.) What about writing notes and writing reports?

10.) What percentage of this writing is done digitally vs. hand written?

in most categories

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This report has limitations in terms of methods. While the goal of this report was to attain an understanding on the employment of different communicative methods in the field of sales, only one salesman was interviewed. This is the smallest of sample groups, and this entire report is founded on the assumption that the sales field as a whole has a sense of normalcy and is consistent throughout the entire business climate. Another limitation to this report is the lack of unbiased, hard information. Because the report was based off of an interview, there are not any hard facts, just hard opinions. Perhaps according to Mr. Shuler’s opinion, he uses 85% digital media, when during another factual observational study, he actually uses 98% digital media. Mr. Shuler could be wrong in his estimations of percentages and comparisons.

Limitations

Questions/Answers

Results1.) Q: How do you use digital media in communicating with customers and co-workers? A: Email, text and social media with customers. Email and text with co-workers.2.) Q: How do you use hand-written communication? A: Completing internal forms (employee evaluations, reports) and note taking in meetings and seminars.3.) Q: How do you use verbal communication? A: Mostly by phone (cell phone) and sometimes “in person” with staff and co-workers in response to their questions and to give instructions for task to be performed. Also mostly by phone and sometimes “in person” with customers, which is preferred, to answer their inquires about our company and products and to response to their request and complaints.Verbal communication is also used for training classes with employees and seminars given to potential customers.4.) Q: Do you use any other forms of communication? A: Electronic (emails and text), social media, advertising (billboards, brochures, displays - home shows/trade shows)5.) Q: Who are the main people or kind of people you talk to during any given day? A: Employees and co-workers and customers.6.) Q: What percentage of your time at work is spent talking with customers/potential customers vs. percentage of time spent talking to co-workers? A: 60% with co-workers and 40% to customers/potential customers7.) Q: Do you have to read anything for your profession (magazines, books, articles, business reports, etc.)? A: Yes - all of those and product literature8.) Q: What kind of writing activities does your job entail? A: Proposals, employee evaluations, policies and standard operating procedures, responses to customer request and complaints.9.) Q: What about writing notes and writing reports? A: Reports (monthly sales, equipment maintenance, work orders for new jobs, etc.) and notes for all meetings and seminars attended.10.) Q: What percentage of this writing is done digitally vs. hand written? A: Digitally 85% and hand written 15%.

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The ten responses from Mr. Shuler provide insight into the evolving world of sales. As mentioned in the intro-duction and methods sections of this report, the world is making a global shift from traditional hand written communication to digital communication. Mr. Shuler’s responses edify this shift numerous times as he mentions how a majority of the communication he does is through digital means. The most impactful responses in terms of the main point of this report are Mr. Shuler’s responses to Questions one and two, his response to question three, and his response to question 10. In questions one and two, Mr. Shuler is asked about his digital communication with customers and co-workers, and then his hand-written communications. His response shows that he has no hand-written communication with his customers, and very limited hand-written communi-cation within the business. This is in comparison to his mentioning of “email, text and social media with customers” and “email and text with coworkers”. There appears to be a preponderance of digital communication used with his sales position, with exclusively digital communication to customers. This supports the idea that the modern age is making a shift to more digital communication as digital communication makes up the entirety of Mr. Shuler’s written communication to customers, leaving no room for archaic forms of written communication. In question three, Mr. Shuler is asked about how he uses verbal communication in the workplace. His response involves many instances of using cell phones. One of the most instrumental devices responsible for the digitalization of the modern work force is the cell phone, and Mr. Shuler’s verbal communication is mentioned as being done mostly on the cell phone. Mr. Shuler says that his communication within the workplace, which question six’s response declares is 60% of his verbal communication, is done “mostly by phone (cell phone)” and only sometimes is face to face verbal communication present. The same is so for his verbal communication with customers. Although “in-person” communication is preferred, the sales climate more often than not requires him to converse with his customers on the cell phone. Cell phones are the most frequent form of verbal communication over the traditional “in-person” conversation. This again displays the sales field favoring digital communication over traditional communication methods, in this case not intentionally.

DiscussionAnalysis

Question ten was designed, as mentioned in the methods section, as an ultimatum question to determine the quantitative comparison between digital and hand-written communication. Mr. Shuler’s response is overwhelmingly in support of the claim that digital communication is much more prevalent in the sales field. Mr. Shuler estimates that 85% of his communication is digital while the remaining 15% is reserved for the hand-written formal proposals and order reports he mentions in questions eight and nine. This is quantitative evidence showing a drastically higher percentage of digital communication favored over hand-written communication, which supports the idea that modern the salesman communicates more so with digital devices than traditional pad and paper.

ConclusionsThe 3 main conclusions to draw from the selected results analyzed in this section are: 1.) The modern salesman communicates with his customers and co-workers mainly using email, text and social media. 2.) Verbal communication in the field of sales is done primarily over the phone, despite the fact that “in-person” conversations are preferred. 3.) Digital communication is favored overwhelm-ingly over traditional hand-written communication, (roughly 85% to 15%).

These three points decisively support the idea that the salesman is now a predominantly digital creature of communication. Almost all verbal communication is digital, written communication is 85% digital, and written communication to customers is 100% digital. As seen above, the responses provided by Mr. Shuler support the main idea of this report, which was that the modern salesman’s main forms of communication are more digital than traditional, as mentioned in the introduction section of this report. Mr. Shuler confirmed that in the salesman’s field, there is more digital communication than traditional communication.

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Having confirmed that the field of sales is a part of the global move toward digitalization through Mr. Shuler’s responses, there are recommendations to further education of the subject that can be posed to further analyze the change from traditional methods to digital. - Form a study to describe the effect of digitalization on profit margins of the largest US companies, with particular attention to sales numbers - Discover the time period where these changes toward digitalization were begun, and follow that to present time, noting the point in which salesman also changed - Construct a model to predict the future of digitalization and the fate of traditional methods of communica-tion in sales -Examine the effect of digitalization on the salesman himself, has the changing age had an effect on the worker’s quality of life or health?

Recommendations

Closing Remarks This report analyzed the degree of digitalization in the field of sales. The change in the method of communi-cation in sales can easily be linked to the global change toward digitalization that is determined to effect every career bound individual. Evidenced through change in the field of sales, it can be said that change in every field will come, and the importance of adaptability will now become key in securing a profitable career. Lesson be learned from this report, that great inevitable change will indeed come to all paths, and it is left to those who follow to adapt and lead suit, to save sake of purpose and achieve.

Contact Information

Alex ShulerBiological Sciences Undergraduate824 Harts Cove WaySeneca, SC 29678803-312-4667abshule@g.clemson.edu

Ralph ShulerClark’s Home Services2 Grove Hall LaneColumbia, SC 29212803-513-2513ralph.shuler0@gmail.com

Clemson University101 Calhoun DriveClemson, SC 29634(864-656-3311)Go Tigers.