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I find shopping with my 12 year old son to be an infuriating experience, he hates going to the store. And he says, “Mom, why do we have to do this? We can buy everything online.” 

Yep, digital native. And while it’s true that so many of our purchase transactions have shifted online and don’t really require the assistance of a salesperson, that’s really only the case for products. 

Hi, I’m Kim Fredrich. I’m the CEO and founder of The Ventas Group. Yes, my business is about sales and supporting other businesses and improving their sales. But let’s just think about this for a minute. 

If you need to purchase something, which is not a product, it’s a service, what are you actually buying? You’re buying expertise. How can you purchase expertise online? Maybe you could purchase a course something like that. But let’s say what you’re really looking for is a solution to a problem, that’s a consultant type approach. That’s the solution. And I use consultant in the broadest sense of the word. You’re looking for a solution to a problem that is probably multipronged, may require different facets maybe even different people. 

In fact, a good salesperson may even not only recommend the right sort of solution for you, but may help you understand more clearly what the actual problem is. Again, I said, a good salesperson. A good salesperson is working in your best interests, they’re going to help you make sure that the issue you think is causing the problem that’s getting in the way of the outcome you desire, is in fact, the actual problem. Oftentimes, that’s not is what I’ve found, then they’re going to suggest different ways that you might be able to approach a solution. They’re going to be guiding you through that they’re going to be suggesting and they’re going to be advising because that’s what a good salesperson does.

Can you do that online? I don’t think so.