A while ago I was asked to present to a group of people who were just starting out and some had already begun their journey in business and in keeping with all the tried and tested social media approaches, one of the tasks was to produce a PowerPoint presentation, not just for me to use to present but also to produce something for them to take away afterwards.

The differing forces that affect sales are predominately from the customers perspective.  We are no longer in a market which is sales driven, rather, it is driven by the consumer every time.

Without a brand, you have to build a case why you deserve the business every time you get ready to make the sale.  That can be a thankless task.  Each time you go through the motions of a sale with a customer, you then get confronted with a sequence of questions that shows that they don't really trust you.

For those of us who have been in sales for any length of time, say for more than 10 years, we are painfully familiar with the old ways of generating new business:

• Cold calling (knocking on doors collecting compliment slips)
• Telesales (sweet-talking your way past the gatekeeper only to be greeted with a cross MD who has better things to do with his time than talk to a salesperson!)
• Direct mail (sending out company brochures hoping the receptionist doesn’t bin it before it gets to the boss)

If you can hold the attention of your visitors, they are more likely to return.  According to scientist Gitte Lindgaard of Carleton University, Ottawa, browsers only take 500 milliseconds to decide if they like a web site or not and therefore less than a second to click away from your site.

Over the past few years I have taken an avid interest in the way business (and individuals) buy and sell products and services. Whilst my findings are not scientific, and nor have I carried out any structured research, my observations have been supported by so many people, that there appears to be a pattern emerging.