In the Book of Revelation, four horsemen (Death, Famine, War, and Conquest) open a can of world-ending whoop ass before the last judgment. Four forces are similarly positioned as harbingers of the sales force’s demise. They are automation, marketing, artificial intelligence, and crowdsourcing. Pundits would have us believe these technologies will end the sales force as we know it, like this breathless prognosticator predicting 15 million lost sales jobs by 2020. Though economists tell a different story, pointing to robust hiring and employment growth in sales jobs.
Are the “Four Salesmen of the Apocalypse” false prophecies, or should management be preparing for their sales organizations’ expiration? This panel separates fact from fable while examining the potential impact of these four forces, their implications for managers and salespeople, and effective approaches organizations should consider in preparation of things to come.
