Last week, I was lucky enough to experience a microcosm of the new world of selling.

One of the biggest changes that Web2.0 has brought to the world of selling is how the people in your market (customers, prospects, and everyone else who you might want to sell to) get their information.  No longer can companies (or sales reps for that matter) control the flow of information or place the spin they want on the information.

Everyone in your market is getting information from lots of sources. It could be their friends and colleagues, but it could also be on-line communities, discussion areas, blogs, reviews or any number of other sources that are easy to reach on-line.

What this means to the sales rep is that you have to be ready to sell to a prospect who now knows quite a bit about not only what they want, need and should buy, but also has a well-formed opinion about you, your company, and your products – and your ability to meet their needs.

Companies will have to adapt their entire selling process to meet the needs of this new buyer and help them find what they likely already know they are looking for.

Back to last week…

I had the privilege of speaking at a Baker Communications seminar on overcoming the challenges of selling in what appears to be a recessionary economy. (There are more of these being held in the next two months, and I’ll be speaking at most of them. Take a look if you might find this interesting)

Before I ever took the stage, there were more than a few references to WebEx, with participants talking about how WebEx provides travel-cost savings, faster and more productive sales calls, and more, and (as is often the case) using “WebEx” to mean both the company and the generic term for a web conference.

After about two hours, someone near the front of the room raised his hand and asked “What’s a WebEx?”

Within seconds the room had erupted in response. Nearly everyone chimed in with some definition, ranging from an explanation of the WebEx services, to descriptions of how WebEx has helped their business, their sales efforts, and so on.

I did not have to say one word. Within about five minutes, the people in the room had engaged this gentleman and explained WebEx. They had explained what WebEx is, and why it’s valuable to a business and to a sales organization. One woman went so far as to declare “We wouldn’t have a business if it weren’t for WebEx” (thank you for that compliment!).

When the discussion died down, I stood up and addressed the gentleman who had asked the original question, and informed him that if he’d like to see it for himself, we offer 14-day free trials.

This is exactly a microcosm of what I believe is happening more and more in the marketplace today. Prospects are getting information from more and more sources and are far better prepared to engage you as a sales rep than ever before.

I don’t know if he decided to give it a try. But if he did, and our sales rep calls him, our rep will find a prospect who already knows (from experienced customers) what WebEx can and can’t do for him, and what challenges it might help him overcome.

I know that our sales reps work very well with the new, better educated buyer. And if he chooses to engage, we’ll find the way to help him address his sales challenges.

The question I have is: When your prospects start calling and telling you how much they know already, will you know more? And will you be ready to sell to this new type of buyer?