Fundamental Error In Today's Sales

Where is the problem?

We have more sales education than ever:

80,000+ Sales Books on Amazon.com
The global Sales TrainingSales Training Sales Training is the process of improving the skills, behavior and mindset of sales professionals to upgrade their selling performance. market is $4.6 billion
CRM Industry to grow to $82 billion by 2025
New Sales point solutions being brought to market constantly

And yet according to the Objective Management Group, 74% of salespeople fail!

How can this be so with all the books, training, and technology available?

„Homo economicus was surreptitiously taken as the emblem and analog for all living beings. A mechanistic anthropomorphism has gained currency.“

Ivan Illich, Philosopher, and Social Critic

Economic Man is the Problem!

There is a school of economics that has influenced much of the way technology has been developed.

John Stuart Mill described an ideal model of a human being which, as economics evolved, became known as „Homo Economicus“. The term literally means „economic man“. „Homo Economicus“ supposedly has very strict attributes which respond perfectly, and is described as having six characteristics:

Self-interest
Rational in action
Maximizing utility
Responsive to environmental conditions
Endowed with fixed preferences
Fully informed

The “fixed preferences” characteristic is seriously wishful thinking on the part of economists—for what two people have the same preferences? „Homo Economicus“ is a mechanical view of humans. It is the underlying view that has, in the technological era, become firmly entrenched in sales in several significant ways.

The Ideal BuyerBuyer A buyer is an individual or organizational entity that purchases a product or subscribes to a service. Fallacy

This model can be found in CRM solutions based on artificial intelligence & the use of algorithms to guide and predict sales. Today an overwhelming number of sales applications attempt to abstractly model human beings—which cannot be done. Such systems are founded on the claim that buyers behave predictably every time which we instinctively know to be untrue.

When incorrect theory underpins the way a CRM operates the enterpriseEnterprise Enterprise (in the context of sales) is a relatively large organization typically composed of multiple levels, locations, and departments which need multi-layer software systems that support collaboration across a large corporate environment. employing it is already going in the wrong direction.

This mechanical approach dictates rather than adapts.

A Diminished Profession

According to Sales Lab less than 18% of salespeople love their job and only 24% make quotaQuota Quota is a predefined benchmark indicating the amount of sales a selling unit such as a sales rep or a regional sales team should achieve within a given period, often used as a measure of success, performance and eligibility for commissions and other rewards..

This is not a surprise when the mechanical approach to selling has become so pervasive and the impact is significant:

Constant hiring and firing
Lack of real sales training
Demoralized salespeople
Chasing “silver bullets” like AI

The emphasis is no longer on human beings but on the sales system. Companies, industries, and investors persist in believing that algorithms and AI will solve all their selling problems.

The Pipeliner Difference

We view each salesperson as the “Entrepreneur within the enterprise”
(Austrian School of Economics, deems every human partaking in economic activity an entrepreneur)

Pipeliner is the only CRM system with solid theory behind its operation – based on principles originating in the Austrian School of Economics, of human beings taking action. We believe that the entire theory of Homo Economicus is incorrect because human action cannot be predicted. The Austrian School of Economics sets the stage for understanding human action and working within it.

We believe that humans fundamentally want to learn and improve. Our technology, therefore, does not attempt to “technologisize” salespeople. When salespeople are really invested in learning their craft, Pipeliner CRM becomes a tool with which they can apply what they learn. This is where motivation and learning find true expression and positively impact outcomes.

In addition, our dedication to helping raise the performance and professionalism of salespeople, and the reputation and integrity of the profession itself, compelled us to play an active role on the educational side. To this end, we created Sales POP!, an online, digital sales magazine that provides interviews with global sales experts, ebooks, podcasts, whitepapers, and more.

This free educational resource is actually embedded within the Pipeliner CRM platform so that users can, for instance, always access the contentContent Content refers to a material or document released in various forms (such as text, image, audio, and video) and created to inform, engage or influence specific audiences. most relevant to whatever task they are performing in the system.