A long time ago in the 1980’s, when dinosaurs and Fleetwood Mac roamed the Earth, any customer stepping into a store had a right to be worried. A salesman who trained his whole career to make sure you bought his product was going to break you down like an FBI negotiator, hammering you with facts of dubious authenticity and making you walk out with far more than you wanted.
But the dynamic has changed. We hear that we now live in a world of symmetric selling. I’m here to argue we don’t live in a world of symmetric selling; we live in a world where the customer often knows more than even the salesman.
Nowadays everybody has access to the internet, but not everybody has the time to do thorough research. Salespeople are too busy on the floor, and even if they do have the data customers have gotten smarter with statistics too. The customer, meanwhile, has far more time to research and compare prices. The modern switch of mindset away from “You have to buy from me” to “Please pick me” means that for the first time in history the buyer has had a definite advantage in the market. We do not live in a symmetric market. Caveat Venditor is real, and it is a far more powerful force than any of us realized.
BoweryJE22
I honestly think that this imbalance is for the best. The customer having leverage over the seller means that they know what they deserve and know what they want. If anything its better for the general public to have more knowledge to get what they think is fair. If there is going to be any type of imbalance, it should favor the customer.
Nowadays the customer often knows more than the seller! so it changes the power dynamic of the selling process. I think it is important to remember that now due to the imbalance, the power of more personal skills like empathy and compassion will see a real rise.