Dobbertin

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Jared Dobbertin
Adam Padgett
ENGL 1102
April 7, 2014
The Destruction of Personality within Sales
Imagine a world where social media is no longer detrimental to our everyday
lives: where we no longer need social media to fill those continuous gaps of boredom.
Now forget that entire thought, and learn to accept that social media unfortunately is here
to stay. The current trend within the business world is to invest as much time and energy
as possible into developing successful marketing strategies that function solely through
social media. With sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even downloadable
apps for smart phones so easily accessible to customers, why wouldnt businesses seek
success through these sites? The answer to this question depends on how we, as society,
define the word success. The current definition of the word within our capitalist system
takes into account how profitable something is, but big businesses forget that with the
advancement of technology, we have to leave something behind (Padgett ENGL 1102).
Thus, social media and technology will soon ruin the customer experience and create a
less personable form of sales.
Primarily, social media acts a means for customers to mindlessly relay thoughts
and ideas they have not filtered through before advocating. One of the biggest upsides
to social media is that it allows for anyone to speak what is on their mind. This, in turn,
has single handedly destroyed any bit of accountability that social medias users take by
posting their comments. Big corporations will argue that social media is unique in their
Comment [AP1]: Very interesting title here.
Comment [AP2]: This is assuming that it is detrimental now.
Comment [AP3]: :)
Comment [AP4]: okay, this is a good, clear thesis. I do wonder who your audience is. I guess shopping-experience-loving people. So I wonder if your thesis should be geared more toward this idea because it operates under the assumption that less
personable is bad.
Comment [AP5]: Can you use more specific language?
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ability to generate, share, and spread information virally. These distinguishing
characteristics create a social contagion effect that drives the unparalleled speed of digital
information diffusion (Luo 147). The problem with this statement is that it portrays
social media as abiding by the classic rules behind peer pressure and group-think. Our
society deems social media as a place where our actions cannot be held against us in
hopes of creating a place where we may speak freely; what this does is create users that
make ridiculous statements without ever having to back up their claims. A brand can be
openly trashed on social media and hated without ever stating what is actually wrong
with that brand, thus decreasing the amount of legitimate feedback on social media.
Due to social media, the customer has now risen within the current economic
hierarchy into a position in which they now hold most of the power. The current sales
market is being driven by a customers wishes rather than a companys lust for money.
This may seem like a positive aspect of social media, but it diminishes the imagination of
companies and forces them to play it safe in regards to customer interaction. Social media
has allowed for customers to interact with each other, rather than the actual businesses
themselves. This comes at a price though; it creates a gap between vendors and customers
that salesmen use to fill. Salesmen use to serve as the only basis behind buying a product
other than need. The problem with social media is that its comment do not seem to hold
much merit since there is always more being added to the continuous stream. As a result,
many pieces of potentially powerful testimonials disappear into cyberspace forever,
never to be seen again (Tay 4). A customer may read something that they think is very
important, but that idea gets lost amongst the mass of garbage that is constantly cluttering
newsfeeds. This creates a lack of knowledge behind buying a product and forces
Comment [AP6]: So are you talking about misinformation here? can you give a particular example of when this has occurred? Dont you think that false negative comments would be in the minority when compared to genuine positive comments? Maybe
Im too idealistic.
Comment [AP7]: Arent these two ideas inexorably linked? Supply/demand? Im not super sure where this comes from.
Comment [AP8]: I wonder who would reject a safe customer interaction.
Comment [AP9]: ?
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customers to go into a sale being ignorant. Ultimately, the customer, be it another
business or a consumer, [decides] which strategy [will] succeed and which [will] fail
(Andzulis 306). The customers having the final say on a successful marketing strategy is
dangerous because again, they are no longer educated on the implications behind their
purchase. Rather, they rely solely on virtual reviews of products and make impulsive
decisions that big businesses can now overanalyze. In reality, social media has given
customers the power of false confidence.
Thirdly, social media has caused our society to become much more artificial and
has really hurt the small, family owned businesses. Social media has allowed for society
to glorify every decision made by celebrities. Now, fans have the luxury of constantly
being able to check up on their favorite stars to see whats trending at the moment. In
regards to sales, this has allowed for big companies the opportunity to really put their foot
down and squash the smaller competition. Celebrities serve as the perfect way for upscale
brands to make large amounts of profit because engaged customers play a key role in
viral marketing activity by providing referrals and/or recommendations for specific
products, services, and/or brands to others (Agnihotri 335). Thus, social media serves as
the perfect means for celebrities to voice their opinions on their endorsed merchandise.
The sad reality is that just because a celebrity endorses something that makes it more
popular and socially acceptable for others to participate in the fad as well. Social media
serves as the outlet for all these fads to pop up in since there is no censoring of what is
posted on social media.
Additionally, social media has created an environment in which sales
representatives are no longer seen. The common salesperson was once taught that
Comment [AP10]: okay, this is an interesting salient claim.
Comment [AP11]: I think this is true of Amazon book reviews. Theyre all lies!
Comment [AP12]: Try not to rely on such formulaic, banal essay constructions.
Comment [AP13]: Okay, I need you to tie this back in with small business. Im getting a little lost in this paragraph.
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creating a connection with their customers was the key to a successful transaction. The
problem with this statement in todays world is that we no longer value our human
interactions. Instead, we turn to technology to save us when we no longer feel the need to
think or interact for ourselves. In contrast, salespeople today are taught that marketing is
the key to any sale. The biggest difference between the two ideologies is that this new
way of thinking values brand placement rather than quality; it values endorsements rather
than buyer loyalty. Salespeople today strive to build a brand that customers dont want to
buy, but need to buy. The difference being that other brands cannot be seen as even being
acceptable anymore. Social medias role in this is that it allows for sales representatives
to always be connected with their sales demographics and derive its strength and
weaknesses from being completely open, and user driven. (Agnihotri 335). The
openness of social media is what businesses claim is the future of sales. The problem
with this openness is that it is comprised of artificial interactions in which no party
interacts face to face. Trust is no longer valued in making a sale, and salespeople thrive
off of this issue. Businesses invest millions of dollars in making sure that their products
maintain positive reviews and cover their tracks in regards to defects. It use to be that a
sales representative would have to prove that a product worked in order for people to buy
it; but now, customers take the word of a stranger that a product is acceptable to buy.
Another aspect that salesmen are taught to perfect is to create value through social media.
Value is something that is not fixed or tangible; it is in the eyes of the beholder. Salesmen
are taught how to take advantage of this characteristic by using social media to create a
false sense that a product is the key to all your problems (Gulys 60). Our society values
the quick fix because it is both easy and involves little time consumption. A business
Comment [AP14]: Really interesting claims here.
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will create false advertisement campaigns through fake Facebook accounts and spam
tweets in order to advertise a product being popular and effective. To the customer, they
see a product that promises big results and see that a lot of people support this product.
Their ignorance here is no accident because sales reps are taught an overly liberal
approach toward social media use may provide opportunities for competition or
dissatisfied customers to take control (Agnihotri 335). The idea behind this statement is
that by letting the masses talk about your product without promising too much is the key
to success. This shows that companies actually want customer ignorance because that
way, people will be tricked into buying an ineffective product because of false social
media support. Thus, social media has developed a way for businesses to lure customers
into making a purchase due to a lack of face-to-face interaction.
In conclusion, social medias abrupt rise has caused businesses to redefine the
customer experience in a way that negatively impacts sales. Without people holding
themselves accountable for their comments, social media will forever serve as a
battleground for lower tier brands. Customers have been given more power than they
deserve with businesses currently marketing to ignorant individuals who make decisions
based off the opinions of the masses rather than their own feelings. Social media has let
group think take over the sales force and has ruined the entire customer experience with
the lack of face-to-face interaction.




Comment [AP15]: This seems like a good thing while also being antithetical to your argument.
Comment [AP16]: Another interesting point. But I wonder if this is too much conjecture.
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Works Cited
Agnihotri, Raj, Prabakar Kothandaraman, Rajiv Kashyap, and Ramendra Singh.
"BRINGING "SOCIAL" INTO SALES: THE IMPACT OF SALESPEOPLE'S
SOCIAL MEDIA USE ON SERVICE BEHAVIORS AND VALUE
CREATION." Journal of Personal Selling Sales Management 32.3 (n.d.): 333-48.
Print.

Andzulis, James, Nikolaos Panagopoulos, and Adam Rapp. "A REVIEW OF SOCIAL
MEDIA AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SALES PROCESS." Journal of
Personal Selling Sales Management 32.3 (n.d.): 305-16. Print.

Gulys, gnes. "Demons into Angels? Corporate Social Responsibility and Media
Organisations." Critical Survey 23.2 (n.d.): 56-74. Print.

Luo, Xueming, Jie Zhang, and Wenjing Duan. "Social Media and Firm Equity Value."
Information Systems Research 24.1 (n.d.): 146-63. Print.

Tay, Daniel. "How Social Proof Killed the Sales Funnel (and Reinvented It)." RSS. Social
Media Today, 2013. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.




Jared,
I really like the argument you have made here. it is fresh and new and something I
havent read about before. I think you are on to something here with respect to bad
information available online. I do think of those false positive reviews on products that
most likely exist because the seller wrote those comments themselves. I am getting a little
lost in some of your discussion on false negative comments and also with your discussion
of customers wishes and a companies desire to make more money. I think all companies
strive to make money through whichever legally/morally ethical means necessary, right?
So I guess Im getting a little lost in your logic here. I do think you do a good job
engaging the conversation, but I need a little more clarity on some of these arguments.