Intangible products such as music, video, print content, banking transactions and even communications services are among those most easily sold “online” or “digitally,” displacing physical forms of distribution.
Communications products also are intangible, so a logical question is how channels of distribution might change over time, with “sales” and “fulfillment” becoming more virtual and less physical.
The issue is whether digital fulfillment allows connectivity providers to cut operating costs or capital investment.
For consumer mobility services, the switch might be experienced as ordering a new phone online and then activating online, with no need to visit a physical retail outlet. Small business customers might find basic data and voice services could be ordered online as well.
Eventually, even more complicated enterprise services might be sold without use of sales forces. That might seem fanciful, but consider the value of a human enterprise services sales force: expert knowledge of how to match network services with business process support.
But consider the traditional value of human sales forces, which understand the complexity of network offers as well as the requirements for business process support, and can match needs with solutions.
Even if we assume that every enterprise situation is custom, to a significant extent, there are patterns, which means rules can be created.
And any rules-based process can be enhanced by use of artificial intelligence systems. That means, in principle, that the value of human experts should be capable of replication in an AI-enhanced sales and fulfillment process.
If one assumes that connectivity providers must reduce operating and capital investment costs to maintain profit margins in slow-growth to no-growth markets, then reducing sales and customer care costs are among the areas where the biggest opportunities for savings might be found.
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