Ford recently doubled their online marketing budget. In 2006, more cars were sold online than ever before. I sold my MGF online, sight unseen, to a buyer in Brisbane. I was in Melbourne.

I was discussing the role of the salesperson at one of Australia’s biggest BMW dealers last week. They say that more buyers are coming into the showroom with more knowledge about buying cars than ever before. So, do we really need a salesperson?

If a product or service needs no explanation, no demonstration and no special information to support an intelligent buying decision then it needs no salesperson to sell it. That’s why you can buy a book at Amazon. But, I wouldn’t buy a BMW without a salesperson. I need a demonstration. I want to ask questions. I want to be shown options I had never considered. I want to be surprised. For my money, I want and need a salesperson to help me buy BUT NOT TO BULLY ME INTO BUYING or I’ll just walk away. What do you think?

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