Meaning Design Part 3: How the Web Changed Competition and the Role of Sales – Why Content Now Decides Everything

"Before conducting a competitive analysis, we must ask: what do we consider a competitor? If a decision has already been made based on web content, then attempting a sales pitch is often futile. If the content isn't there from the start, potential customers don't even have a basis for judgment, meaning you're already out of the running from the beginning."

This statement by Gunji-san hits on the biggest cognitive dissonance in modern marketing. Many companies still define their competitors based on product categories. But in the web world, that definition has completely collapsed.

Real-World Competition vs. Web Competition

Let's consider a concrete example. Imagine you are a marketing manager for the energy drink "Lipovitan D." Who are your competitors in the real world?

"In the real world, your rivals would be products like Alinamin. The conversation would be about beating Alinamin."

Yes, the first things that come to mind are direct competitors within the same energy drink market. Alinamin, Yunkel, Oronamin C – products in the same category competing for market share. This has been the competition model we've taken for granted for years.

However, the story changes entirely on the web.

"But when thinking about competition on the web, it's about the target audience, right? It's about the degree of overlap in the target customers. Identifying competitors based on a high degree of overlapping target audience presence is the unique perspective of the web."

The definition of competition on the web is the degree of target customer overlap. If people searching for energy drinks are simultaneously searching for ways to "relieve fatigue" in general, then competitors are no longer just other energy drinks.

"The value provided by energy drinks is the ability to work longer, stay awake all night, keep working without sleep. It's about a boost of energy and, another image is, getting 'pumped up,' right? Raising your spirits or tension, or serving as a solution for relieving daily fatigue. That's the benefit energy drinks provide."

Energy drinks provide the benefit of "relieving fatigue." But are energy drinks the only providers of this benefit?

"For example, what else might fall into this category? Another thing that provides the value of relieving fatigue is, fundamentally, sleep."

Exactly. Sleep is the most fundamental way to relieve fatigue. And from the perspective of someone in the energy drink industry, this is a competitor from a completely different sector.

"Sleep, the simplest is sleep, right? Then there's taking a bath – baths are good too, going to a local sento or a hot spring trip. For some people, massage, right? Or for others, taking supplements."

The list includes:

• Sleep → Sleep aids, pillows, mattresses
• Bath → Bath additives, hot spring trips
• Massage → Massagers, chiropractic services, spas
• Supplements → Vitamins, health foods

All of these become competitors on the web for the energy drink. Why? Because the target customer, the "tired person," has a limited budget and must choose one of these options.

"If someone thinks 'I'm tired today,' goes to the drugstore, and normally picks up an energy drink, but we all have limited budgets. If that person decides instead, 'I'll go home and take a bath today,' or like someone like you, decides 'I'll just sleep right away,' and buys an anti-snoring pillow to sleep, then the energy drink doesn't reach them."

This is the biggest turning point in the web era. Competitors are not within the same product category.

Companies offering completely different solutions to the customer's "relieve fatigue" challenge are, in fact, the most dangerous competitors.

The B2B Buying Revolution: 80% Decided Before the Sales Visit

"A B2B marketing survey published by Google 12 years ago" – this research revealed a fundamental change in the decision-making process within the B2B world.

"Actually, before meeting, your customers have already finished selecting potential partner companies, including gathering information. By the time the salesperson visits the client, the customer has pretty much already made a decision. The meeting is to confirm or 'check the answers' based on what they have learned and decided on their own, often having already done their due diligence."

Shocking, isn't it? So what does this mean?

• Traditional Perception: Sales visit is the starting point, followed by information provision -> consideration -> decision.
• Actual Current State: Over 80% of the decision is already made before the sales visit.
• Purpose of the Sales Visit: Not persuasion or negotiation, but an "answer check."

"It's not about deciding, but about checking the answers. So, from our perspective on the sales side, what we thought started with our visit actually begins much earlier. The customer already has the answer, and the meeting is just a confirmation. This research staudy was published 12 years ago. Now, 12 years later, based on that report, when Japanese companies investigated the current reality, they found this trend has accelerated overwhelmingly. In most cases, it became clear that the decision is already made before the face-to-face meeting."

The trend suggested by the research 12 years ago has now accelerated further. And this trend is not limited to B2B; similar patterns are seen in B2C as well.

So, when, where, and how do buyers make their decisions?

"When analyzing what forms the basis of that decision, it's web content. White papers published on the web are quite important here. Decisions are already being made based on web content. By the time your salesperson arrives, it's already decided, and the visit is just a formality, just checking answers."

Web content, especially educational content like white papers, plays a central role in purchasing decisions.

Is the Value of Sales Talk Only 6%?

There's an even more shocking statistic.

"To put it more strongly, reports indicate that the actual talking time by a salesperson being used as a portion within the decision-making process accounts for only about 6%."

6% – this is the proportion of the salesperson's direct effect on the overall purchase decision. The remaining 94% comes from factors beyond the salesperson's control, such as web content, reviews, word‑of‑mouth, and industry information.

"Therefore, in the process of a company deciding whom to place an order with, whom to do business with, the role of the salesperson's talk is really minimal, as these reports show. So, what must we do? We simply must create web content."

This fact has an impact that questions the very existence of sales organizations. However, this doesn't mean "sales are unnecessary." Rather, it means the role of sales is fundamentally transforming.

The Psychology of B2C Subscription: Self-Efficacy Determines Continuation Rates

It's not just the B2B world. In B2C, especially in subscription models, a similar psychological mechanism is at work.

"A Think with Google survey of 20,000 people" revealed a clear difference between those who continue subscriptions and those who don't.

"The characteristics of people who continue and those who don't have become clear. Looking at this, as I mentioned earlier with 'self-efficacy,' users who are more confident in their own choices and selection have a higher subscription continuation rate."

Self-efficacy – this psychological term has become one of the most important concepts in modern marketing. Users who are confident in their choices have a dramatically higher subscription continuation rate.

"In marketing, we often talk about Lifetime Value (LTV), an indicator of how much money a customer will spend over their lifetime. It was found that these customers perform very well in terms of this metric. This varies by genre, but it's roughly double the score. In some genres, the subscription probability is over 90% for those confident in their choice – amazing – while for those without confidence, the continuation rate is less than half."

Let's look at the specific numbers:

• Users with High Self-Efficacy: Continuation rate over 90%
• Users with Low Self-Efficacy: Continuation rate below 50%

The difference is more than doube.

Why Do Confident People Also Write Reviews?

Even more interesting is that self-efficacy also influences review behavior.

"Another thing we know is that people who write a lot of favorable reviews for a product are, indeed, those who are confident in their choice. People with high self-efficacy write very positive comments about the product. Those without efficacy, without confidence, tend not to generate many reviews; favorable comments simply don't emerge as a result."

To understand this mechanism, the examples Gunji-san gave about "particularity about water" and "pork lineage" are very insightful.

"People who have knowledge have many things they can write about. Even for coffee, it's not just 'the coffee was delicious,' but they can discuss astringency, bitterness, origin, or aroma – they have many points to elaborate on, so many reviews come out."

Knowledgeable people have multiple angles from which to evaluate a product, resulting in richer review content. Conversely:

"But as mentioned before, people who only have price as a criterion, even if you ask them to write a comment, lack the knowledge to discuss anything substantive. Their favorable reviews end up being uninteresting, and consequently, they don't continue their subscriptions."

Consumers who only have price as an evaluation axis can only write reviews like "it was cheap" or "it was expensive," which have low reference value for other consumers. As a result, these reviews are also of low value to the brand.

This cycle creates a "richness gap":

• Knowledgeable Consumer → Confident Choice → High Continuation Rate → Detailed Reviews → Aids Other Customers' Purchases → Enhances Brand Value
• Less Knowledgeable Consumer → Less Confident Choice → Low Continuation Rate → Price-Only Reviews → Commoditization of the Brand

"From 10 to 100,000": Transforming Sales Knowledge into Content

Hearing this, one might wonder, "Are sales departments then unnecessary?" However, the conclusion is quite the opposite. Salespeople are the most important source of knowledge.

"The people who have been in sales until now possess insights – the skills a salesperson has. The most important of these is the ability to see things from the customer's perspective. Being the closest to the customer, they are arguably the people within the company most knowledgeable about what needs customers have, what problems they are facing."

Salespeople, through daily direct interaction with customers, intuitively grasp customers' true needs, latent challenges, and unspoken frustrations. This is a much deeper insight than what the marketing department might infer from surveys and data.

The problem is that this valuable knowledge is locked within individual salespeople.

"Therefore, we should distribute web content, but if only one salesperson has this knowledge, the number of prospects they can reach, even including cold calls, is limited per month."

Let's think in concrete numbers. How many customers can one salesperson visit in a month? Assuming 3 visits per day and 20 business days, that's 60. Realistically, considering travel and preparation time, 30-40 is more feasible.

On the other hand, what about web content?

"But with web content, you can potentially have 10,000 or even 100,000 people view it at once. That's a tremendous sales force."

10 people vs. 100,000 people – this isn't just a numerical difference; it's a difference in scale. Keeping a salesperson's valuable insights confined to one-on-one conversations is nothing short of a "waste of knowledge."

Contentizing Sales Knowledge: The Ultimate Weapon for Differentiation

So, how exactly should sales knowledge be converted into content? The method Gunji-san points to is surprisingly simple:

"So, it's very important to feed back the knowledge we possess – the problems and needs learned from customer interactions – into content. Conversely, that also leads to differentiation, right?"

Feedback – meaning directly incorporating the raw voices heard in the sales field into content.

For example: - "Three Common Post-Implementation Failure Patterns" heard during sales visits. - "Five Tips for Securing Budget Approval" that customers struggle with. - "Eight Evaluation Points Often Overlooked When Considering Competitors."

These are pieces of practical wisdom known only to the salesperson. But by turning them into content, prospective customers can learn about your company's deep insights even before meeting a salesperson.

"Based on one's actual experience, perhaps with other customers, or with different conversations, that's where the need lies."

This approach has an even greater secondary effect: differentiation.

"If someone only has price as a criterion, even if you ask them to write a comment, they lack the knowledge to discuss anything substantive, so their favorable reviews end up being uninteresting, and consequently, they don't continue."

Brands that can only be discussed in terms of price inevitably become commoditized. However, by contentizing sales knowledge, your brand can possess "value beyond price." This becomes a differentiation factor that competitors cannot easily imitate – your unique competitive advantage.

Practical Application Steps for Meaning Design: From The Sales Field to Content Creation

So, how exactly can sales knowledge be converted into content? Let's apply the "Meaning Design" framework learned in previous articles to the sales field.

Step 1: Collecting "Queries" from the Sales Field

Salespeople, in their daily interactions, uncover customers' true underlying queries. Collect these consciously.

• "What are you really looking for?"
• "What is the main challenge you're facing right now?"
• "What is the most important factor for you when evaluating different vendors?"

From these dialogues, extract the customers' essential queries.

Step 2: Clarifying the "Key" – Our Company's Solution

Next, organize the solution explanations that salespeople actually use in the field.

• "Our product solves your specific challenge through its specific mechanism."
• "Unlike competitors, we focus particularly on specific differentiating point."

This becomes the "Key" for your content.

Step 3: Specifying the "Value" – The Benefit the Customer Gains

This is the most crucial step. Articulate the customer's emotional outcome that the salesperson perceives in the field.

• "After implementation, the manager was delighted, saying 'My work has become much easier' – that was memorable."
• "They mentioned that a task which used to take 2 hours daily was reduced to 30 minutes, allowing them to focus on more strategic work with the remaining time."

This "Value" is what should be emphasized most strongly in the content.

Step 4: Content Creation and Scaling Up

Format the collected Queries, Keys, and Values into content as follows:

Case Study Format

"Company A in the [Industry] sector, facing [Challenge], achieved [Specific Value] by implementing our [Solution]."

Q&A Format

• Q: [Customer's Query]
• A: To address that challenge, our company provides [Value] through [Key]."

White Paper Format

"Guide to Solving [Challenge] in the [Industry] Sector:

• 3 Common Challenges and Their Causes
• 5 Often-Overlooked Selection Criteria
• 7 Steps for Successful Implementation"

By publishing this content online, the information that a salesperson could only convey to 30 people per month can now reach 100,000 people per month.

Conclusion: The Future of Sales – From "Answer Checker" to "Content Conductor"

We are at a major turning point. The traditional role of sales – persuading customers through cold calls and random outreach – is now a relic of the past.

"Nowadays, making a sales call is often too late. We must operate under the premise that the decision was already made before the sales interaction. I believe we cannot move forward in this era without acknowledging this."

Gunji-san's warning presents a harsh reality for sales organizations. But it also suggests a new opportunity.

The knowledge held by salespeople should no longer be kept as "sales skills" confined to individual capability. It should be treated as an intellectual asset for the entire company, capitalized through content.

"I'm running a small company now, and in my previous company as well, there were no dedicated salespeople besides me. It's the same situation now."

As Gunji-san's own experience shows, small businesses or startups cannot compete with large corporations based on the size of their sales force. However, by adopting the approach of contentizing sales knowledge, they can compensate for the scale difference.

Salespeople, Become Conductors of Content

What will be required of salespeople going forward is not just the skill of "talking." The following abilities will be essential:

1. Listening Skills: The ability to draw out the customer's true underlying queries.
2. Analytical Skills: The ability to break down gathered information into Queries, Keys, and Values.
3. Writing Skills: The ability to translate the wisdom from the sales field into content understandable by a broad audience.
4. Strategic Skills: The ability to design which content to deliver, when, and to which target audience.

Reducing the number of sales visits while increasing the quality of content. This shift is the most critical transformation demanded of modern sales organizations.

"If you think about it, relying on a mass-scale human effort is very inefficient. Therefore, I think it's more efficient to channel the knowledge accumulated over time into the direction of converting it into web content."

Efficiency – this is the keyword. To achieve maximum results with limited resources, mass-scale human effort no longer works. Converting the knowledge of a single salesperson into content that reaches 100,000 people. This is the only strategy that modern sales organizations should adopt.

Looking Ahead to the Next Part: The Practice of Content Assetization

In this article, we explained the theoretical framework of how the web has changed the definition of competition and the necessity of contentizing sales knowledge. However, understanding the theory alone is insufficient. How dou you actually transform information gathered from the sales field into effective conten?

In Part 4, using a case study from a project where Gunji-san and Iqbal actually worked on contentizing sales knowledge, we will delve into the entire process: from specific collection methods, to content creation, effect measurement, and organizational systematization.

We will particularly focus on practical insights regarding techniques using generative AI to automatically convert salespeople's verbal explanations into content, and methods to transform raw voices collected from the field into formats optimized for search engines.

In an era where AI "dominantly intervenes" in search engines, for your company's sales organization to transform from a mere "sales force" into a "producer of intellectual assets," it is no longer the "number of sales calls" but the "quality of content" that decides everything.

Please join us for the next part of this new paradigm, born from the fusion of 20 years of SEO experience and cutting-edge AI technology.