Summary Changing role of sales (part 5)

International sales & procurement


Part 5: changing role of sales

The changing role of a salesman

From product provider To value creator
 Sells price  Sells “relevant” value
 Takes orders  Creates pro-active alternatives
 Delivers goods  Matches customer needs to firm
capabilities
 “opportunist”  “selective opportunist”


Traditional versus modern selling

Traditional selling Modern selling
1. role of salesperson  “lone ranger”  Team leader
 Business consultant
 Long-term relationship
2. involvement of customer  Minimum customer  Heavy involvement of
and salesperson involvement; maximum both customer and
salesperson salesperson
involvement
3. information flow  One-way; salesperson  two-way
to customer
4. focus on interaction  product/service feature  ability of the solution to
s and application address the need
behind the need – such
as the customer’s
financial performance
5. knowledge required  own company’s  own company +
- products and service  customer’s company
- competitors - products and service
- applications - competitors
- account strategy - customers
- costs  general business and
- opportunities industry trends
6. skills required  face-to-face selling skills  face-to-face selling
skills, including in-depth
search
 strategic problem-
solving
 demonstrating how
solutions meet strategic