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Innovation in the Sales Environment

Written by: Peter Gilbert

Article Overview: In an environment where customer demands predominate, because competition is both relentless and increasingly international, the world of selling must accommodate a radically changed world of buying. If you cannot differentiate yourself by what you sell, and are unwilling to differentiate by how you sell, you will, by default, have to differentiate by how much you sell it for. Hence sales forces are seeking new and innovative ways of selling products that are increasingly commoditised.

Innovation in the Sales Environment

In an environment where customer demands predominate, because competition is both relentless and increasingly international, the world of selling must accommodate a radically changed world of buying. If you cannot differentiate yourself by what you sell, and are unwilling to differentiate by how you sell, you will, by default, have to differentiate by how much you sell it for. Hence sales forces are seeking new and innovative ways of selling products that are increasingly commoditised.

The first rule is senior leadership support. Clear and unwavering support from senior management ranks first among factors that determine a company’s ability to effect complex change.

The second rule is to understand that change is difficult, requiring cross-functional collaboration. Hence successful innovators adopt a structured and formal process to encourage and test innovation.

The third rule is to give a high priority to building flexibility into business processes and in the workforce, and a willingness to use alliances and partnerships, to help them adapt to changing market conditions.

The fourth rule is to develop a deep understanding of customers’ business drivers, business processes and strategic imperatives. Innovative sales organisations frequently develop innovative solutions to problems that customers were not aware of.

The fifth rule is a willingness to reconfigure assets – people, infrastructure, technology and intellectual capital to adjust rapidly to new market conditions.

In the sales environment a great deal of innovation is driven by the insidious margin erosion caused by commoditisation. Boise Cascade no longer sell office supplies, they apply their skills in activity based costing, supply chain management and procurement to effecting substantial savings for large corporations and becoming their sole source supplier.

Southern Energy Marketing no longer sell kilowatt-hours, they utilise their expertise in risk management to assist major clients in pulp and paper and employ instruments such as asset swaps and futures, to stabilise pulp prices. This benefits both the paper mills and downstream clients, such as printers and publishers. Southern Energy benefits by entering into long-term contracts.

It is difficult to sustain competitive advantage through product features and innovation is largely focused on finding new ways of selling.

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Article Tags: boise cascade, business drivers, energy marketing, high priority, infrastructure technology, innovative sales, innovative solutions, intellectual capital, kilowatt hours, large corporations, leadership support, margin erosion, pulp and paper, sales environment, sole source supplier, southern energy, strategic imperatives, substantial savings, supply chain management, unwavering support



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