In an environment where customer demands predominate because competition is both relentless and increasingly international, the world of selling must accommodate a dramatically changed world of buying. The 1970’s, 1980’s and early 1990’s were generally a sellers market. Suppliers operated in an environment characterised by differentiated products, strong demand, a reasonable balance between capacity and demand, and well defined and protected product category boundaries. Most companies focused on revenue growth without worrying too much about profitability because revenue growth typically led to increased profits.
Today the situation is radically changed and forces such as product commoditisation, greatly shortened product life cycles, the proliferation of competitors, professional procurement, the high cost of direct selling and others are rendering many sales forces obsolete. As Rick Canada of Motorola puts it –
“The traditional sales force is a dinosaur – a remnant of past success.”
And prominent sales authority and author Neil Rackham states -
“Irresistible new forces are reshaping the world of selling. Sales functions everywhere are in the early stages of radical and profound changes comparable to those that began in manufacturing 20 years ago… But one change outweighs all the others. The meaning of selling itself is shifting. The very purpose of sales is being rapidly redefined.”
Consequently sales organisations face a huge challenge because there is no longer any sustainable competitive advantage through product superiority and simply selling harder has failed abysmally. Author Jerry Stapleton points out that the second – and more serious – problem is that the sales rep’s customers just don’t need him any longer. At least not the way they used to. Traditionally salespeople brought value to their customer by facilitating transactions and communicating information about their products and services. Almost overnight these two core functions of the salesperson have lost their value. These functions, the lifeblood of the selling profession, are diminishing in a value as a new era of selling is replacing the old. Customers won’t pay for them and soon won’t even tolerate them – and they are making that known to their suppliers.
The impact of all of this is reflected in a 1998 survey by Sales & Marketing Management magazine who found that the average company’s sales force had shrunk by 26 percent – a loss of one sales position in every four. Salespeople who bring no value to their customers will be replaced by lower cost channels – the internet, catalogue sales, distributors and others.
The new sales professional has a new focus: demand creation, philosophical alignment, in- depth understanding of the customer’s business, positioning, executive credibility and the ability create business solutions that deliver demonstrable financial value to a customer’s business.
The required skills are shifting from product-selling skills to encompass deeper customer knowledge and sophisticated sales and service skills. Consequently there will be fewer, more highly paid, financially literate salespeople supported by dedicated internal cross-functional teams. Minor changes and traditional sales training are guaranteed to fail. Strategic change instead will be required. The shaping of the sales function has become a strategic business issue. For a function largely responsible for company’s top line and its margins, the salesforce has received remarkably little executive attention or investment. Winning and keeping profitable customers is mission critical. But many sales forces have changed little in decades. Good enough is no longer good enough. Professionalising the sales function and identifying and hiring top sales talent will be required to drive shareholder value.
Unfortunately the sales function still has a relatively low status and many listed companies do not have a sales director on their board. A study of Fortune 1000 companies reveals that less than 2% of CEO’s came through sales. In many respects, sales is the last frontier for organisational improvement. In South Africa it is not possible to acquire a degree in selling and consequently huge sums of money are squandered on sales training provided by sales training companies. The World Class Sales Benchmarking Study conducted over 7200 sales forces and 100 000 senior business decision makers by Dayton based HR Chally, reveals that most commonly trained sales skills seldom influence customers to buy. To compound the problem further, sales is a talent-based vs. a learned skill and many people will fail in sales, whatever training they are given. You cannot train a person for a job they cannot do. The time has come for executives to take a long hard look at their sales organisations and seriously question whether they are receiving an adequate return on an investment that can easily run at 10-15% of sales. Professionalising the sales function merits serious executive attention, if it is to become a significant source of competitive advantage.
Is Your Sales Force a Dinosaur - To learn more about this author, visit Peter Gilbert's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 |
Related Businesses - Evan Elite Authors |
|
Dave Kurlan
Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development.
Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit.
He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine.
He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball.
He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|
George Ludwig
George Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance.
Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson.
His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more.
George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
|
Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales success or one of the many who have failed to change? So what are you doing to change those results? Let’s be honest, with companies moving globally and at lightening speeds, the traditional business solutions are outdated and dead. My approach moves your business out of its comfort zone and secures your competitive advantage now. If you are seeking to increase sales, build customer loyalty, create a culture of great attitudes or just achieve some sleep filled nights, then we should talk because my clients have experienced exactly those types of results. Learn more about customer loyalty at http://www.processspecialist.com/customer-loyalty.htm Give me a call at 219.759.5601 for a free strategy session. P.S. If you are seeking a motivational speaker, sales trainer or small business expert that will leave your audience smiling and remembering, please feel free to contact me at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|
Dr. John Oda
John Oda Ph.D NLP is a business peak performance expert, an author, and speaker frequently called upon to provide corporate training, workshops and seminars for many companies in the United States. He is an expert in coaching sales and business professionals in overcoming the behaviors and obstacles that may impede their sales results and affect their bottom line. Since 1995, John has created a speaking bureau such topics, which include: time management, sales training, human diversity, leadership programs and etc. He provides companies with a strategic plan to increase their bottom line by over 25 percent yearly. - Visit Dr. John Oda's Website |
|
Anne Barr
Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations,
networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business
ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
|
The Evan Elite Authors program is currently in beta phase. For details please contact us.
|
|
|
Peter Gilbert
(Visit Peter's Website)
Peter began his sales career with Ecolab
Inc in South Africa.He spent 14 years with
the company in a variety of technical and
sales roles, with his final assignment
being as CEO of the South African
operation. He then founded the South
African affiliate of Philip Crosby
Associates, and fulfilled the role of
Sales Director for 7 years, during which
period the company became the largest TQM
consultancy in the southern hemisphere.
When the Company was bought by Proudfoot
Consulting, he assumed the role of Sales
Director for three years, before leaving
to establish Chally SA, specialising in
sales assessment and recruitment
|
|
|
|
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
