the future of selling and sales management: sales 2020

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SALESMANAGEMENT

2020

Sales Management 2020

Is an academic research project aiming to identify and develop solutions for the challenges sales organisations will be facing for the next 10 years.

Sales Management 2020

The project was started in April 2010 in the Netherlands in association with the Sales Management Association.

www.sma.nl

Sales Management 2020

The results shown here are based on 46 in-depth interviews with sales directors from different industries.

Question

What were the major challenges sales organisations faced in the last 10 years ?

2010

Globalisation

Globalisation• Customers merging into larger ones.• Increased coördination between purchase departments.

2010

Globalisation

Internet Technology

Internet• customer expection increased• customer online shopping• customer buying power increases• customers loyalty decreases• leading reduced margins for suppliers

2010

Globalisation

Internet Technology Efficiency and Quality

Efficiency and Qualitysuppliers seek to reduce costs by:

• increasing the quality of their processes and products in order to reduce service cost.

• employing fewer sales people to generate the same sales volumes.

2010

Globalisation

Governance and Ethics

Internet Technology Efficiency and Quality

Governance & Ethics• increased control over sales approach• increased awareness on ethical sales behaviour• increases regulation towards ethical behaviour

2010

Globalisation

Governance and Ethics

Customer Orientation

Internet Technology Efficiency and Quality

Customer Orientation• increased customer orientation• reduced hit and run sales approach• introduced consultative selling

Question

What are the major challenges sales organisations expect for the NEXT 10 years?

Value Co Creation

2020

Value Co Creation•to continue to add value, sales people will have to start co creating value propositions with their customers.• sales people are moving towards a business consulting role.

Value Co Creation

Networks

2020

Networks• in order co create sales people will have to collaborate with a network of partners to deliver the final solution.

Value Co Creation

Networks

2020

Com

mun

icati

on A

mou

nt

Communication

Communication• more and more communication will happen over the internet.• sales people wil have to learn to use social media to communicate with their customers.

Value Co Creation

Knowledge ManagementNetworks

2020

Com

mun

icati

on A

mou

nt

Communication

Knowledge Management• knowledge and know how will become the main differentiating factors for sales people.• systems will be needed to organise the knowledge gathering and dissiminating processes.

Value Co Creation

Knowledge Management

Customer Profitability

Networks

2020

Com

mun

icati

on A

mou

nt

Communication

Customer Profitability• sales people will need to be empowered with tools and knowledge to manager the profitabilty of their customers and opportunities.

Question

How are these past and future challenges affecting the selling process?

PROBLEM SOLUTION PRODUCTCustomer’s

Buying Process

Supplier’s Selling

Process

20002010

ConsultativeSelling

Consultative selling has enabled sales people over the last 10 years to move from solution presenters to problem solvers.

PROBLEM SOLUTION PRODUCT USESTRATEGY GAP

20102020

BusinessConsulting

2020

BusinessConsulting

For the next 10 years sales people will need to movefrom problem solvers to business consultants

Customer’s Buying Process

Supplier’s Selling

Process

PROBLEM SOLUTION PRODUCT USE

FEE BASED REMUNERATION

DEVELOP CUSTOM MADE SOLUTION WITH PARTNERS

REQUIRES SECTOR AND BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE

CONSULTING SELF SERVICE

SALES BASED REMUNERATION

STANDARD OF THE SELF VALUE PROPOSITIONS

REQUIRES PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE

MANAGED SERVICES

KPI BASED

THE SERVICE BECOMES THE VALUE PROPOSITION

REQUIRES BUSINESS OPERATIONS KNOWKEDGE

STRATEGY GAPCustomer’s

Buying Process

Supplier’s Selling

Process

PROBLEM SOLUTION PRODUCT USESTRATEGY GAP

Sales is moving into the fields of marketing and customer service.

MARKETIN

G

SALES

CUSTO

MER

SERVICE

Customer’s Buying Process

Supplier’s Selling

Process

Question

What is the future role of Sales, Marketing and Customer Service?

MARKETING SALES SERVICE

Traditionally there is one commercial approach for all customers, marketing passing leads to sales and sales passing orders to servicing.

MARKETING SALES SERVICE

One process does no longer fit all customers.

LARGEVOLUME of

TRANSACTION ORIENTED

CUSTOMERS

SMALLERVOLUME OF

COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP

ORIENTED CUSTOMERS

SELF SERVICE

SALES FORCE

MARKETING SALES SERVICE

One sales person can no longer have all the knowledge required.

LARGEVOLUME of

TRANSACTION ORIENTED

CUSTOMERS

SMALLERVOLUME OF

COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP

ORIENTED CUSTOMERS

SELF SERVICE

SALES FORCEPRODUCT SUPPORT

PRODUCT CONSULTING

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

LARGEVOLUME of

TRANSACTION ORIENTED

CUSTOMERS

SMALLERVOLUME OF

COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP

ORIENTED CUSTOMERS

SELF SERVICE

SALES FORCEPRODUCT SUPPORT

PRODUCT CONSULTING

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

“..we now have a two legged commercial organisation each leg serving a different market…” quote from a sales director of a large copier business.

LARGEVOLUME of

TRANSACTION ORIENTED

CUSTOMERS

SMALLERVOLUME OF

COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP

ORIENTED CUSTOMERS

SELF SERVICE

SALES FORCEPRODUCT SUPPORT

PRODUCT CONSULTING

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Next challenge is how to manage the matrix commercial organisation?

Conclusions1. Sales is evolving into a business consulting function.

2. Marketing, sales and customer service are merging into a commercial management department.

3. Commercial organisations are splitting into 2 divisions (or legs) each serving a different market with a different commercial approach.

4. The commercial organisation is moving from a functional towards a matrix organisation creating new management challenges.

Currently additional research on the challenges of the next 10 year is conducted.

If you are interested in participating in any of the follow up research projects, please contact

Dr. Régis Lemmens

Director of the Sales Competence Centre

Email: r.h.l.lemmens@tiasnimbas.eduregis.lemmens@salescubes.com