Article at a glance:

Breadth of a salesman

• The world of sales is undergoing a dramatic transformation similar to the one that reshaped manufacturing 20 years ago. Those changes raise a compelling question: In today’s business world, what is the purpose of a salesforce?
• Benefits minus cost is a basic definition of value, suggesting two ways of increasing a salesforce’s ability to deliver: expand the ways in which they serve a customer or reduce the costs of the benefits they provide. The first path is more common, but it can be problematic. Ultimately, the customer must determine where value lies.
• Failing to properly allocate resources can lead salesforces awry, but so can failing to recognize the need for sales approaches that are tailored to the customer’s needs. The way in which a salesforce creates value must closely reflect customers’ needs and value perceptions, or the salesforce will fail. No selling savvy or strategy can bridge the gap between what a customer wants and what a supplier has to offer.
• Traditional sales approaches, whether transactional, consultative, or enterprise, are no longer up to snuff. As the value expectations of businesses, big and small, around the world change, salesforces must act with alacrity to determine and implement strategies for forging—not merely communicating—value for customers.