The main challenge in B2B selling in technology today is that it is difficult to identify the needs of customers and selling them solutions which suits best to their needs. It is very important to deliver value proposition to existing and new customers to build strong relationships with them. In today’s competitive scenario customers’ do not know how to solve their own problems, even though they often had a good understanding of what their problems are. But now, owing to increasingly sophisticated procurement teams and purchasing consultants armed with troves of data, companies can readily define solutions for themselves and customers can devote time much better on important issues of business.
At the time traditional sales where supplies were tight and suppliers held the cards, when orders had to be booked weeks or even months in advance and customers, anxious for a steady supply of material and lacking information about availability, had little room to negotiate price. Sales people were order takers. But in the competitive environment, sales people have evolved from order takers to ambassadors, plying their social skills to learn what a customer needs and using their product knowledge to present products and services to match those needs. Salespeople built long term relationships with purchasing agents, cementing those ties and meet the customer’s requirements.
Now with the increase in the Internet Penetration where every consumer has access to prices and specifications from suppliers anywhere on earth and at the same time customers are under pressure to deliver value to their clients and their shareholders. They are compelled to use the newfound power to transparency and overcapacity to drive ...
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...lge in selling trap which means temptations to jump on solutions rather than understanding the problem properly.
• Along with satisfying the core and augmented needs, more concentration should be in meeting unexpected needs to maximize the value preposition.
• To create differentiation: IDIC Model should be used.
I- Identify who are important people in decision making.
D- Differentiate who are important to you.
I- Interact
C- Customize value according to the needs.
• Focus should be on 3 C’s – Creating Value, Communicating Value and Capturing Value
• Convert product-centric, channel-centric and other metrics to customer centric metrics over time. For instance, a firm may evolve from measuring sales volume alone, to measuring the customer value impact of new sales.
• Focus should be on Potential advantage, providing unexpected value and gaining competitive advantage.
As the salespeople’s immediate supervisor, it is the primary responsibility of the manager to provide proper training to enhance the salespersons’ effectiveness and improve their skills. Given the importance of having a productive and enthusiastic sales team, the manager needs to develop and manage effective reward and compensation packages to ensure a highly motivated and satisfied sales force. Sales managers also ensure that the company 's standards of professionalism, image, and branding are consistent with the sales team’s interaction with company customers. The manager 's presence also makes customers feel valued as well as provide credibility on behalf of the company (Pilling, Donthu, & Henson,
In a recent five-year study researchers have found that the “4 P’s” undercut the B2B marketers. The author states, “The “4 P’s” causes the marketing team to stress about product technology and quality even though these are no longer differentiators but are simply the cost of entry. It underemphasizes the need to build a robust case for the superior value of their solutions. And it distracts them from leveraging their advantage as a trusted source of diagnostics, advice, and problem solving.”. This new method is more customer focused because if they have a good overall experience with your company, it is more likely they stay with your company (Ettenson, Conrado, & Knowles,
Business deals are closed between two entities with one entity being the seller and the other one being
Sales and delivery personnel have a unique system and they work well together. Large sales force of over 10,000 individuals.
People make purchases on the basis of emotion rather than logic. I believe out of my experience that people decide to buy something not because it serves them a purpose but because it feels right to them. After this first stage of buying I know for sure that people start to think of logic to justify their decision to themselves. So it becomes extremely important for a salesperson to make an emotional connection between their prospects and themselves. I make sure that every time I have a prospect I will make a personal connection with that particular prospect. The whole idea behind it is used to generate an interest that touches them internally. This way I made sure that my time is not wasted and I am able to sell more over a selling spree. Therefore, it becomes extremely important for you as a salesperson to close deals on the basis of the emotions rather than selling with logic.
sales representatives: the sales plays a key part of food chain networks. No matter suppliers or customers, sales are related to revenue and profits. For example, face to face is asking sales person communication friendly and get the customers feedback in time. 2. A description of three possible marketing opportunities that the business could pursue, including your initial assessment of how each of the opportunities identified will impact on the
In business-to-business companies, the company is seeking out a smaller, focused target market. B2B companies usually offer something to other businesses that help another company to increase productivity or offer another benefit that the company will need. Therefore, the company must target a smaller group of companies that will have a demand for this product. The target market can increase after some level of success has been achieved. However, because of the focus on relationships throughout the marketing strategy, smaller target markets are easier to approach and to continue building and nurturing that business relationship.
The first issue, described by Ohmae as the Californization of Need, refers to the convergence of customer needs and preferences and the fact that the national identity of many high-quality products has virtually disappeared. Secondly, companies can no longer maintain a leadership position based solely on superior, advanced technology. This results because of the increasing number of critical technologies embedded in the majority of products, therefore, no one can keep the technology out of the hands of competitors around the globe. Thirdly, Ohmae emphasizes the importance of fixed costs. He believes that companies can no longer compete by keeping their variable costs lower than their competitors. The majority of costs incurred by companies these days are fixed costs, therefore, what matters is maximizing marginal contribution from fixed costs and a logical way to do this through forming strategic alliances. The final issue Ohmae identifies is dangers of equity.
It is important to know the customers buying power. What’s makes them buy and what product demands to they have.
The first step is prospecting(Anderson, Dubinsky, Mehta pg.103). The sales process is adaptive, which means that each situation may be different and salespeople have to be able to adapt and understand what is important to each customer and where each is in the buying process. With this step in the process, sales representatives look for new customers that they can potentially sell their products to. This can be done by cold calling or by going out into the market and talking to people. This part of the process is a numbers game, and the sales representative has to contact many people. An important initial step in personal selling is the selection, training and motivation of salespeople. Salespeople must be fully familiar with the product, the firm, the market, and the selling techniques. They should be well-informed about the competitor's products and the degree of competition. The salesperson should also be acquainted with the motives and behavior of prospective buyers. Approximately twenty percent of a firm's customer base ca...
Suppliers’ Power: Here you assess how easy it is for suppliers to drive up prices. The fewer the supplier choices you have, and the more you need suppliers' help, the more powerful your suppliers are. This is driven by the number of suppliers of each key input, the uniqueness of their product or service, their strength and control over you, the cost of switching from one to another, and so on.
This complex environment together with a global market where input and product prices are continuing to fluctuate and remain volatile. Such changing environments creates a pressing need
To avoid customer dissatisfaction companies must learn to manage their customers’ expectations by painting a true picture of the scenario and future deliverables. Companies should factor in all customizations and special circumstances when making their service promises. Companies should avoid the trap of over-promising or promoting themselves as something they are not. In the current competitive market, although it is extremely tempting to pad ones achievements, a customer that makes realistic promises and delivers on them is more likely to retain its customers than one that makes big promises but is unable to deliver. It is never about just closing the sale. Closing a sale has no meaning when the follow up to this is an unhappy customer or a cancelled
However, despite this large spending, it is estimated that 70% of CRM implementations fail. Xu et al. 2002). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Second There are a number of reasons for these failures, such as a failure to implement them throughout the organisation and resistance from employees. But in some cases the buyer-seller relationship does not merit a collaborative-style relationship; the customer may only require a transactional relationship. It is for this reason that I believe that CRM does not always have to be at the heart of B2B marketing.
Proper training for a sales force is vital to the success of the individual as well as the team. According to Spiro, Stanton, and Rick, “The salesperson’s product knowledge, understanding of customer needs, and selling skills are directly related to the amount of training he or she receives” (2004, p. 190). This paper will discuss such instances encountered by Imaginative Staffing, Inc., summarize the case study presented in Management of a Sales Force, and answer questions regarding the case study. In addition, this paper will analyze the key elements and processes of selecting and recruiting a sales force, describe the appropriate training modality for both initial and recurrent training for Imaginative Staffing, and describe the different methods used to motivate the sales personnel.