Steve Thurlow, business director, manufacturing, Huthwaite International thinks so... 

A recent study of senior sales and marketing executives across manufacturing and service businesses undertaken on behalf of Huthwaite International has found that almost one quarter of sales teams have seen the amount of face-to-face selling time directly fall compared to two years ago.  At first glance, it might seem that this is no more than a natural reaction to the current economic climate – why see a sales person when you’re not in the market to buy? - and therefore not in itself very newsworthy. 

Yet the primary reason for this shift in the amount of buyer/seller contact is very different.  Surprisingly, for almost two thirds of those suffering less contact, the main reason is a change in procurement strategies, in particular customers rationalising, and in some cases centralising, the way in which they are buying goods and services.  By contrast, only 12 per cent believed the change  was due to the generally worse economic situation that their customers are, or have recently been, experiencing.  

At the same time, the selling organisation's client-facing but not sales-focused colleagues – described in the broadest terms as ‘service’ personnel – are increasingly getting more ‘air-time’ with influencers in the buying organisation.  However, in common with other employers, manufacturing companies have yet to take full advantage of this valuable contact, as these customer-facing staff do not yet recognise their potential to directly contribute to the sales effort.

Such a shift cannot be ignored.  The survey points to a deep-seated and structural change within the buying organisation, with fundamental long-term implications for all sales and business development teams.

As the purchasing process becomes more centralised, with the increasing involvement of procurement specialists, so sales professionals have reduced access to the buyers who actually benefit from acquiring their goods and services.  This means fewer occasions where they can have an open and meaningful dialogue around their customers’ business needs and how best to address them.  In short, sellers have less opportunity to create value and decisive differentiation for their business.

Fundamental change 

The findings have significant implications for manufacturing businesses, as they will have to reconsider their whole sales approach in this new world of more centralised purchasing.  For the sales team in particular, the need to develop highly effective value creation, negotiation and account development skills becomes even more important, as the business has to get the best they can out of a decreasing number of formal sales opportunities.

However, there is a broader need for all staff with direct customer contact, who aren't involved in sales,  to recognise that they have a vital role in the sales process, as they can add tangible value at every touch point.  And this will become even more important as, increasingly, they have more opportunities to talk to key influencers  the people who actually use the goods and services being sold - than their sales colleagues who are corralled into dealing more and more through procurement. 

Furthermore, these 'service' people have a larger customer footprint.  In most organisations the total number of non-sales staff with the potential to advance the sales process far exceeds that of the direct sales team.  The survey found, for example, that typically two thirds of support staff such as after-sales or technical support have direct customer contact, as do one third of administrative staff.  

A progressive approach

This does not mean service staff have to become sales people.  Service and sales is not an ‘either/or’ state with clear dividing lines.  Rather, it is a continuum along which employees can be encouraged to progress, as their recognition, willingness and capability to help the business spot  and develop sales opportunities increases. 

In terms of pure service, customers get what they have asked for, no more and no less.  This progresses through outstanding service– often called ‘going the extra mile’ – to a position of sales awareness, where the service person starts to look beyond the immediate service issue and actively seeks to create, or at least capture, potential tangible sales value. 

At the next stage, that of sales through service, the service person starts to look beyond identifying customer needs and starts to offer solutions to them.  The key here is that any additional solution identified in this way is sold, not simply given free to the customer.  And finally, there is the full-blown sales role, which is fully-focused on identifying customer needs and creating value for both companies.

The key here is that each organisation – and, if necessary, each individual - can progress as far as their capabilities and willingness allow.  In this way, service moves closer to sales, but only as far as each employee is both comfortable and happy to go.

Unfortunately, however, there is a problem.  Most manufacturing businesses have a long way to go in achieving this ‘one company’ approach to customer development.  More than three quarters of service staff continue to see their role purely in terms of meeting or exceeding customer expectations within the context of service provision, with no understanding or desire to go any further in recognising or developing customer needs.

The structure of the business itself does little to encourage any change of attitude here.  In the majority of firms, sales and service/customer support teams work together on an informal basis only and in more than one in ten the two departments work totally independently.

Rich rewards

The survey demonstrates a clear correlation between an organisation’s culture and its service employees’  attitude and approach to sales.  Put simply, if the culture of the business doesn’t promote a link between the two functions, then it will not happen.

For those who have risen to the challenge, the payoff in terms of business benefit has been extraordinarily powerful.  In one of the survey’s most outstanding findings, one quarter of respondents have seen an increase in sales leads and activity resulting in improved bottom-line performance, with a further 51 per cent identifying an increase in sales leads and activity.

Most outstandingly, for those who have benefited from better profitability, almost one third have seen gains of more than 20 per cent, with more than two-thirds registering an improvement of at least five per cent.

 These survey results indicate that the reward for effort in changing the corporate culture in this way is potentially huge – and significantly greater than many other management initiatives designed to improve sales performance and competitiveness.

Equally importantly, it is the positive perception among those firms undergoing successful change as much as the level of improvement itself which offers a strong indication that this is an initiative with a long-term future within the business, as it delivers attractive and tangible benefits for the firm, its staff and its customers.  

In short, manufacturers that grasp the nettle early and encourage and enable staff across the business to play a more proactive role in contributing to the selling process are likely to see a demonstrable and worthwhile improvement in bottom line profitability.

By contrast, those maintaining a siloed approach to selling and continuing to rely on the individual skills and expertise of the sales team, will increasingly struggle within the purchasing process, with less influence on the buying criteria and restricted opportunities to differentiate their sales proposition other than on price. 

Rarely has the difference in potential outcomes between action and inaction been so stark.