Rethinking Sales Management

Until recently, sales managers received no specific training for their jobs. However, selling has become more complex with the emergence of regulations and more sophisticated customers. Sales managers need to inspire and achieve sales results by managing teams of professionals and other resources. To do so, they need guidance on dealing with issues that arise in these broader aspects of their role.

This concise guide for sales managers is based on a well-known sales management technique called the ‘customer portfolio matrix’. Beth Rogers weaves her version of this throughout, enabling sales managers to see their strategy from the customer’s point of view. Doing so will allow them to set realistic objectives, design new strategies that add real customer value, avoid wasting time on price-oriented customers and deploy resources for maximum results.

Foreword vii

Acknowledgments xiii

About the author xvii

Introduction xix

Part I Strategy 1

1 The big picture 3

2 The purchaser’s view 27

3 The B2B relationship box 51

Part II Using the Relationship Development Box 71

4 Strategic relationships 73

5 Prospective relationships 97

6 Tactical relationships: the power of low touch 117

7 Cooperative relationships 137

8 The end of relationships 153

Part III Strategic Focus for 21st-Century Sales Management 173

9 Reputation management 175

10 Working with marketing 197

11 Leadership 217

12 Process management 239

Bibliography 267

Index 281

“…a serious, grown-up book on sales, full of relevant theory and practical examples of how sales can be more strategic and effective.” (The Marketer, September 2007)

"an excellent, concise and well-written guide, full of examples and references, based on the author’s deep and sustained experience". (B2B Marketing Online, Friday 7th September 2007)

"…helps sales teams become more successful by seeing the deal from the customer’s view." (The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 25th September 2007)

"Rogers uses copious box-outs and diagrams, and sources virtually all the latest evidence on business selling from around the world." (Salesforce, January 2008)

"...Rogers uses copious box-outs and diagrams and, as befits an academic, sources virtually all the latest evidence" (Winning Edge, December 2008)

About the author

BETH ROGERS chairs the UK National Sales Board and was instrumental in the launch of National Occupation Standards for Sales. She is regarded as a leading thinker on the topic of sales management, and is also sought out for her ability to provoke the thinking of others. Her other roles include Research Director of the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management and Programme Manager for Sales Management at Portsmouth Business School.

Her extensive practical experience in both sales and marketing in the information technology sector has been supplemented by in-depth consultancy in a variety of organizations, together with research and teaching. She has worked with major corporations in Europe, the US, SE Asia and Australia, but also with small businesses in the South and South-east of England, both in manufacturing and services.

Beth’s previous books include co-authorship of Key Account Management: Learning from Supplier and Customer Perspectives. She has written many articles over the past eighteen years for academic journals and trade publications. She has also provided comment for the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Times.

Beth works with employers, her alumni, professional institutions and fellow experts to raise the profile of the sales profession.

This book is unashamedly focused on sales management as a strategic topic. Where would businesses be without the top line of the profit and loss account – SALES? Many business people say that strategic sales management is “the next big thing” that companies needs to address. Chief Executives have recognized that the sales managers’ responsibility for handling the customer interface can be the most important thing in generating company success. With inspired leadership and the right application of skills and systems, strategic relationship development can deliver competitive advantage.

No one can assume in business-to-business commercial relationships that supplier strategy drives customers to buy. Customers drive their own destiny. The “top line” competency for suppliers is to identify pathways for mutual gain. The greatest advocates for strategic sales management companies who are designing those pathways are their customers. Whether they long for low-touch, remote and transactional relationships with particular suppliers for particular goods and services, or whether they want joint venture with others, customers appreciate the suppliers who understand their needs and develop the capabilities to meet them.

“Boundary-spanning” – understanding the customer’s point of view and reconciling it with the needs of the company for profitable growth – is a complex activity to manage. This book is here to facilitate the strategic thinking that sales managers have to apply in 21st century businesses to generate healthy “top line” growth.