IN TODAY'S MARKETPLACE, SALES PROFESSIONALS NEED TO BRING A WELL TUNED SET OF BUSINESS COMPETENCIES INTO THE WORKPLACE. DR. ANDREA DIXON, MARKETING PROFESSOR AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR PROFESSIONAL SELLING,
SHARES HOW CHANGING TIMES HAS CHANGED THE LANDSCAPE OF SALES.
“Companies have less and less time to bring their new employees into the organization and get them ramped up and effectively operating so they need to have a base set of competencies and skills that the organization can tap into more quickly.”
DR. DIXON SAYS THAT THE CONCEPT OF OUTSIDE AND INSIDE SALES ROLES HAS LESS MEANING IN TODAYS MARKETPLACE.
“Companies today want to connect and gather data and information and resources from their supplier organizations and do it the most effective and efficient way possible. And that doesn't always mean having the sales representative in your office. A lot of the problem solving can be today digitally. Our ability to engage in business-to-business interactions and create value means we need to do so both in-person, as well as, digital means. So what might be called a hybrid sales role really reflects the way that we're doing business today. 15 years ago, we might've thought of a salesperson needing to have very strong selling skills and very strong customer relationship skills. Today those are givens. What a sales professional in the business -to- business arena needs to be able to do today is really be an orchestrator of a change management process.”
“BUSINESS REVIEW” IS A PRODUCTION OF LIVINGSTON & MCKAY AND THE HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY.
Business Review - Sales Evolution
