We started in sales, which involved buying products at a certain price and reselling them for a higher price. This was unstructured and involved dealing with a variety of parties on a dayâtoâday basis. Nowadays we select good customers and then carefully inventories their needs. We then investigate how to meet those needs â at a price that suits our customer. We make fixed agreements (generally for a year) so both parties know exactly what to expect of the relationship. We can then invest in these clients. Both margins and sales benefit from knowing our clients well. This ensures a stable basis, but also demands commitment. The client requires a dedicate infrastructure, to ensure that products are delivered on time. This is also the case with military missions: if you want to supply them you have to build your own supply chain. In Afghanistan, for example, we function more as a major service provider than as a wholesaler. And while the location may make this seem risky, our customer is âtriple Aâ â a rating that befits a government client. B&S has, therefore, developed into a customer driven sales business.
At B&S, sales are dominant. We have developed into a customerâoriented operation, in which marketing has become more important. This has become increasingly important as we offer our customers solutions, instead of just products. We say that B&S exists for our customers â and we will deliver on this promise. However we achieve that aim, we want to put the solution in place ourselves â working from a client perspective. In some, complex cases that may require cooperation with a partner. I donât believe that agents add value. In our business model, agents will sooner or later go their own way â and that would mean that we have to start afresh.
B&S culture and human resources
Cultural differences are already apparent between the various Sales Business Units. Account managers sell the same products, but an account manager in the military business is different from one in the food industry. I donât want our people to âbecome Chineseâ if they operate in the Chinese market. We know how the Chinese customer thinks, but ultimately B&S determines our mode of operation â not the Chinese. We are able, however, to operate within the specific context determined by the local rules of a country and its prevailing business culture.
You will note that B&S is a melting pot of different cultures. Our sales people come from all over. What is standard is that they are young and well trained, with a bachelorâs degree as minimum. With these criteria satisfied, we then select on personal characteristics. We take care to preserve these personal characteristics, while at the same time wanting to embed certain behaviours in our people. Moreover, our work is firmly grounded in processes. We needed ISO certification in order to grow, to maintain high quality standards and to maintain our processes. The certificate was rapidly obtained, as we had already put most of the required processes in place. Everyone already works with our ERP system. This is an absolute requirement and no one may ignore it. There are also quite rigid methods of task differentiation. The salesman, for example, performs sales tasks but does not, for instance, perform logistics and accounting tasks for his client. Process, governed by the ERP system, is the beating heart of the enterprise. (This interview is continued in chapter 8.) See www.bs-gg.com.
1.1 The sales management environment in brief
1.2 Developments and trends in the external environment, at meso level
1.3 Developments and trends in the external environment, at macro level
1.4 Opportunities and threats in the external environment
1.5 Interplay of Sales and Marketing and the role of the sales manager
Organisations operate in a rapidly changing environment that is increasingly becoming more international. This environment has a major influence, not only on commercial ventures, but also on organisations in the quaternary sector. Hospitals in surrounding countries, but also in Turkey or Singapore, can now deliver medical services more quickly and costâeffectively. The advances in online technology have reversed the supplierâcustomer relationship and, therefore, the role of sales. C2C (customerâtoâcustomer) selling via eâmarketplaces is fully established.
The majority of businesses â certainly in countries such as The Netherlands, Germany, Japan and Korea â export their products and services. As a result, salespeople must conduct their business with foreign customers. Knowledge of the (business) culture in an importing country is therefore necessary and contributes to commercial success. The sales manager must analyse relevant opportunities and threats in the external environment. These, naturally, differ by country and region. Commercially attractive countries, markets and customers are chosen on the basis of analysis.
This chapter concludes with a paragraph concerning sales and marketing teamwork and the role of the sales manager. Sales has an important and constantly varying task. The sales manager and his salesmen operate from day to day in the market. They are ambassadors for their organisation and intermediaries between it and its customers. The pressure of (new) competitors, often in saturated but also in new, local and international markets, is a daily reality. To operate in this environment, the sales organisation must be durable and flexible and, above all, a tightly knit team â prepared to engage in an ongoing learning process. This, in addition to having a clear strategic vision, constitutes an important role for the sales manager. It is, after all, the application area of his skillset.
