SALES 2020

SALES 2020 is a research
project which started in 2010 in collaboration with: Want to know more?

We interviewed well over 100
sales executives from different industries in Europe and in the US.

The aim of the project
was to: • Identify future trends in sales • Identify the role of the sales organisation in the future

WHAT WERE THE MAIN TRENDS
IN SALES FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS? Want to know more?

#1
GLOBALISATION

Globalisation meant that many customers
merged into larger ones.

Globalisation has lead many customers
to consolidate their number of suppliers.

As a result, many suppliers
have fewer but much larger customers.

As a result, sales people
are dealing with highly professional and well organised purchasing departments.

#2
INTERNET

The Internet has empowered customers
with a wealth of information.

The Internet has enabled customers
to easily compare their suppliers.

As a result, sales people
are being replaced by the Internet because they fail to add value.

#3
EFFICIENCY

Organisations are increasingly doing more
with fewer people.

As a result there are
fewer opportunities for sales people and customers to meet, requiring relationships to be build on added value and not personal contacts.

#4
GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS

The importance of ethical behaviour
has given selling a bad name.

As a result, selling is
evolving from an art, based on personal skills to a science based on replicable and predictable processes.

WHAT TRENDS DO SALES ORGANISATIONS
EXPECT FOR THE COMING 10 YEARS? Want to know more?

#1
VALUE CO-CREATION

Speed of change and globalisation
are making product innovation increasingly difficult for suppliers.

Sales people will have to
engage their customers into co-creating new innovative products and services.

#2 ECO SYSTEMS OF PARTNERS
AND CUSTOMERS

Co-creating will require many competencies
that suppliers do not have.

Sales people will therefore have
to develop an eco-system of partners with whom to co-create.

#3
SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is becoming the
norm for people to communicate with each other.

Sales people will have to
use social media tools and platforms to communicate with their customers and partners.

#4
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Co-creation requires knowledge and understanding
about the customer’s business.

Suppliers will have to find
ways to capture and replicate the knowledge about their customer’s processes and business.

#5
THE SERVICE

“People don’t want to buy
a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!”, Theodor Levitt

Sales people will have to
help their customers to maximise the benefits and value they obtain from using their products and services.

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF
THESE TRENDS FOR THE SALES FUNCTION IN THE FUTURE? Want to know more?

The sales person in the
future will be a business consultant.

… because the process is
changing. COSTOMER’S BUYING PROCESS ROADMAP PROBLEM SOLUTION SUPPLIER PURCHASE USESTRATEGY 2000 SELLING 2020 BUSINESS CONSULTING 2010 CONSULTATIVE SELLING 2020 BUSINESS CONSULTING

Customers will have to pay
for the sales people’s efforts.

… because your margins are
going down and your sales costs will go up. COSTOMER’S BUYING PROCESS ROADMAP PROBLEM SOLUTION SUPPLIER PURCHASE USESTRATEGY Longer Sales Processes Higher Educated

To co-create solutions with customers
sales people will have to adopt a truly customer centric mind-set.

.. because it requires different
values and beliefs. COSTOMER’S BUYING PROCESS ROADMAP PROBLEM SOLUTION SUPPLIER PURCHASE USESTRATEGY EFFICIENCY CENTRIC MINDSET Which solution do we need to solve the problem? Which problems does my product solve? Which is the fastest way to sell? PRODUCT CENTRIC MINDSET CUSTOMER CENTRIC MINDSET

The sales organisation of the
future will be a matrix organisation combining product and customer experts CUSTOMER EXPERTS PRODUCT EXPERT CUSTOMER SERVICE PRODUCT SUPPORT

.. because customers will want
to buy from us in different ways. COSTOMER’S BUYING PROCESS ROADMAP PROBLEM SOLUTION SUPPLIER PURCHASE USESTRATEGY CUSTOMER EXPERTS PRODUCT EXPERT CUSTOMER SERVICE PRODUCT SUPPORT

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR
THE ROLE OF THE SALES FORCE IN THE FUTURE? Want to know more?

The commercial logic of how
sales and marketing complement each other is fundamentally changing.

THE OLD COMMERCIAL LOGIC 1.
MARKETING DEFINES THE STRATEGY AND PRODUCT INNOVATIONS 2. R&D DEVELOPS THE NEW PRODUCTS 3. SALES EXECUTE THE MARKETING STRATEGY

This logic is BROKEN

Product innovation based on traditional
market research and focus groups is too risky and not fast enough.

Sales people are too expensive
to deploy as a simple personal selling channel.

How can we fix the
logic?

The costs and the risks
of developing new innovative products needs to be shared with customers.

The commercialisation of newly co-
created solutions needs be done through marketing channels.

THE NEW COMMERCIAL LOGIC 1.
SALES PEOPLE CO-CREATE NEW INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS WITH KEY CUSTOMERS. 2. R&D DEVELOPS THE NEW PRODUCTS. 3. MARKETING COMMERCIALISES THESE NEW PRODUCTS INTO THE MARKET.

MARKETING R & D SALES
SALES MARKETING R & D THE NEW COMMERCIAL LOGIC

THE SALES PERSON OF THE
FUTURE WILL BE: • MANAGING LARGE KEY ACCOUNTS • PROVIDING BUSINESS ADVICE FOR A FEE • MANAGING THE COLLABORATION WITH ALL STAKEHOLDERS • CO-CREATING SOLUTIONS WITH CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS LEADING TO NEW INNOVATIONS

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