Strategic Sales Process Adaptation: Relationship Orientation of the Sales Process in a Business-to-Business Context

Although previous research has recognised adaptation as a central aspect in relationships, the adaptation of the sales process to the buying process has not been studied. Furthermore, the linking of relationship orientation as mindset with adaptation as a strategy and forming the means has not been elaborated upon in previous research. Adaptation in the context of relationships has mostly been studied in relationship marketing. In sales and sales management research, adaptation has been studied with reference to personal selling. This study focuses on adaptation of the sales process to strategically match it to the buyer’s mindset and buying process. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework for strategic adaptation of the seller’s sales process to match the buyer’s buying process in a business-to-business context to make sales processes more relationship oriented. In order to arrive at a holistic view of adaptation of the sales process during relationship initiation, both the seller and buyer are included in an extensive case analysed in the study. However, the selected perspective is primarily that of the seller, and the level focused on is that of the sales process. The epistemological perspective adopted is constructivism. The study is a qualitative one applying a retrospective case study, where the main sources of information are in-depth semi-structured interviews with key informants representing the counterparts at the seller and the buyer in the software development and telecommunications industries. The main theoretical contributions of this research involve targeting a new area in the crossroads of relationship marketing, sales and sales management, and buying and purchasing by studying adaptation in a business-to-business context from a new perspective. Primarily, this study contributes to research in sales and sales management with reference to relationship orientation and strategic sales process adaptation. This research fills three research gaps. Firstly, linking the relationship orientation mindset with adaptation as strategy. Secondly, extending adaptation in sales from adaptation in selling to strategic adaptation of the sales process. Thirdly, extending adaptation to include facilitation of adaptation. The approach applied in the study, systematic combining, is characterised by continuously moving back and forth between theory and empirical data. The framework that emerges, in which linking mindset with strategy with mindset and means forms a central aspect, includes three layers: purchasing portfolio, seller-buyer relationship orientation, and strategic sales process adaptation. Linking the three layers enables an analysis of where sales process adaptation can make a contribution. Furthermore, implications for managerial use are demonstrated, for example how sellers can avoid the ‘trap’ of ad-hoc adaptation. This includes involving the company, embracing the buyer’s purchasing portfolio, understanding the current position that the seller has in this portfolio, and possibly educating the buyer about advantages of adopting a relationship-oriented approach.

The Sales Process Practice of Food and Drink SMEs - A Holistic Conceptual Framework: Steps, dimensions, barriers and enablers.

Purpose –The research examines the sales process practised by SMEs, and barriers and enablers that hinder and support effective selling practices from the selling organisation’s perspective in Scottish-based Food and Drink firms. Design/methodology approach - – The paper adopts an interpretivist perspective with qualitative data gathered through face-to-face semi-structured interviews. 20 people involved in selling activities were interviewed from 15 SMEs across Scotland. Thematic analysis established key findings regarding the sales process practice. Findings – Five themes emerged that affect the operationalisation of the selling process: the owner manager has considerable involvement in the sales process, SMEs with some degree of sales knowledge take a more systematic approach, SMEs lack awareness of how CRM technology can assist them, power is tipped in favour of the buyer and, the geographic location of the SME places constraints on how SMEs conduct business Research limitation/implication – Thematic analysis was chosen over other more traditional methods due to the lack of relevant quantitative data. The phenomenon of the research and research methodology means that it will not be possible to repeat this study and replicate its findings. However, the process that has been adopted does provide a basis for future research. Originality/value - The paper identifies areas where future research is required in the field alongside suggestions where policy makers and government business agencies might focus intervention to assist SMEs improve delivery of the sales process and selling effectiveness

Marketing in SMEs: the sales process of SMEs on the food and drink industry.

There would appear to be varied approaches to the sales process practiced by SMEs in how they go about locating target customers, interfacing with prospects and new customers, presenting the benefits and features of their products and services, closing sales deals and building relationships, and an understanding of what the buyers needs are in the seller-buyer process. Recent research has revealed that while entrepreneurs and small business owners rely upon networking as an important source of sales, they lack marketing competencies, including personal selling skills and knowledge of what is involved in the sales process to close sales deals and build relationships. Small companies and start-ups with innovative products and services often find it difficult to persuade potential buyers of the merits of their offerings because, while the products and services may be excellent, they have not sufficiently well-developed selling skills necessary to persuade their target customers.

Managing and utilizing information flow for new products’ periodic account sales process

The goal was to understand, document and module how information is currently flown internally in the largest dairy organization in Finland. The organization has undergone radical changes in the past years due to economic sanctions between European Union and Russia. Therefore, organization’s ultimate goal would be to continue its growth through managing its sales process more efficiently. The thesis consists of a literature review and an empirical part. The literature review consists of knowledge management and process modeling theories. First, the knowledge management discusses how data, information and knowledge are exchanged in the process. Knowledge management models and processes are describing how knowledge is created, exchanged and can be managed in an organization. Secondly, the process modeling is responsible for visualizing information flow through discussion of modeling approaches and presenting different methods and techniques. Finally, process’ documentation procedure was presented. In the end, a constructive research approach was used in order to identify process’ related problems and bottlenecks. Therefore, possible solutions were presented based on this approach. The empirical part of the study is based on 37 interviews, organization’s internal data sources and theoretical framework. The acquired data and information were used to document and to module the sales process in question with a flowchart diagram. Results are conducted through construction of the flowchart diagram and analysis of the documentation. In fact, answers to research questions are derived from empirical and theoretical parts. In the end, 14 problems and two bottlenecks were identified in the process. The most important problems are related to approach and/or standardization for information sharing, insufficient information technology tool utilization and lack of systematization of documentation. The bottlenecks are caused by the alarming amount of changes to files after their deadlines.

Standardisation of the Selling Process in Franchising : A Take on Sales Funnel Management

This paper addresses the two opposing extremes of standardisation in franchising and the dynamics of sales in search of a juncture point in order to reduce franchisees’ uncertainties in sales and improve sales performance. A conceptual framework is developed based on both theory and practice in order to investigate the sales process of a specific franchise network. The research is conducted over a period of six weeks in form of a customised sales report considering the sales funnel concept and performance indicators along the sales process. The received quantitative data is analysed through descriptive statistics and logistic regressions in respect to what variations in the sales process can be discovered and what practices yield higher performance. The results indicate an advantage of a prioritisation guideline regarding the activities and choices to make as a salesperson over strict standardisation. Defining the sales funnel plus engaging in the process of monitoring sales in itself has proven to be a way of reducing uncertainty as the franchisor and franchisees alike inherently gain a greater understanding of the process. The extended knowledge gained from this research allowed for both practical as well as theoretical implications and expands the knowledge on standardisation of sales and the appropriateness of the sales funnel and its management for dealing with the dilemma between standardisation and flexibility of sales in franchising contexts.

The implications of service-dominant logic and integrated solutions on the sales function

This study explores the implications of an organization moving toward service-dominant logic (S-D logic) on the sales function. Driven by its customers’ needs, a service orientation by its nature requires personal interaction and sales personnel are in an ideal position to develop offerings with the customer. However, the development of S-D logic may require sales staff to develop additional skills. Employing a single case study, the study identified that sales personnel are quick to appreciate the advantages of S-D logic for customer satisfaction and six specific skills were highlighted and explored. Further, three propositions were identified: in an organization adopting S-D logic, the sales process needs to elicit needs at both embedded-value and value-in-use levels. In addition, the sales process needs to coproduce not just goods and service attributes but also attributes of the customer’s usage processes. Further, the sales process needs to coproduce not just goods and service attributes but also attributes of the customer’s usage processes.

The R & R sales training course.

[v. 1] Plan and action in life underwriting.-[v. 2] The fundamentals of life underwriting.-[v. 3] Life situations and life underwriting.-[v. 4] The sales process of life underwriting.

Achieving better service level results, through improvements in procedures

This project aims to prepare Worten Empresas (WE) fulfilling the increasing market demand through process changings, focusing on the Portuguese market, particularly on internal B2B clients1. Several methods were used to measure the current service level provided - process mapping, resources assessment, benchmark and a survey. The results were then used to compare against service level actually desired by WE’s customer, and then to identify the performance gaps in response times and quality of the follow-up during the sales process. To bridge the identified gaps, both a set of recommendations and an implementation plan were suggested to improve and monitor customer experience. This study concluded that it is possible to fulfill the increasing level of demand and at the same time improve customer satisfaction by implementing changes at the operations level.

SPARTIAN: Propuesta de mejoramiento de la gestión comercial de la empresa Wholesale and Retail Place LLC

El propósito básico de este proyecto es optimizar el proceso de ventas de la empresa internacional Wholesale and Retail Place LLC a través de una solución tecnológica. Para esto, se busca diagnosticar los procesos de gestión comercial de la empresa a través de indicadores que permitan medir su situación actual, con el propósito de implementar una aplicación móvil que se articule con la fuerza comercial que apoya el proceso de ventas, y se genere un impacto positivo en los indicadores formulados después de la aplicación de la herramienta móvil.

Falsidade ideológica em compras com cartão não presente e comparação entre modelos de prevenção

Em compras realizadas pela internet ou televendas com cartões de crédito, em muitos países como Brasil e EUA, não há apresentação física do cartão em nenhum momento da compra ou entrega da mercadoria ou serviço, tampouco são populares mecanismos como senhas que assegurem a autenticidade do cartão e seu portador. Ao mesmo tempo, a responsabilidade por assumir os custos nessas transações é dos lojistas. Em todos os estudos anteriores presentes na literatura, a detecção de fraudes com cartões de crédito não abrangia somente esses canais nem focava a detecção nos principais interessados nela, os lojistas. Este trabalho apresenta os resultados da utilização de cinco das técnicas de modelagem mais citadas na literatura e analisa o poder do compartilhamento de dados ao comparar os resultados dos modelos quando processados apenas sobre a base da loja ou com ela compartilhando dados com outros lojistas.

La propiedad de Ramon Urquiola, desde su constitución hasta el fraccionamiento en la provincia de Buenos Aires, entre los siglos XIX y XX

Este trabajo de investigación está centrado en los siguientes temas: el proceso de adquisición de una gran extensión de tierra en Lobos, provincia de Buenos Aires, a comienzos del siglo XIX; la inserción social y económica del adquirente y la inserción social y política de sus hijos; el cambio de modalidad cultural y de explotación de la tierra a través de dos generaciones; el cambio social y cultural representado por quienes continúan como propietarios al producirse el fraccionamiento debido a las sucesiones hereditarias; el proceso de ventas que lleva a la total enajenación de la tierra en poco más de un siglo; la discusión sobre los factores que llevan a este desenlace.

La propiedad de Ramon Urquiola, desde su constitución hasta el fraccionamiento en la provincia de Buenos Aires, entre los siglos XIX y XX

Este trabajo de investigación está centrado en los siguientes temas: el proceso de adquisición de una gran extensión de tierra en Lobos, provincia de Buenos Aires, a comienzos del siglo XIX; la inserción social y económica del adquirente y la inserción social y política de sus hijos; el cambio de modalidad cultural y de explotación de la tierra a través de dos generaciones; el cambio social y cultural representado por quienes continúan como propietarios al producirse el fraccionamiento debido a las sucesiones hereditarias; el proceso de ventas que lleva a la total enajenación de la tierra en poco más de un siglo; la discusión sobre los factores que llevan a este desenlace.

La propiedad de Ramon Urquiola, desde su constitución hasta el fraccionamiento en la provincia de Buenos Aires, entre los siglos XIX y XX

Este trabajo de investigación está centrado en los siguientes temas: el proceso de adquisición de una gran extensión de tierra en Lobos, provincia de Buenos Aires, a comienzos del siglo XIX; la inserción social y económica del adquirente y la inserción social y política de sus hijos; el cambio de modalidad cultural y de explotación de la tierra a través de dos generaciones; el cambio social y cultural representado por quienes continúan como propietarios al producirse el fraccionamiento debido a las sucesiones hereditarias; el proceso de ventas que lleva a la total enajenación de la tierra en poco más de un siglo; la discusión sobre los factores que llevan a este desenlace.

Negociação e envolvência dos meios culturais no departamento de OEM da Teka Portugal, S.A.

O presente documento consiste num Relatório de Estágio, realizado no âmbito da unidade curricular Dissertação/Estágio/Projeto, afeta ao Mestrado em Línguas e Relações Empresariais, da Universidade de Aveiro (MLRE). Este relatório incide sobre uma descrição e uma análise crítica do trabalho realizado durante o Estágio Curricular que realizei, ao longo de seis meses, no Departamento de OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) da Teka Portugal, S.A., em Ílhavo. O objetivo principal das tarefas de que fui incumbida prendeu-se com uma otimização da informação de âmbito negocial que envolve todo o processo de venda OEM. Na realização deste trabalho, foram muito úteis os conhecimentos teóricos e práticos que adquiri ao longo dos cursos de Licenciatura e de Mestrado em Línguas e Relações Empresariais na Universidade de Aveiro.