تاثیر محصول برای تغییر خدمات در بازارهای صنعتی و تحول سازمان فروش

Marketing is undergoing a paradigmatic shift that involves a change in focus from the exchange of goods, which are usually manufactured output, to providing a service, which is fundamental to economic exchange (Vargo & Lusch 2004). Evidenced by three decades of marketing transformation in B2B (business-to-business) sales organizations, this paper examines the evolution of sales organizations as a result of the shift from product- to service-focused commerce. This paper also identifies areas of future research and practice in marketing. Findings suggest that the traditional product-focused sales organization will evolve in two directions. First, enhanced use of technology will reduce some traditional sales functions and even face-to-face contact. Second, customers who are important to marketers will experience improvements in the level of customer contact—leading to growth in customer-focused sales organizations and an increase in global account management teams. Changes in sales organizations will also lead to changes in the selection, training, and recruitment of salespeople as well as their roles. Direction for future research and managerial implications are highlighted throughout the paper as are changes likely to occur in sales organizations.

Vargo and Lusch (2004) suggest that the models on which most economic and marketing comprehension is established are goods-oriented and output-based. These models increase common understanding. Vargo and Lusch further suggest that the focus of businesses is shifting away from tangibles toward intangibles such as skills, information, and knowledge. A shift toward interactivity, connectivity, and ongoing relationships is also realized. Described as the product-to-service shift, this movement is becoming increasingly important to academics and practitioners. The discipline of B2B marketing has also grown in importance in the last three decades. Within the B2B marketing domain, personal selling and sales management emerge as major subtopics. Supporting this premise, Reid and Plank (2000) determined that 2194 articles were published on B2B marketing topics between 1978 and 1997, of which 673 were focused on personal selling and sales management. In addition, a simple search on Amazon.com resulted in over 30,000 books, which in some manner deal with personal selling and sales management. This paper looks at the historical perspective of sales practice and research and suggests the direction of the sales practice as it relates to the product to service shift. In addition, this paper examines the decline of the product-oriented sales force and suggests that the traditional product-focused sales organization will evolve in two directions (Fig. 1). First, enhanced use of technology will reduce some traditional sales functions and even face-to-face contact. Second, customers who are important to marketers will experience improvements in the level of customer contact—leading to growth in customer-focused sales organizations and an increase in global account management teams. Changes in sales organizations will also lead to changes in the selection, training, and recruitment of salespeople as well as their roles. The role of a salesperson in the emerging era will be more than that of a general manager. Salespersons will be responsible for marshalling internal and external resources to satisfy customer needs and wants.

This paper answers two major questions regarding sales organizations. First, what changes were observed in sales organizations and what are the reasons for the change? We suggest that the traditional sales organization: the product-focused sales organization, is declining. In contrast, sales automation, customer-focused sales organizations and global account management organizations are increasing. These changes are due to shifts in products to service, customers, sales processes, and technology. Second, what changes do we expect in sales organizations and what should be the future motivation for our continued interest in the area? We suggest that these changes will accelerate and new aspects of the product to service shift will change selection, training, compensation, and sales processes. We hope that this paper will serve as an impetus for future research in this area.