Award for pioneering work in sales and distribution
Sales in transition
The world of sales and distribution is undergoing profound upheaval. The shift towards multi- and omnichannel, the way in which personal selling is changing and the increasing pressure on prices are placing great demands on sales and distribution departments. This also includes new technologies such as marketing automation, robo-advice and cloud CRM systems. In order to survive in this fast-moving environment, organizations must constantly realign themselves and at the same time integrate innovation, creativity and the courage to be unusual into their day-to-day sales and distribution activities.
Pioneering achievements sought
Against this backdrop, sales and distribution experts from the Swiss Marketing ForumsWATC Consulting AG and the University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration in Zurich, is presenting an award for successful and forward-looking sales and distribution initiatives in Switzerland. Its primary aim is to identify and spotlight individuals and teams who are doing pioneering work with new and creative sales and distribution projects and to promote exchange between sales and distribution professionals, with the aim of increasing productivity, enhancing customer focus and making profitable use of new digital opportunities. The means to this end: the Sales Excellence Award, which will be presented once a year in future for outstanding sales and distribution achievements.
Four categories
The Sales Excellence Award is presented in four categories: SMEs with fewer than 500 employees, large companies with more than 500 employees, special jury prize and audience prize.A high-caliber jury judges the projects entered according to four criteria: Sales Strategy, Sales Management, Information Management and Customer Relationship Management. In addition to the degree of innovation of a submitted project, its benefits for the organization and its relevance for other circles will be assessed, as well as its concrete implementation and the accompanying measures. This means that expert knowledge from consulting, technology, research and implementation is represented on the jury.
Honor, money and an impulse day
Sales and distribution projects from companies and organizations based in Switzerland are eligible for the competition. The application period runs from February 1 to June 30, 2019. The Sales Excellence Award ceremony will take place on November 12/13, 2019 at the Sales Power at GDI Rüschlikon, Zurich. In addition to the award ceremony, the event will focus on networking and learning from each other. The prizes awaiting the winning teams are also in this spirit. In addition to a monetary prize, each winning team will receive a customized Sales Excellence Impulse Day with a workshop to discuss sales and distribution-specific challenges and issues.
Recognizing creative, innovative people
"With the Sales Excellence Award, we want to give the sales and distribution world of tomorrow a face and, above all, the creative and innovative people who are doing pioneering work in this area a platform at Sales Power. Because there are many of them! However, this requires a new definition of what it means to shape the future of sales and distribution. Some, but not all, companies are already addressing the challenges and opportunities that tomorrow's customers will bring. These forward-looking initiatives need to be recognized in this context," explains Uwe Tännler, CEO of the Swiss Marketing Forum.
Shaping the future
"Digitalization and the associated pressure to change are challenging us as companies and sales and distribution managers. We need confident sales and distribution teams that use successful and forward-looking approaches to help shape customer orientation in their companies in such a way that employees and organizations can face change positively, meet requirements and develop their full potential. The Sales Excellence Award will recognize these teams and at the same time provide a platform for other sales and distribution teams to learn and develop ideas," says Patrick E. Koller, Partner at WATC Consulting AG.
Out of the shadows
"Sales and distribution lead a shadowy existence in teaching and research in Switzerland. We are very pleased that the Swiss Marketing Forum with the Sales Power platform and WATC Consulting AG have taken up the topic of sales excellence and that our study results are being presented to a wide audience. The Sales Excellence Award illustrates the high relevance of the topic for the future and promotes the exchange between science and practice. We are convinced that future-oriented sales and distribution teams need a framework in which to develop," explains Dr. Jörg Staudacher - Head of the Sales & Distribution department at the HWZ.
