"The salesperson must accept that the customer is changing"
A useful addition to traditional skills
E-commerce has grown to a considerable size in recent years and decades and is generating massive revenues. Nevertheless, Michael Grund says: "We are a long way from this and will probably never see traditional human skills and talents losing relevance in the sales profession." E-commerce has different tasks and values in every industry, but in his opinion, online sales should not be overestimated. "In terms of pure sales figures in Switzerland, we are still at around 10 percent of the overall market in many sectors."
Train multichannel specialists
It could therefore not be an option for an education provider like the HWZ to only promote e-commerce specialists. "Instead, we want to enable our students to make the best possible budget decisions in today's multichannel world." For Swiss companies in particular, this is the key success factor due to their often manageable size. "The most important change for today's salesperson is to be able to collect as much relevant information as possible from the customer in a structured way, evaluate it and thus improve the customer experience," says Michael Grund. Technical knowledge about offers and products has long since ceased to be sufficient for sales success. "Instead, salespeople are increasingly becoming relationship managers. Digitalization offers enormous potential for this task, which is only just beginning to be exploited in practice," he is convinced.
Online sales: tools and e-commerce
For Michael Broglin, Head of Marketing, Sales and Communication at KV Zurich Business School, the importance of digitalization for the sales professions cannot be doubted either. "The main distinction here is between digital tools that are used for sales and online retail as an additional sales channel." Many aspects of sales are now more cost-effective with the help of digital tools, as they can be completed more quickly and with fewer staff. "Just think of the electronic demonstration options in merchandising, the multimedia aspects of product presentation, but also the digitalization options in logistics such as tracking goods, electronically triggered goods orders and deliveries, digital goods inspection, etc."
Courses: Cross-thematic and interdisciplinary
Nevertheless, and Broglin is convinced of this, the most important aspect of selling remains analogue despite all the digitalization: "By this I mean personality or the so-called soft skills that distinguish a successful salesperson from a less successful one." And these soft skills are still a central part of the KVZBS courses. The institute has been offering the two courses "Sales specialists with preparation for the federal certificate" and "Sales managers with preparation for the federal higher professional examination" for years, and the content of both courses has been adapted due to the new examination regulations. "According to the new guidelines, our graduates are no longer tested on specific subjects, but have to acquire interdisciplinary skills," says Broglin.
Preparation for management positions
At the HWZ, the "CAS Sales & Distribution" course primarily focuses on managing a sales/distribution department. The focus on multichannel and e-commerce is aimed at current developments in the market, says Michael Grund. The different industries and sales and distribution approaches are taken into account both through the selection of lecturers and the topics, such as key accounts or internationalization, and in the "CAS Customer Management", the HWZ also addresses the topic of digitalization and individualization. "Practice shows that IT systems have so far been used little or insufficiently, especially in customer management. The CAS therefore significantly increases students' IT application skills." Finally, Grund continues, digital development is also taken into account through the combination of sales and customer management as well as the flexibility within the "MAS Sales Excellence" course with a clear added value perspective for customers and companies.
MK Mr. Zürrer, as a child we all played "sales clerks" with a wooden store. What does this image of a sales clerk have in common with today's job description?
CUSTOMER The friendly salesperson who knows my needs in detail and has the right goods to meet them is still successful. However, the channels through which he communicates with the customer and handles these processes are changing rapidly and the customer chooses his own communication channels. This is where the salesperson's ability to adapt is required.
MK Which skills of the grocer's sales clerk are still in high demand today? Where has the image changed?
CUSTOMER The advisory element of the "sales assistant" is becoming the central element, as the shopper comes into the store much better informed. Similarly, focusing on the needs of the buyer in a reality with countless alternatives is important for my purchase, and as all repetitive activities, such as payment, are digitized, these skills are no longer as much in demand. In a digital world, there is less demand for pure inside salespeople who focus on processing, and since we are only active in B2B and industry, there is also the fact that a group of people always make the purchasing decision for our customers. For a successful sale, as a salesperson I have to convince this entire buying center, not just the person in my store.
MK Physical stores are increasingly being replaced by online portals and stores. What does this mean for the sales profession?
CUSTOMER The seller must accept that the customer is changing. We are all experiencing this in our private B2C environment; we buy differently than we did a few years ago. Sellers therefore need to understand what makes the new generation of buyers tick: they are well informed and choose their suppliers themselves. As a salesperson, I have to be able to reach my customers in a digital world. The choice of communication channels is made by the customer, not the salesperson, and if I don't keep up with this change, I will no longer suit the customer and they will choose a different supplier.
MK Are human characteristics in sales being increasingly replaced by audio-visual effects and the battle for price supremacy?
CUSTOMER I can only talk about B2B sales in the industry here. The purchase decision is always made by a person. I no longer buy spare parts just because they are offered to me with lots of graphics and our customers do without loud audio-visual effects. The purchase decision is based on a positive assessment of the supplier and then on the greatest benefit for the buyer. As a seller, I have to convey this information in suitable ways. Price transparency is increasing, which is not easy for many with "grown" price structures.
MK Is there also a renaissance of the old sales virtues in times like these?
CUSTOMER In discussions with my customers, there are the inner deniers who explain with many reasons why their product and their customer are not affected by digitalization and the existing processes are still correct. these salespeople can be successfully targeted at corresponding traditional customer groups. But good salespeople are different. They quickly learn that the customer is changing and bring this important information to the company as a representative of the customer. A willingness to experiment and customer orientation help them to approach new target groups. In my view, these are virtues that are timeless.
MK In one of your presentations, you talk about the "uberization" of sales. Will the winner be the one who can process the most customer data in the shortest time?
CUSTOMER For me, Uber is a perfect example of how to focus on the needs of the customer. I want to get home from the restaurant, the driver is friendly, I know when he's coming and paying is easy. Uber provides this service perfectly. Anyone who has ever had a conversation with an unfriendly cab driver in a dingy cab about credit card problems will appreciate the difference.
