Looking at customers strategically
The task to develop (standard)products and services in a technically oriented company is often delegated to productmanagement. Salesmen are well trained to land orders on the basis of these standardproducts and services. The emphasis in the salesfunction is on ‘sales'.
The moment the customer is landed, the job to get more business from the customer starts by developing the right value propositions. Then the marketingcomponent in the salesfunction becomes more important. The accountmanager is expected to take the customer relation to a higher level.
You shouldn 't just have talks with the ‘buyers', but especially make contact with the customer's boardroom members. Only then will you have a complete picture of the customer's business problems, which will be a preparation for developing creative value propositions and preferred suppliership. The accent shifts from selling products and services to selling concepts, systems or solutions.