Salespeople are from Mars, purchasers are from Venus : matching sales to purchasing

There is no business without sales and no sales without customers. The bridge that spans business‐to‐business (B2B) selling and their customers is termed a buyer‐seller relationship. The contemporary buyer‐seller environment presents salespeople with the challenge of finding ways to overcome the current ineffectiveness of many previously effective sales approaches. The effectiveness of many sales approaches has been questioned based on the ongoing paradigm shift in the purchasing domain. Purchasing based changes have had, and are expected to continue to have a tremendous influence on the buying process. Yet, the different roles in buyer‐seller relationships are, in the Marketing and Sales domain, either studied from the buyer’s perspective or from the seller’s point of view. Buying organizations, however, are gradually shifting power to the purchasing function. For sales practitioners and sales researchers, this ongoing shift demands a study in the evolution of the purchasing function in order to improve their sales approaches. This doctoral thesis analyzes the domain of Buyer‐Seller Relationships in B2B contexts, with an emphasis on Personal Selling and Sales Management. The objective of this dissertation is to obtain a better understanding of how changes in market conditions and advances in technology have empowered the B2B purchaser, thereby creating new challenges to the sales organization and sales function. The first essay of this dissertation is based on an extensive review of the Buyer‐Seller literature and is a call to sales practitioners to pay more attention to the purchasing function and to develop sales strategies and sales approaches that cater to the customers’ purchasing function. The research contribution of the first essay is a presentation of a research grid for future sales research. This framework depicts avenues for future sales research that encompasses the important topics that are considered to be important for the Purchasing & Supply Management (PSM) and the Buyer‐Seller research domains. Based on findings from the first essay, the second essay entails how the sales side should first understand specific purchaser’s jargon, the strategic importance of their offer while looking through a purchaser’s lens, to then adapt the sales messaging based on particular knowledge needs by the purchaser. This results in a selling approach that further advances the curren versions of value‐based selling, and contributes to the sphere of salespeople who succeed by a better presentation of the competitive advantages of their offer related to future cost benefits and risk reduction. Finally, the third essay matches existing sales strategies according to the purchasing maturity of the customers. The maturity of the customer’s purchasing department is defined by Reck and Long (1977) in four gradual steps of professionalism. This research essay draws on these steps by first identifying the purchasing department’s maturity level, followed by an examination of what sales strategies are best suited to match the specific needs associated with the four levels of purchasing maturity

How Individual Technology Propensities and Organizational Culture Influence B2B Customer’s Behavioral Intention to Use Digital Services at Work?

This study examines how individuals’ technology readiness in conjunction with organizational culture impacts on B2B customers’ behavioral intention toward using digital services in their procurement processes. We test our hypotheses with 755 B2B customers of a large Finnish supplier of furniture and interior solutions. We find that the propensity of individuals towards the use of technology, measured by the technology readiness of the buyers, has a significant effect on the behavioral intention toward using digital services at work. In addition, the customer organization’s strategic emphasis – cost containment and revenue enhancement – have significant effects, while coping resources – task control and organizational support – do not affect the buyers’ behavioral intention to use digital services in their procurement processes. \

The end of avoiding procurement in a buyer-seller relationship : a qualitative study from an empowered buyer’s perspective

In this paper we focus on the increased internal support of the purchasing department and its consequences on the sales profession from a buyer’s point of view. Since the financial crisis of 2008, sales and procurement are evolving at a different pace because of changes in the business environment, availability of new technologies and competition coming from new corners. The role of purchasers is more strategic than ever before and a strong buyer-seller relationship depends increasingly more on knowledge brokerage. Based on in-depth interviews with 34 purchase directors, we make propositions for sales organizations to counter the rapidly evolving purchasing discipline

Sales and operation integration: The role of collaboration and alignment

In this paper we focus on the collaboration and alignment between the Sales and Operations teams in organizations. Although the potential benefits of collaboration and alignment between sales and operations are significant, such initiatives often meet with resistance because they place an extra burden on individuals to go beyond their normal comfort levels. Drawing on a burgeoning stream of academic literature that is focusing on sales and marketing, integration, we propose and empirically test a model of sales-operation collaboration and alignment. Basing ourselves on a survey that was conducted across three continents, we find that organizations that place emphasis on sales-operation collaboration by streamlining organizational structures and processes are more likely to have aligned sales-operation teams that demonstrate higher levels of conflict resolution while contributing to the organizational performance. Some limitations of the study along with some future research suggestions are made

Sales and Operation Integration: The Role of Collaboration and Alignment

In this paper we focus on the collaboration and alignment between the Sales and Operations teams in organizations. Although the potential benefits of collaboration and alignment between sales and operations are significant, such initiatives often meet with resistance because they place an extra burden on individuals to go beyond their normal comfort levels. Drawing on a burgeoning stream of academic literature that is focusing on sales and marketing, integration, we propose and empirically test a model of sales-operation collaboration and alignment. Basing ourselves on a survey that was conducted across three continents, we find that organizations that place emphasis on sales-operation collaboration by streamlining organizational structures and processes are more likely to have aligned sales-operation teams that demonstrate higher levels of conflict resolution while contributing to the organizational performance. Some limitations of the study along with some future research suggestions are made