Do You Need a Sales Force?!

This sounds contentious, but the mandate of some sales forces does need clarification. By disaggregating relationship marketing processes as suggested above, the role of the sales person might be reconsidered. Is their role to secure new, profitable business, keep the business you have, develop accounts from within, or resolve operational issues? By disaggregating the relationship marketing processes, you may consider that sales personnel, in their traditional roles, are best focused on new account development. Account management needs people with personalities different than the historical profiles of sales people: not the hunter but the farmer - one who tends the account, collaborates, sews new ideas, and integrates the value the customer expects to receive. Farmers need to be compensated differently, with more focus on teamwork and aggregate results and measurements than on commission, for example.