Personal selling of high-technology products: the solutions-selling imperative

Arun Sharma, Gopalkrishnan R. Iyer, Heiner Evanschitzky

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Traditional focus on the study of high-technology firms and products has practically ignored the importance and potential contributions of the sales force, especially in business-to-business marketing. This article suggests that traditional sales force strategies associated with high-technology products have been supply driven (i.e., driven by the strategies of the marketing firm). We suggest that in order to enhance the success of high-technology products and services, firms need to be more demand driven in their sales structures (i.e., driven by the strategies of the buying firm). We suggest that it is imperative that high-technology firms adopt “solution selling” to enhance high-technology adoption as well as enhance competitiveness. We describe this change in focus and draw out its various managerial and academic implications.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)287-308
Number of pages22
JournalJournal of Relationship Marketing
Volume7
Issue number3
Early online date12 Dec 2008
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2008

Keywords

  • high-technology
  • personal selling
  • solution selling

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