Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning pdf ebook

Figure 14.1 
Key issues in strategic customer management
Priorities for
identifying
strategic sales
capabilities
New and
emerging
competitive
role for sales
The strategic
sales
organisation
Strategic
customer
management
tasks
Managing the
customer
portfolio
Dealing with
dominant
customers
Test out the
reasons why
sales has
become
strategic
Consider what
companies 
want from
sales in
modern markets
Evaluate what
these pressures
create in a new
type of sales
organisation
Focus on the
capabilities
needed for
strategic
customer
management
Make
investment
decisions around
customer assets
The special
case of the
powerful
customer

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PRIORITIES FOR IDENTIFYING STRATEGIC SALES CAPABILITIES
14.1 
Priorities for identifying strategic sales capabilities 
To begin, consider the factors encouraging executives in many major organisations to re-
examine the role of salesforce capabilities in the context of developing and implementing 
marketing strategy. This is an important starting point in understanding the potential role 
of strategic customer management approaches to enhancing the development and imple-
mentation of marketing strategy. 
Traditional views suggest that marketing and sales should be considered separate entities 
in the organisation because, according to Levitt, ‘Selling focuses on the needs of the seller; 
marketing on the needs of the buyer’ ( Levitt, 1960 ). The conventional subordination of sales 
(tactical) to marketing (strategic) was elaborated in statements such as Drucker’s view that 
‘the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous’ ( Drucker, 1973 ). However, it should be 
noted that Levitt was writing 60 years ago, and Drucker more than 45 years ago, underlin-
ing the risk that their views may have dated somewhat. Consider the following issues when 
reaching a view about the strategic significance of sales capabilities in a particular company 
situation. Figure 14.2 summarises the approach we are taking.