The significance of customer-related sales data for sales representatives

The BOSCH formula structures the customer consultation as follows:

- B = Be inquisitive (demand analysis)
- O = Offer (sales proposal)
- S = Sensory perception
- C = Combination sale
- H = Hold on to your customers (after-sales behaviour)

If you are not concerned with your customer's sales data, you are unlikely to become a good combination salesman. The organisation of sales data should therefore be in accordance with its use or application. Imagine a customer buying cordless screwdrivers from industry retailer A because he is convinced that he offers the best price/value ratio. Yet he buys the screws from a direct distributor. The direct distributor appears more efficient from the customer's point of view when it comes to buying screws. The screws are used to fasten iron fittings which the customer buys from industry retailer B who presents himself on the market as a specialist for iron fittings. If the sales representative from retailer A has his sales data well organised in accordance with use and application criteria he will find that there are reserves for him because he is the main supplier of screwdrivers which from the point of view of the supplier is the basic range of goods for this customer.

Now the sales representative has the opportunity to make additional sales by offering additional related products (secondary or tertiary range). Whether the screws or the iron fittings will be offered as secondary product range depends on the business objectives of industry retailer A and the current competitive situation. If screws make up a strategic product line for industry retailer A and if the competitive situation is positive, then he will offer screws as his secondary range of goods. In order to increase his sales volume he will present the customer with a number of sample screws suitable for the delivered cordless screwdrivers together with a quotation during his next call.

The structure and volume of the secondary and tertiary product range sold by the sales representative shows clearly his ability to understand the importance of the above-mentioned criteria and to prepare his sales data accordingly.

Customer-related sales data and customer orientation

Sales data is often organised from a business point of view. The sales manager checks together with the sales representative which components of the product line are not or insufficiently purchased by the customer. Hereby the customer's situation stands in the foreground. The customer-oriented preparation and organisation of sales data and sales potential is therefore focused primarily on the customer. If the customer happens to be a furniture manufacturer and carpenter for example, your company's range of goods should be checked for products relating to this line of business. Products determined in this fashion have to be supplied with sales data in order to find available reserves and to prepare suitable direct offers.

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