Analysis of Balancing Short-Term and Long-Term Objectives in B2B Sales

This report delves into the challenges and strategies involved in balancing short-term and long-term goals within the context of B2B sales. It explores the conflicts that arise when sales representatives and organizations strive to achieve both immediate targets and long-range objectives. The report highlights the importance of effective planning, sales force structure, and the impact of personal selling in the B2B market. It discusses the differences between B2B and B2C sales, emphasizing the significance of trust, relationship building, and the role of technology. Furthermore, it analyzes various personal selling theories like AIDAS, “Right set of circumstances,” and “Buying formula”, and concludes that a well-defined sales management plan is crucial for achieving a proper balance between short and long-term goals. The report references various books and journals to support its findings.

Balance between
short and long term
goals

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
An organization has various departments like finance, marketing, etc. These
divisions assist the enterprise in achieving their vision and mission by performing work
in an effective manner. In B2B marketing, sales representatives have to use different
techniques of selling because customers present in this market are more intelligent
compare to other marketplace. This report will discuss about the problems faced by
sales persons regarding short and long term objectives (Ballantyne, Packer and Falk,
2011). Use of effective planning can resolve this trouble and so, it is discussed in the
assignment. Implementation of various strategies and sales-force structure will also be
covered in this file.
MAIN BODY
Most of the firms face issues relating to short and long term goals s sometimes,
in order to achieve small targets, companies need to rethink about their main aim. Sales
manager often raises these problems in-front of the top level management. They argue
that when employees try to attain their long term goals, they have to make some
sacrifice by missing their short term targets which are not appreciated by the senior
workers of organization.
They need to understand sometimes that they have to feel some pain and so,
they can move forward towards their vision. There are various plans made by higher
authorities which create problems in attaining small goals, senior manager need to
understand ground reality of market. This issue arises when an organization does not
have a road-map. In a research, it was found that sales representatives take time to
understand market like B2B but once they get necessary experience and data, they
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start achieving their targets. It is difficult for a person to attain monthly goal when their
main aim is to achieve quarterly targets. An expert of this field once said that there is no
wrong way of selling an item, if you are able to convince a buyer then you should
continuously use your present sales technique (Javalgi, Granot and Alejandro, 2011). It
is easy for salesperson to sell an item to a customer because they only think about the
benefit which they are getting but in case of B2B marketing, things are very different
(Leek and Christodoulides, 2011). In this field, buyers do not give much preference to
new seller unless they face any major trouble with their present one. Trust is a major
point in B2B selling and so, personal selling is essential for getting more clients. Buyers
in B2B market do not care much about purchasing an item. They just want someone
who can understand their thinking so that they can assure that both parties are on same
page.
If a company wants to attain their long term objectives then sometimes, they
have to miss small targets. They main reason behind this sacrifice is to gain trust of
clients who like to place an order to enterprise that is having the same working style.
Salesperson has to show that their organization is perfect for buyers by presenting their
company in a way which is appreciated by the purchasers. Personal selling is an
effective way to increase the number of customers but it comes at a high cost. Sales
representatives charge a huge amount in terms of salary and incentives which stop a
firm from earning higher revenue (McClaren, 2013).
This issue can be considered as the main reason that organization miss their
small targets which ultimately result in failure to attain long term goals. In B2B market
maintaining contact with client is important, they may call you 10 times and say no at
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the time of giving an order but salesperson have to keep good relation with them
because they can place a huge order in forthcoming time. In B2C market, sellers have
many options and so, they can neglect one or two customers but in B2C market, there
is limited clients. Thus, sales representatives have to make continuous visit so that they
can make some personal connection with purchasers.
One of the major changes happening in personal selling is reduction of available
jobs (Peter and Donnelly, 2011). Companies are not willing to pay percent of sale to
salesperson, they give them latest technology so they can remain in contact with clients
and deliver results according to the expectation of management. Most of the
organizations are firing them because they want to reduce their cost of business so they
can achieve their long term goals (Baddeley, Hofmann and Schmeichel, 2012). They
are ready to bear some pain for short period of time. An effective sales management
plan tries to find the features of a product. This support a salesperson in telling benefits
of their items to clients. Next step is to find other players who are operating in this sector
so that manager can find their strengths and weaknesses as well as make plans
accordingly.
A market should be decided before choosing appropriate sales methods.
Salesperson needs to plan and practice the way by which they are going to present
their products. This will help them in getting an upper hand at the time of negotiation so
that they can close deal in an effective manner. This planning will cover both short and
long term goals with an aim that problems relating to sacrificing one of the objective will
not arise at the time of execution of various sales strategies (Negi, 2012). At the time of
implementation of plans, salesperson faces various issues regarding motivating clients
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to give an order. They try to compare their products with competitor's items so that they
can tell the benefits present in their commodity. They need training because technology
has changed the old way by which personal selling is done.
Most of the companies are changing structure of their present sales workforce.
They cannot pay them huge sum and so, they are changing the concept of giving salary
and offering them some percentage of sales which they will only get if they bring
business to the organization. This strategy is helping enterprises in achieving their short
term targets which are significant for attaining the long term objectives. B2B is different
from B2C. The sales targets in this market varies compare to others. Most of the
salespersons try to make a strong connection with potential clients as they want to earn
their trust which is the main objective in B2B market (Michaelidou, Siamagka and
Christodoulides, 2011).
Expert of this field argue that sales representatives sometimes break privacy of
clients in order to make a strong connection with them. They collect data from illegal
sources which create issues in the upcoming scenario. It can be considered as the
prime reason that several multinational organizations miss their long tern objectives as
they have to pay a huge amount of money in terms of penalty which increases financial
burden on an enterprise. Giving personal information of clients to other person is illegal
and unethical.
Sales management concentrates on the application of various selling techniques.
There are mainly three theories of personal selling (Sales and marketing management,
2017). In AIDAS, this first step is to get the attention of client by making good
presentation which can be done by giving necessary training to the salesperson. After
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this, sales representatives try to create interest about their products by using brochures
or any other visual aid. They need to bring a desire among clients to buy their
commodity. In this process, they have to give answers of various questions. Most of the
time, salespersons hesitate in asking the buyers to buy an items. They need to induce
some action which will help them in closing the deal effective manner. The last stage is
very important, sales representative should leave the building of buyer by giving him
decent level of satisfaction so that he/she can retain the trust of clients which will help
organization in keeping a balance between long and short time goals.
“Right set of circumstances” is another theory of personal selling. It deals with
analyzing the situation in a way that most of the questions asked by buyers in B2B
market is predictable, so answering them is simple. Salesperson need to get a complete
control on whole selling process so that they can make a sale at the end of the day.
“Buying formula” focuses on four steps where first is to find the need of purchaser so
that they can provide them necessary solutions of their problems which they have
regarding product. In the third step, salesperson sells his/her item by using the brand
name, pleasant feeling, etc. He/she needs to find whether the clients are satisfied with
the product or not so that they can become their permanent customers.
All the above mentioned theories suggest that sales representatives should not
go in-front of clients without getting good training, this will help them in giving effective
presentation and close the deals in their favor. Technology is becoming the main reason
that most of the organizations are reducing their sales workforce because they argue
that technology has reduced the gap among clients, salesperson and company.
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CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that if an enterprise makes an effective plan then they can
make a proper balance between their short and long term goals. Also, it has been
assessed that selling technique in B2B market is different form B2C because trust is
considered as the prime factor for acquiring and retaining customers. Top level
management need to understand that they have to face some small losses in order to
earn more revenue in long run. Personal selling is considered as one of the most
successful technique of marketing because it assist in acquiring permanent customers.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ballantyne, R., Packer, J. and Falk, J., 2011. Visitors’ learning for environmental
sustainability: Testing short-and long-term impacts of wildlife tourism experiences
using structural equation modelling. Tourism Management.32(6). pp.1243-1252.
Hofmann, W., Schmeichel, B.J. and Baddeley, A.D., 2012. Executive functions and self-
regulation. Trends in cognitive sciences. 16(3). pp.174-180.
Javalgi, R.R.G., Granot, E. and Alejandro, T.G.B., 2011. Qualitative methods in
international sales research: Cross-cultural considerations. Journal of Personal
Selling & Sales Management. 31(2). pp.157-170.
Leek, S. and Christodoulides, G., 2011. A literature review and future agenda for B2B
branding: Challenges of branding in a B2B context. Industrial Marketing
Management. 40(6). pp.830-837.
McClaren, N., 2013. The personal selling and sales management ethics research:
Managerial implications and research directions from a comprehensive review of
the empirical literature. Journal of Business Ethics.112(1). pp.101-125.
Michaelidou, N., Siamagka, N.T. and Christodoulides, G., 2011. Usage, barriers and
measurement of social media marketing: An exploratory investigation of small
and medium B2B brands. Industrial marketing management. 40(7). pp.1153-
1159.
Negi, P.S., 2012. Plant extracts for the control of bacterial growth: Efficacy, stability and
safety issues for food application. International journal of food microbiology.
156(1), pp.7-17.
Peter, J.P. and Donnelly, J.H., 2011. Marketing management: knowledge and skills:
text, analysis, cases, plans. Plano: Business pub., INC.
Online
Sales and marketing management, 2017. [Online]. Available
through:<http://www.bizreport.com/magazines/sales_and_marketing_manageme
nt.html>. [Accessed on 7th September 2017].
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