Strategic sales organisation = foundation for competitive advantage, WBS Professor writes in the FT

WBS Professor of Marketing & Strategic Management, Nigel Piercy, writes in the Letters column of today's Financial Times (Selling business front end on new agenda, Financial Times letters, 8 May 2012), following a recent article on the importance of sales and selling.

What matter most, he states, "is not 'salesmanship' and selling skills, it is customers." The traditional sales function is being transformed by the demands of customers, resulting in "a profound revolution" as major companies recognise the importance of "strategic sales organisation" and "superior customer relationships" for running the "front end" of the business, where "the company meets the customer".

Good business schools are contributing, both by research and teaching, and in both academic and practitioner media, by focusing on "the challenges and dilemmas faced by managers in running organisations" and "the strategic issues faced in buyer-seller relationships".

Read the full article through the link below (registration required).