By Bill Valentino
Specifically aimed at driving profitability, sales and selling in an organization are the flash points where the integration of corporate social responsibility into the business process becomes visible and to some extent measurable. In contrast to marketing, where the focus is on a wide range of stakeholders, in the case of sales, the scope narrows to just one specific stakeholder: the customer.

Sales is a dialogue. It is a customer-centered exchange of information that begins and ends with the customer whose needs and aspirations must drive the conversation. The sales process consists of interpersonal interaction. Whether in one-on-one meetings, cold calls, or networking, it engages people on a personal level rather than in an analytical or strategic manner, at a distance, as is the case with marketing.

What previously has always been a clear-cut seller/buyer relationship has become a complex process involving not just a sales team but also the entire organization. Sales are no longer the sole responsibility of a few people but in the context of corporate social responsibility, a part of a corporate culture permeating the entire organization.

Gone are the days when sales were transacted exclusively on the basis of tight networks and well-anchored relationships. These admittedly still play a role but there is more to executing an effective sales strategy than good connections. Companies that depend solely on salespeople who are charismatic sellers, who rely on their interpersonal skills and charm or on technical experts who are substantive in content but weak in customer focus are missing out on important opportunities for building loyal long term business relationships.

Trust is not the same as loyalty; customers who trust a company tend to stay with them, but this should not be interpreted that customers who stay and continue to buy from a company always trust them. Some customers stay because they don't have a better alternative. Others stay because the relationship is narrow and economically beneficial for them. This is not trust and the relationship can change suddenly when competitors offer better options. Customer retention is often mistakenly perceived as loyalty but it is by no means synonymous with trust.

Trust relationships are based on deeper personal and psychological connections. Customers need things (products and services) but want "aspirational feelings" that is, they want brands that not only make them feel good and look good but that also do good. A lot rests on the buyer's sense that the seller shares their same values and principles, which in terms of a CSR agenda, offers companies greater opportunities for getting closer to customers.

It is not about expectations that the seller has to deliver on wants and aspirations, the mere understanding and alignment of values and principles embody the power of the human need for connection, understanding, caring and trust.

We cannot overlook that sales strategies need to juggle complex issues involving price, quality, finance, cash flows and ROIs, human resources planning, motivation, supply chain management, distribution, information management as well as a multitude of cross-cultural issues. It also needs to be recognized that motivation in buying is based on the product or service and its characteristics, a solution to a problem, a good business partner but primarily on finding a partner who can be trusted. An organization's ability to create trust is now becoming the ultimate competitive advantage

Relationship building in the context of the selling process and sales transforms and redefines the function in terms of CSR as one that focuses primarily on individuals, relationships and trust. The old formulas of selling features and benefits are still around but relying solely on product knowledge or technical expertise doesn't always work in today's environment. Companies need to keep up with the changes that are occurring everywhere with customers, competitors, and markets. Instead of just talking about products, the role is now to communicate a message in which a company adds value, provides perspective, and provides products and services that meet not only the functional needs of customers but also appeal to their wider aspirations as individuals, citizens or more fundamentally, as human beings.

Buying is a whole lot more than just decision-making. It is not all rational and logical. Customers will buy from a company if they can logically and rationally convince them that they have the products, services and solutions that best meet their needs. But a sale is usually emotionally driven, emotionally decided, and then it is justified logically. In trust-based selling, customers buy the relationship and pay for it in the products or services they purchase.

Trust-based selling is not about a transaction. It places more emphasis on the motives, objectives reputation, values and mindsets of the seller than on a particular set of techniques or behaviors. Being customer-focused means being open to all the aspects of a customer's needs, and operating from a perspective that companies need to add value wherever possible, often beyond the goods and services they sell.
This is where corporate social responsibility is best integrated into the sales function of a company.

Trust based relationships require that companies invest some energy, time and attention to intangible trust building mechanisms such as CSR and address issues important to the customer. If a company is just doing transactions, they talk about what they sell. But if they are developing a trust based relationship they are talking about what the customer needs, including their wider aspirations and links this to the goods or service that they offer.

The bottom line is that customers prefer to buy from those they have come to trust. Buyers do not just buy products but tend to buy intangibles such as an ongoing network of services, capabilities and personal relationships that are based on integrity, reputation, and trust. In selling, as in other situations, customers watch a company's daily behaviors more than they watch their proclamations. Companies get judged by what they do, not by what they sell or say.

It is through this connection to this aspect of the selling process that CSR can facilitate a genuine value adding, beneficial process for buyer, seller and ultimately society alike. The overriding goal is to attract and nurture long-term profitable relationships with customers who can otherwise choose at any time to go elsewhere

In order to understand the challenges confronting companies competing in today's demanding client and prospect environment one must focus on the multiple activities comprising a professional sales process into which CSR needs to be strategically integrated. Sales concentrates on the ways in which prospective buyers and sellers interact. It defines the skills, concepts, behaviors, and attitudes that enhance expertise in influencing prospects to make positive purchasing decisions.

The general public tends to have a negative perception of "sales" as being manipulative and as being focused on the needs of the seller, not the buyer.

Many sales professionals are characterized by their short-term goals, a desire for quick returns on effort, and not the long-term building of relationships based on trust that are critical to the long-term success of companies. When selling is transaction driven, it is often cynically perceived as just a process to convince prospects to agree to buy, getting the money out of their pockets and giving something in return. In contrast, trust relationships are based on deeper personal and psychological connections. Customers need things (products and services) but want aspirational feelings and partners that meet the high expectations of consumers today in terms of reputation, values, principles and integrity. They want brands that not only make them feel good and look good but generate social benefits.

Every sales manager strives to increase sales and secure a bigger market share. Yet everyone is finding this continually more difficult to achieve by means of traditional sales methods. This is where sometimes salespeople overstep ethical and illegal boundaries to close a deal. This is where CSR connects to the issue of ethics in selling. Unethical sales strategies set at the top are hard for a sales team to ignore. But more often, sellers in the field get themselves into ethical or legal troubles all on their own. This happens when a well-intentioned message from the top gets diluted or tweaked in the field by mid-level managers or overly aggressive sellers who are often unaware that they are breaking professional and legal rules.

Integrating CSR into developing and implementing some of the key skills, behaviors, and methods needed to succeed in the area of sales is directed at value protection or value creation, but ultimately develops into an innovative process in its own right. By connecting to the buying process, communications, effective adaptation to the buyer, ethical selling practices and addressing wider aspirations and psychological needs of customers, CSR becomes an important tool not only for profitability but also for persuasively demonstrating value to the customer by demonstrating how the buyer-seller relationship can be a catalyst for social change and improvement.
CSR can make the difference between being viewed as just a technical specialist or a charismatic seller to that of being a trusted advisor. With relatively equal competitors, it is the salesperson or the sales team, a company's values, reputation and brand but also a visible commitment to CSR that can make the difference between winning or losing business.

Selling today is more demanding and more challenging. Salespeople need a higher level of skill in their work to create the longer-term relationship objectives while achieving short-term immediate objectives

When it comes to driving profitability through trust-based selling, CSR is becoming the key in this modern highly connected and hyper-competitive world.

About the author:
Bill Valentino, continuously working for Bayer in China since 1987, holds a MBA from Thunderbird, the Gavin School of Management, and a MA in Technology and Communications from Columbia University, New York. He co-directs the Tsinghua-Bayer Public Health and HIV/AIDS Media Studies Program and is a Senior Guest Lecturer at the Center for International Communications at Tsinghua University. He is also currently the Chairman of the European Chamber's CSR Working Group and a long-standing member of the AmCham CSR Committee in Beijing.

 Loading ...

Leave A Comment: