Preferred attributes of sales people in the engineering industry of South Africa.
Date
2015
Authors
Claassen, David
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
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Abstract
This research aimed to identify the preferred attributes by technical buyers of
sales people in the engineering industry of South Africa.
Suppliers of technical products and services to the engineering industry of South
Africa are facing increased pressure with regard to foreign competition as well as
a general price squeeze from the industry due to the decline in global commodity
prices. Given the complex nature of the industry, both technically and
commercially, sales people in this sector have been identified as key
differentiators between success and failure. A substantial amount of research is
available that indicates the importance of understanding customer preference
and it follows that a solid understanding of customer preferences and the role of
the relationship between seller and buyer is vital for sales people to increase
success and overall performance within the context in which they operate.
A thematic content analysis was conducted on the responses and information
gathered from semi-structured interviews involving 12 organisational buyers
active in the engineering industry of South Africa. The themes and common
attributes identified across all respondents led to a deep understanding of the
issues, resulting in a prioritised list of attributes that these buyers prefer in the
sales people that they deal with.
The research found that ‘technical and product knowledge’ is the most important
attribute of sales people, preferred by organisational buyers in the engineering
industry of South Africa. ‘Ability and willingness to solve problems’ and
‘thoroughness and follow through’ were found to be second and third most
preferred attributes respectively. These, as well as another ten attributes, are
discussed in detail in the study.
The key finding from this research was that suppliers of technical products and
services need to equip their sales teams with the preferred attributes identified by
these buyers to further differentiate their approach and be in a position to meet
customers preferences with regard to sales person attributes, if they wish to
increase sales.
Description
MBA
Keywords
Sales personnel,Engineering -- South Africa.