New Death of a Salesman book commends outsourcing

Death of the Salesman, published in the UK on 10 October, is a new book which challenges the way in which many businesses approach their sales function, and proposes ways in which organisations can gain competitive advantage by reinventing their sales strategy.

Authors Alex McKay, Graham Brown and Neale Skalberg argue that the sales strategy of many global businesses has remained largely stagnant while other areas of their businesses have evolved over time, and suggest that the sales function is ripe for reinvention.

The specific focus of the book is on the role that outsourcing can play in this reinvention, and it contains new research by leading academic Dr Beth Rogers of the University of Portsmouth’s Business School. Dr Rogers, who specialises in sales strategy and management issues, has recently interviewed global brand owners who have already adopted new sales resourcing models.

Her research has led her to conclude that with the increasing knowledge, scale and sophistication of the sales outsourcing industry, a class of global consultancies may be emerging in the sales arena, as contract sales organisations make the transition from being a tactical resource to strategic partners.

Sponsored by sales development agency CPM, Death of the Salesman, explodes a number of myths and perceived barriers that are deterring some business sectors from outsourcing their sales function.

Martin Ryan, Managing Director of CPM says: “Only 12% of businesses are outsourcing their sales function, but those that do are enjoying considerable competitive advantage.

“The FMCG and Pharmaceutical sectors were among the early pioneers to outsource their sales function, and have achieved great success in the process. We believe that other sectors, including IT, Financial Services and Engineering would benefit from the breadth of experience, the competency and the dedication to sales best practice – as well as the reporting and diagnostic tools that can be provided by external sales specialists.”

In the book’s foreword Dr Rogers describes it as a welcome contribution to the conversation about sales outsourcing. She says: “It discusses a range of issues using real case studies as illustrations and provides a ‘what, why and how’ approach for sales managers under pressure to invent new ‘go-to-market’ models.

With the intention of ‘continuing the conversation’, the authors of Death of the Salesman have created a companion website, www.deathofthesalesman.co, which includes a self-diagnostic tool and promises to provide continuously-updated information, research and downloadable tools as well as case studies on sales outsourcing from around the world