The Salesperson as the Main Added Value for the Customer

A few weeks ago, I needed to buy a shirt for a work convention. I went to the shopping center looking to buy it. The salesperson who helped me asked me what I was looking for, and when I explained that I wanted a casual shirt for a beach event, without asking any further questions, he went to the area where the shirts were and selected three of different colors. However, he suggested I try on just one of them. He told me that because of my complexion and style of dress at that moment, it was probably the shirt that I would like the most. When I tried it on, I agreed with him. I tried on the other two just to confirm, but I ended up taking the initial recommendation and not only that, he also sold me a pair of pants. It is worth mentioning that this person never even asked me my size. He was able to calculate it by eye and he was right. Not only did he close the sale, but he applied a “cross selling” technique, selling me something else that I wasn't looking for.

For many years, it has been common to hear about the investment that companies make in areas such as research and development, innovation, and human capital.

In an analysis developed by the visualcapitalist.com portal (Conte, 2023), in its ranking of the most innovative countries of 2023, it is proposed that among the indicators that determine this level of innovation are knowledge, technology, human capital, sophistication of markets and companies, to name a few.

Technological development results in new products that are put on the market and whose characteristics are intended to offer added value as a differentiating element with respect to its competition. This is how we have seen great technological leaps in practically any area of ​​our daily lives. In recent years, they have been presented more continuously and in a more relevant way. However, this represents a challenge for those people destined to offer these products and services to a market that at the same time has become more demanding from the purchasing perspective.

Commonly, we are oriented to think about high-tech products, which will be offered in a novel way, with equally attractive marketing and advertising campaigns, focused on capturing as much of the market as possible. However, when we come to the human element, which carries out the important work of making the sale, do companies give the same importance to developing it?

As I mentioned before, one of the main indicators of innovation as a country is human capital. This element is generally considered as those people oriented to carry out the necessary tasks in educational, governmental and business environments in different societies. Thus, it would be logical to think that a part of the innovation and human development budget of companies should be allocated to the development and professionalization of their commercial area. 

At this point, please allow me to introduce the concept of the “salesperson as an element of added value.” This concept applies to all types of sales. We can think of the simplest examples, where the person with whom we have contact becomes a differentiating element, allowing the closing of a business or transaction beyond issues such as price, delivery time or the characteristics of the product or service offered. But it is in the most sophisticated markets where the added value generated by the salesperson becomes more relevant to the commercial operation. As incredible as it may seem, when a product has more complex technical characteristics, it is necessary for the salespeople to be able to adapt not only to the products or services offered, but also to the type of market, segments and customers to which it is offered. Just like the example I talked about at the beginning, it must be a person who, from the initial contact, must be able to identify the customer’s needs and seek to solve them from their basket of goods and services.

Here we can talk about a variety of elements, such as the image that the seller offers, his ability to communicate with people, knowledge of the product, the market, customers and the sales process, just to mention a few. When salespeople strive to bring together these characteristics, they present themselves to their customers as a true adviser who is able to solve their needs without requiring more than minimal support from others in their organization. At this moment, it does not matter if the product is new or if it is a commodity, the possibility of closing a sale will depend mostly on this person and his or her technical and commercial skills. This is the ultimate added value salespeople offer to customers.