You can order pretty much anything on the Internet. Google it, find it, order it, have it delivered. The digital transformation offers an all-encompassing 24/7 world. Anything, anywhere, anytime. In fact, the proportion of online business has also grown significantly in B2B retail. Nevertheless, successful retailers and manufacturers still rely on comprehensive on-site support from sales representatives. Customers are increasingly being offered both options to cover their goods requirements. What special opportunities do personal on-site visits offer and what skills are required for this?
B2B online
The share of online business in the B2B sector continues to grow. A survey conducted by ibi research (University of Regensburg) in 2017 shows that the vast majority of corporate buyers are already using online ordering options and will continue to expand them. There are certainly differences between sectors. The proportion is particularly high for consumer goods and items from the metal and electrical industry. 
For many products, the need for information and advice before, during and after the ordering process is high. Some of this, especially the purely technical, descriptive aspects and properties of products, is provided by intelligent online stores and ordering systems. Here, digital systems also “advise” the customer, provide data sheets and comparisons, submit alternatives and purchase suggestions.
But can information systems also assess and present the subsequent use of these products? Can you develop application solutions for the customer and present new, better options? Do you understand the customer’s business model, added value and market opportunities for which you are working? For example, when it comes to the use of tools in production, assembly or on a construction site – how well can digital information systems assess the skills of the employees who will be handling and using the tools to be procured? A lot can be done online, but not everything. This is where the special, typical skills of people are required. Technical and commercial knowledge is complemented by creative, forward-looking thinking, intuition, but also, for example, structured communication skills, empathy and motivation.
Distribution of roles in sales and service
Open issues can be quickly and directly addressed and clarified on site; sales and service employees with consulting expertise not only present the features of products and services, they also show sensible decision alternatives, possible uses and the resulting, perhaps special added value for the customer. Well-trained and experienced consultants also support customers in optimizing their ordering processes as a whole. This often results in a reduction in ordering costs, as well as a simplification and acceleration of processes and a good balance between availability and stock sizes and the associated capital commitment.
Three questions for Toni Heckenberger, Vice President Sales, Hoffmann Qualitätswerkzeuge GmbH, Munich
You can buy almost anything on the internet these days – even in B2B business. Why do your customers rely on an on-site visit from a sales representative?
TH: Even today, people still buy from people, and from people they like.
At HOG*, the salesperson is often accompanied by a subject-specific consultant. That’s time-consuming and expensive. Why do you afford this?
TH: Over 80,000 products are listed in our catalog range. The complexity of the overall range and the large number of products require specialist advice. In addition, our sales representatives also help to simplify ordering processes, thereby increasing efficiency and helping to save costs. This is hardly possible online. This requires a presence and on-site discussions.
What do customers expect from a good service technician/application consultant in the field today and how do you build up these skills?
TH: Our customers expect manufacturer-independent advice that is as objective as possible and based on sound technical and, increasingly, business knowledge. Product knowledge is required, but above all experience of their use in the production process, as well as knowledge of alternative, sometimes better or more modern solutions.
We already look at the basic training of new employees during the recruitment process. Almost all of our sales representatives have a solid technical education. They then undergo several months of intensive training in all internal sales departments. All employees in sales, consulting and service are then regularly and systematically kept up-to-date in terms of their knowledge and skills, both professionally and personally. The principle of lifelong learning is one of our most important guarantees of success.
*HOG = Hoffmann Group
Competence on site
Individual value-added considerations, the impetus for future-oriented developments and holistic optimization approaches are important factors that make the personal exchange with sales staff, customer advisors and service employees so valuable. Digital information and ordering systems cannot provide this type of service and will not be able to do so in the foreseeable future. The personal conversation contains a creative, often intuitive element that is not achieved by any existing system today. In this context, a lot of expectations are often placed on systems from the field of AI (artificial intelligence). However, a little more sobriety is called for here on the one hand and more respect for typical human abilities on the other. Machines can certainly learn from technology. They lack foresight, intuition, empathy and the resulting creative element. A human being – sorry – an employee with training, some experience, motivation and just this portion of intuition is irreplaceable.
Nothing comes from nothing
The domestic market and large parts of the international economy are booming. The market for qualified workers is empty. Candidates who meet the performance expectations of service staff or application consultants capable of providing advice are hardly available, and if they are, then only in cities where people are moving to, such as Munich, Stuttgart or Berlin. “What to do?” is the exciting question for companies that are aiming for above-average growth. In these conditions, companies that have a functioning personnel development system are doing particularly well. They can qualify their sales force structures themselves and lead them to the performance profiles they need to achieve their goals. The qualification process affects both existing and new employees. The aptitude profiles of service employees and application consultants in particular are changing dramatically and their field of activity has visibly broadened. Aspects that used to be considered secondary, especially for technicians, are already playing a role in personnel marketing and recruitment interviews. First and foremost are certain social skills. Strong communication skills, a clear willingness to behave in a customer-oriented manner, but also networked and business management thinking “outside the box” are important.
In order to develop these target performance characteristics, systematic qualification is required, nothing off the shelf from the catalog, no training by watering can principle and no hasty measures. The more the training courses are geared towards the target qualification and the more they are individualized for the target groups, the faster and more sustainable success will be achieved.
Conclusion and outlook
In some sectors, the services and quality of these consultants are the main reasons for B2B customers to make purchasing decisions on the basis of personal discussions and not just settle for a digital information partner.
Online ordering systems and personal purchasing advice with quality service/advice on site are offers from retailers and manufacturers that are in demand in combination and not “either-or”. They are not competitors, but complement each other’s strengths. Therefore, in my opinion, this topic should not be discussed philosophically or even “religiously”. Pragmatic solutions are needed here. Solutions that are geared towards the greatest possible benefit for the customer and nothing else. Those who understand and implement this in good time will be ahead of the game in this change process.
by Karl Heinz A. Lorenz, trainer at Lorenz-Seminare