“I’m like the quarterback of the team. I manage 250 accounts, and anything from billing issues, to service issues, to selling the products.
I’m really the face to the customer,” says Alison Capossela, a Washington, DC–based Xerox sales representative.
As the primary company contact for Xerox customers,
Alison is responsible for developing and maintaining customer relationships. To accomplish this she uses a sophisticated selling process that requires many activities from making presentations, to attending training sessions, to managing a team of Xerox personnel, to monitoring competitors’
activities. The face-to-face interactions with customers,
however, are the most rewarding for Capossela.
“It’s an amazing feeling; the more they challenge me the more I fight back. It’s fun!” she explains.

THE COMPANY Xerox Corporation’s mission is to “help people find better ways to do great work by constantly leading in document technologies, products, and services that improve customers’ work processes and business results.” To accomplish this mission Xerox employs 130,000 people in 160 countries. Xerox is the world’s leading document management enterprise and a Fortune 500 company.
Xerox offers a wide range of products and services.
These include printers, copiers and fax machines, multifunction and network devices, high-speed color presses, digital imaging and archiving products and services,
and supplies such as toner, paper, and ink. The entire company is guided by customer-focused and employee-centered core values (e.g., “We succeed through satisfied customers”) and a passion for innovation,
speed, and adaptability.

THE SELLING PROCESS AT XEROX In 2001, Xerox began a shift to a consultative selling model that focused on helping customers solve their business problems rather than just placing more equipment in their office. The shift meant that sales reps needed to be less product-oriented and more relationship- and valueoriented.
Xerox wanted to be a provider of total solutions.
Today, Xerox has more than 8,000 sales professionals throughout the world who spend a large amount of their day developing customer relationships. Capossela explains:
“Fifty percent of my day is spent with my customers,
25 percent is following up with phone calls or

e-mails, and another 25 percent involves preparing proposals.”
The approach has helped Xerox attract new customers and keep existing customers.
The sales process at Xerox typically follows the six stages of the personal selling process identified in Figure 20–3: (1) Xerox identifies potential clients through responses to advertising, referrals, and telephone calls; (2) the salesforce prepares for a presentation by familiarizing themselves with the potential client and its document needs; (3) a Xerox sales representative approaches the prospect and suggests a meeting and presentation;
(4) as the presentation begins, the salesperson summarizes relevant information about potential solutions Xerox can offer, states what he or she hopes to get out of the meeting, explains how the products and services work, and reinforces the benefits of working with Xerox; (5) the salesperson engages in an action close
(gets a signed document or a firm confirmation of the sale); and then (6) continues to meet and communicate with the client to provide assistance and monitor the effectiveness of the installed solution.
Xerox sales representatives also use the selling process to maintain relationships with existing customers. In today’s competitive environment it is not unusual to have customers who have been approached by competitors or who are required to obtain more than one bid before renewing a contract. Xerox has teams of people who collect and analyze information about competitors and their products. The information is sent out to sales reps or offered to them through workshops and seminars. The most difficult competitors are the ones that have also invested in customer relationships. The selling process allows Xerox to continually react and respond to new information and take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace.

Questions
1 How does Xerox create customer value through its personal selling process?
2 How does Alison Capossela provide solutions for Xerox customers? 

3 Why is the Xerox training program so important to the company’s success?