Many of the most profitable companies have discovered that there are riches in market niches. They have

Question:

Many of the most profitable companies have discovered that there are “riches in market niches.” They have developed products and services that meet the needs of a welldefined or a newly created market. Steelcase Incorporated, a leading source of information and expertise on work effectiveness, has been working hard to develop products that meet the needs of people who do most of their work in an office environment. The company motto is “The Office Environment Company.” One of its newest products is the “Think” chair. Steelcase also developed the Personal Harbor Workspaces, self-contained, fully equipped, and totally private pod-like workstations. Steelcase sales literature describes the product as ideal for companies that are tired of waiting for the future: “They were developed to support the individual within a highly collaborative team environment, and they work best when clustered around common work areas equipped with mobile tables, carts, benches, screens, and other Steelcase Activity Products.
These ‘commons’ are meant to be flexible spaces that enhance communication and facilitate interaction.”
Steelcase realized that selling this advanced product would not be easy, so a decision was made to develop an advanced sales team to presell the Personal Harbor before its major introduction. Once the team started making sales calls, it became evident that a traditional productoriented sales presentation would not work. The Personal Harbor was such a departure from conventional office design that many customers were perplexed. Sue Sacks, a sales team member, said, “People acted as if we had fallen from Mars.” Team members soon realized that to explain the features and benefits of the product, they had to begin studying new organizational developments such as team-oriented workforces and corporate re-engineering.
The advanced sales team was renamed the “advanced solutions” team. Sales calls put more emphasis on learning about the customers’ problems and identification of possible solutions. Members of the team viewed themselves as consultants who were in a position to discuss solutions to complex business problems.
The consultative approach soon began to pay off in sales. One customer, a hospital, was preparing to build a new office building and needed workstations for 400 employees. The hospital had formed a committee to make decisions concerning the purchase of office equipment.
After an initial meeting between the Steelcase sales team and the hospital committee, a visit to the Steelcase headquarters was arranged. The hospital committee members were able to tour the plant and meet with selected Steelcase experts. With knowledge of the hospital’s goals and directions, Sue Sacks was able to arrange meetings with Steelcase technical personnel who could answer specific questions. As a result, the hospital placed an order worth more than a million dollars.

Questions

1. To fulfill a customer’s needs, salespeople must be prepared to communicate effectively with customers who are seeking a cluster of satisfactions (see Fig. 7.1 ). Is it likely that a customer who is considering the Personal Harbor Workspaces will seek information concerning all three dimensions of the 3-D Product Solutions Selling Model? Explain your answer.

Figure 7.1

2. What product-selling strategies are most effective when selling a new and emerging product such as Personal Harbor Workspaces?
3. Sue Sacks and other members of her sales team discovered that a traditional product-oriented presentation would not work when selling the Personal Harbor Workspaces. Success came only after the team adopted the consultative style of selling. Why was the product-oriented presentation ineffective?
4. Sue Sacks and other members of the advanced solutions team found that the consultative approach resulted in meetings with people higher in the customer’s organization. “We get to call on a higher level of buyer,” she said. Also, the team was more likely to position the product with a value-added strategy instead of a price strategy. In what ways did the advanced solutions team members add value to their product? Why was less emphasis placed on price during meetings with the customer?