Authors
Serpil Ünal Kestane
Publication date
2020
Journal
Pazarlama ve Pazarlama Araştırmaları Dergisi
Volume
13
Issue
2
Pages
285-304
Publisher
Pazarlama ve Pazarlama Araştırmaları Derneği
Description
The main objective of the study is to determine at which stage firms are in the process of digitalization and what skills they look for in salespeople in the face of digitalization? A semi-structured interview technique was used. An interview form was developed, which included the following questions: 1 What do you think is the most important quality that salespeople should have? 2 What methods do you use to make sales, and what are their advantages and disadvantages? 3 What do you think about digitalization? 4 How do you think salespeople of the future should be? 5 What kind of training should be provided to salespeople to help them improve themselves? Preliminary interviews were conducted with five sales and marketing managers to assess the suitability of these questions in terms of purpose, meaning, and scope. The interview form was finalized based on the preliminary interviews. According to participants, digitalization is inevitable and the game-changer for business, although the firms they represent, make slow progress in that regard. They stated that salespeople of the future should have a good grasp of information technologies, digital tools, and e-commerce. They also noted that the majority of transactions would be conducted through digital platforms in the future. Therefore, salespeople should be trained on issues such as social media expertise, content management, digital body language, etc
Total citations
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