When it comes to personal selline, the term win-win gets thrown und so much that it has become a clich. But at Procter & Gume, the selling concept that the company benefits only if de customer benefits has long been a way of life. Since William oldeneyes from the fact that each team, in and of itself is a elete customer service unit, containing at least one support et for every important business function. In addition to all CED manager and several sales account reseach tople for a specific category of P&G products, each CBD cum includes specialists in marketing strategy. operations, in- furonon, logistics, finance, and human resources. This -functional structure enables cach team to meet the mal and vast needs of its customer, whether the needs tevolve and those of a chic finance officer or an entire department Areal strength of the CBD teams is that team members com a collaborative whole rather than as individuals Appendix 1: Company Cases 549 Company Case 13 Procter & Gamble: Selling through Customer Business Development Practer and James Gamble formed a family operated soup and mer doesn't do well, neither will the company salle company in 1837. P&G has understood that if the cus So although P&G boasts a massive sales force of more than 500 employees in the United States alone, P&Gers rarely utter de ter sales. Instead, at P&G, they call it customer business desvlyment, or CBD. The title pretty much says it all. Rather un just selling detergent or toothpuste, P&G's philosophy is to grow its own business by growing the business of its customers, dc thousands of retailers and wholesalers that distribute PRG'S and throughout the world. To these customers, P&G isn't just a applier. It's a strategic business partner. "We depend on them as nach as they depend on us." says Jeff Weedman, a CBD manager performing their tasks in isolation Team members share information organizational capabilities, and technologies. "1 have all the resources need right here." says Amy Fuschino, a Health Care and Cosmetics account esecutive. "If I need to, 1 can go right down the ball and talk with someone in marketing about doing some kind of promotional deal. It's that simple." But the multifunctional nature of the CBD team also means that collaboration ends far beyond internal inten to Each time CBD lam member contact the customer, he or the represents the team. For comple, if during a car tomer call a CRD account necutive receives a question about a promotional, logistical or financial matter the account CROCE tive acts as the use with the appropriate CBD specialist. So although not cach CBD member has specialized knowledge in cvery area, the CBD mas a unit does Competitors have empted to implement some aspects of P&G's multi-functional approach. However, P&G pionered the CBD structure. And it has built in some unique characteris ties that have allowed it so leverage more power from its team structure than is als can The Core Competency of Customer Business Development As today's big retailers get bigger and bigger, they also grow were complex. Take companies such as Walmart, Kroger or Amazon. How can a vendor like P&G ever fully understand such giant customers? These complex arganizations have so Many arms and legs that it becomes nearly impossible to get a nel and firm grasp on their operations and needs. To deal with such customer complexities, P&G organizes in sales representatives into customer business development teamRather than assigning reps to specific geographic regions products. It assigns cach CBD team to a P&G customer. For de company's biggest customet, Walmart (which accounts for percent of all P&G ales) the CBD team consists of more Su 300 employees. For a customer such as Family Dollar, the al's second largest dollar store chain, the CBD team has a Regardless of the team's size, the strength of the CBD.Co The True Advantage For starter, PAGYCHD structure is broader and more compre hensive, making it more multi-functional than similar teamstrup tures employed by other companies. But perhaps more important P&G's structure is designed to accomplish four key objectives So important are these objectives that they are referred to inter nally as the more work of CBD. These four objectives are . Alig strateg: Create opportunities for both P&G and the customer to benefit by collaborating in strategy development . Create demand: To build profitable sales volume for P&G and the customer thrash consumer value and shopper satisfaction Optimies to maximize the efficiency of the supply chain from P&G to the point of purchase to optimize cost and responsiveness Enable the organisation: To develop capabilities to maximize business results by creating the capacity for frequent breakthrough impartirely few 30 employees More than just corporate catchphrasesjotted down in an em- ployee handbook, these are words to live by for CHD employees. P&G trains les employees in methods of achieving each objec tive and evaluate their effectiveness in meeting the objectives. In fact, the CBD concept care about through the recognition that in order to develop the win-win relationships with each custom er, P&G would need to accomplish the first objective. Accord ing to Bill Warren, a CBD senior account executive. The true competitive advantage is achieved by taking a multi-functional approach from base selling to strategic customer collaboration! Strategie collaboration starts with amal joint business planning. Both the P&G team and the customer come to the table focused on the most important thing: how can cach best provide value for the final consumer? The team and customer give much attention during this planning phase to how products can best be presented and placed in the retail setting. This is functions/customer_business development.shtml, accessed October 2018 Page/Index/keyGen Page=1073748359, and www.pg.com/careersber 550 Appendix 1: Company Cases the organization to achieve innovation. Where the research and because P&G and its customers know that the end consumer development process is concerned, this means creating better assesses value within the first three to seven seconds of seeing that product on the shelf. At P&G, this is known as "winning products. This is one reason why, at the 2017 Product of the Year awards held in New York City, P&G cleaned up, winning the first moment of truth." If customers quickly perceive that a five of the 13 categories in which it competes. product will meet their needs, they will likely purchase it. In recent years, the consumer products industry has been CBD team members are very good at demonstrating to the hit hard by tough economic times and a rise in popularity of retailer that the best way to win the first moment of truth is most often with a P&G product. But P&G is so committed to devel store brands. But P&G has weathered the storm. Over the past oping the customer's business as a means of developing its own few years, P&G has divested most many low-performing brands that it is open to the possibility that the best way to serve the cus in order to strengthen its best brands. P&G remains the world's tomer may be through a competitor's product. The CBD team's largest consumer products firm with $65 billion in revenues and primary goal is to help the customer win in each product cat a whopping 23 brands that each bring in over $1 billion every egory. Sometimes, analysis shows that the best solution for the year. Last year. Pampers sales alone exceeded $8.5 billion, a customer is "the other guy's product." For P&G, that's OK. P&G figure that by itself would have placed the leading diaper brand knows that creating the best situation for the retailer ultimately as number 344 on Fortune's prestigious 500 list. brings in more customer traffic, which in turn will likely result in Many factors have contributed to P&G's growth and success. increased sales for other P&G products in the same category. Be But the role that CBD plays can't be overestimated. And as P&G cause most of P&G's brands are market leaders, P&G stands to moves forward, Mr. Weedman's words that "We depend on them benefit more from the increased traffic than competitors. Again, as much as they depend on us" ring ever truer. As P&G's mega- it's a win-win situation. This type of honesty also helps to build customers grow in size and power, developing P&G's business trust and strengthen the company/customer relationships. means first developing its customers' businesses. And the CBD The collaborative efforts between P&G and each of its cus sales organization lies at the heart of that effort. tomers often involve more than joint planning and the sharing of information. They may also involve cooperative efforts to share the costs of different activities. "We'll help customers run these Questions for Discussion commercials or do those merchandising events, but there has to 1. Which of the sales force structures discussed in the text be a return-on-investment," explains Amy Fuschino. "Maybe its best describes P&G's CBD structure? helping us with a new distribution or increasing space for fabric 2. From the perspective of team selling, discuss the positive care. We're very willing if the effort creates value for us in addi- as well as possible negative aspects to the customer busi- tion to creating value for the customer and the consumer." ness development sales organization. If the CBD team can effectively accomplish the first objective 3. Discuss ways that the CBD structure may be more effective of aligning strategy and collaborating on strategie development, ac- than a single sales rep for each step in the personal selling complishing the other three objectives will follow more easily. For process. example, if strategic planning leads to winning the first moment of truth, not only does the consumer benefit, but both the retailer and P&G achieve higher revenues and profits as well. Through proper strategic planning, it is also more likely that both P&G and the customer will create greater efficiencies in the supply chain. Sources: Based on information from numerous P&G managers: Jen Birk hofer. "These Are the 2018 Product of the Year Award Winners." Today, It's Better to Give... Then to Receive February 21, 2018, www.today.com/home/these-are-2018-product-year award-winners-t122831; with additional information from "Selling Power By collaborating with customers, P&G receives as much or 500 Largest Sales Forces (2017)" Selling Power, www.sellingpower more than it gives. Among other things, P&G receives informa- com/resources/2017/selling-power-500. tion that helps in achieving the fourth CBD objective, enabling www.peinvestor.com Custom