Shelly Jones, a vice president and partner in the Chicago office of the consulting firm Korn/Ferry International, has looked into the future and he sees some new challenges for salespeople. He recently shared the following predictions with Selling Power magazine:

a. Salespeople will spend more time extending the range of applications or finding new markets for the products they sell.

b. The selling function will be less pitching your product and more integrating your product into the business equation of your client. Understanding the business environment in which your client operates will be critical.

c. In the future, you will have to be a financial engineer for your client. You need to understand how your client makes money and be able to explain how your product or service contributes to profitable operation of the client’s firm.

Interview a salesperson who is involved in business-to-business selling – a manufacturer’s representative, for example – and determine whether this person agrees with the views of Shelly Jones.