Selling a product or service to a customer is very different from selling a corporate vision to an employee. And yet, some notable parallels arise that suggest relevant insights for the members of marketing and retailing firms, throughout the entire hierarchy.

In particular, today’s chief executives must recognize and adapt to the dynamic environments in which selling takes place, just like a salesperson must do. Simply reacting to a customer’s product requests is unlikely to produce optimal sales. Instead, salespeople need to take the initiative to recognize their customers’ unmet needs and preferences, then suggest solutions to resolve those concerns. Similarly, corporate leaders cannot wait for industry or societal changes to take place and react passively. Rather, they need to be scanning the environment constantly, looking for impending issues and concerns, so that they can develop new product or service solutions to address them.

A key example of the dynamism that arises in both customer needs and industry changes relates, of course, to new technologies. In this sense, salespeople and CEOs again need to pursue similar skills and capabilities to achieve success. Salespeople must stay up to date on the latest customer relationship management and planning software, so that they go into sales encounters fully informed about customers’ recent orders and stock levels. For chief executives, digital technologies are reconfiguring virtually every aspect of marketing. For example, generative AI is estimated to be capable of enhancing the productivity achieved by 900 different kinds of jobs, create US$8 trillion in value, and exert impacts on 44 percent of working hours. Ignoring such developments is a risky and unwise tactic.

But even as they rely on cutting-edge technology, salespeople and CEOs still must account for and prioritize human interactions. Salespeople should work to craft an enjoyable, enriching experience for their customers. Company leaders should work to craft an enjoyable, enriching work experience for their employees. On both levels, such efforts entail respect for customers and employees, recognition of their uniqueness and specific needs, and a dedication to listening to what they are really saying and asking.

Failing to embrace these requirements can lead to the loss of an immediate sale for a salesperson. But for company leaders, the negative outcomes can be even more severe. As a recent survey of the retail industry showed, 52 firms changed their CEOs over the course of just one year, indicating that when leaders cannot adapt, embrace technology, and sell their vision to their employees, they will lose more than a sale. They’ll lose their job.

Discussion Questions

1. In a way, these recommendations do not seem very surprising. Why are they so difficult to implement and develop then?
2. What other skillsets apply to both entry-level salespeople and top-level executives?

Sources: Jill Standish, “The CEO Skillset Needed to Power Retail’s Renovation,” Forbes, February 15, 2024; Accenture, “Technology Vision 2024,” January 9, 2024, https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/technology/technology-trends-2024