7.5. Conclusions
This chapter has familiarized the reader with sales in a B2B context and provided an understanding of its importance for corporate and product branding, that is B2B branding. We have discussed the technological developments that have changed B2B sales and buyers’ decisionmaking, while focusing on the seller’s perspective. The importance of price and products and how the sales experience impacts the decision making have also been discussed. Furthermore, an overview has been presented of the impact that the salesperson has on branding. An understanding has also been depicted of the importance of branding to the development of business relationships and most importantly that every single employee must understand his/her importance and role within the company and his/her possibility to positively influence corporate brand building. Every employee is always a representative of the company and should be aware of it, because one minor error can often lead to serious problems that can evolve further and at the end influence the turnover of the whole company.
As a result of our interview data, we can conclude that branding within B2B sales presents a multifaceted phenomenon. The seller’s task in the sales situation is to help to find a solution for customers in the best possible way, so that both parties benefit. The same has been argued by Alanen, Ma¨lkia¨, and Sell (2005), highlighting that the purpose of selling is to find a solution for customers, whilst also providing help in the decision making. In most cases, the price is not the dominant factor but has a certain role in the decision making although it often depends on the product and industry in which the company operates. However, the questions still remain: what should a company focus its communications on, the corporate brand or the product/service brand?
