Innovating is important, but selling is also an art. Dutch innovative companies spend a lot of time and energy on product development. The hard work of selling still sometimes takes time, according to a tour of the New Champions.
The Netherlands may have traditionally been a nation of traveling merchants, but 'sales' still has a tinge of 'manipulation with smooth sales pitches' around it. A somewhat old-fashioned stain, says Willem Verbeke, professor of Sales and Account Management at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Because, according to him, the salesperson should be someone with a 'listening ear and high social intelligence,' who can put himself in the customer's perspective. 'You have to get your salespeople passionate about your product to find the ideal customer,' says Verbeke. 'Preferably a customer who then also talks about your company, for example through social media.'