Selling is no longer the primary focus of outside sales, according to Steve Slater, COO, Stellar Industrial Supply, in Sales Models: From Lone Wolf to Pack Hunting, from the 2017 Distribution Trends Special Issue. “Their job is to nurture the relationships with the customer and to coax a relationship, find out the pain points of the customer and proactively tackle them."

While distribution sales have traditionally been driven by outside salespeople who set their own course for how and where to sell in a given territory, purchasing behaviors have slowly been changing. Driven by technology and a generational shift, different purchasing behaviors demand a different sales model that can capture and maintain business going forward. And that means an outside salesperson that can pivot between roles.

Selling product is still important to your business, but having that as your outside sales force's primary focus isn't cost-effective anymore.

“The outside person of today needs to be a relationship builder. They need to be a logistics person. They need to be a process expert and, frankly, a problem solver,” says Slater.

Read more about the changing role of sales in Sales Models: From Lone Wolf to Pack Hunting.