Many industrial manufacturers operating in the B2B are turning towards the provision of integrated offerings of products and services; this shift is commonly known as servitization. They typically rely on personal selling and operate through direct sales organizations or other intermediaries e.g. franchisees or sister companies. A better understanding of how selling integrated products and services affects the sales organization and its processes can help the sales organizations servitize and the manufacturers to support them.

KEY DISCUSSION POINTS

• Different types of services and their level of integration with the product affect the outcome of the sales organization’s servitization.

• The financial incentives of selling products and selling integrated products and services are in conflict and therefore doing both successfully simultaneously poses challenges.

• Selling integrated products and services is time consuming and therefore costly and should be managed strategically.

• Information sharing between the manufacturer and the sales organization is crucial for success for success.