A sales orientation influences production by directing it to create generic products efficiently at the lowest possible cost.
Under a sales-oriented strategy, the primary focus is on selling whatever the company produces, rather than tailoring products specifically to diverse consumer needs or market segments. This approach has a direct impact on production methods and outcomes.
Production Under a Sales Orientation
The reference highlights the core characteristic of production in a sales-oriented company:
- Focus on Generic Products: Instead of developing highly customized items for niche markets, production concentrates on creating standardized, generic goods. This simplifies production processes and allows for economies of scale.
- Emphasis on Low Costs: The goal is to produce goods at the lowest possible cost per unit. This cost efficiency is prioritized, often over product differentiation or meeting specific, varied customer preferences. As stated in the reference: "A company that focuses on sales-oriented selling strategies produces more generic products at the lowest possible costs for customers, regardless of the needs of the consumers."
Key Production Characteristics
This orientation leads to several specific characteristics in the production department:
- Standardization: Production lines and processes are designed for maximum standardization to reduce complexity and variation.
- Efficiency: Operations are optimized for speed and low cost, often meaning less flexibility in adapting to specific requests.
- High Volume: Producing generic products often facilitates high-volume output, which further contributes to lower per-unit costs.
In essence, a sales orientation "helps" production by giving it a clear, albeit narrow, mandate: manufacture standardized goods as cheaply and efficiently as possible, enabling the sales team to focus on aggressive selling efforts to move the undifferentiated inventory. While this model simplifies production tasks and can lead to cost advantages, it does so by largely disregarding granular customer needs, which contrasts sharply with market-oriented approaches.
