I have come to realize that commercial activities – from business development to the development and the negotiation of a commercial deal or even the implementation of a general commercial model – are among those activities in a company that require the most creativity.
It requires creativity because first, it is all about creating something. Not the product of the company, of course, but another tangible deliverable that is essential: the commercial proposal, a document that will describe how we create value to the client or to the market in a way that will fit its needs.
It is also creative because it requires to develop a solution to a particular issue, often while discussing with a client to understand its particular needs. And depending on the situation, our usual commercial approach might not be appropriate, and we need to demonstrate creativity in setting up a solution that will fit the constraints and the needs.
This observation about the fact that commercial activities are fundamentally creative activities have a lot of consequences on how they should be implemented – and on the profile of the people that should do them. Did you realize it?
