学习笔记之判断一个公司是否优秀的15个维度中的第4个维度——营销的重要性

4.Does the company have an above-average sales organization?

【企业必须具备优于行业平均的销售组织，强大的销售与分销能力是实现长期稳健增长的核心保障。】

In this competitive age, the products or services of few companies are so outstanding that they will sell to their maximum potentialities if they are not expertly merchandised. It is the making of a sale that is the most basic single activity of any business.Without sales, survival is impossible. It is the making of repeat sales to satisfied customers that is the first benchmark of success.Yet, strange as it seems, the relative efficiency of a company’s sales, advertising, and distributive organizations receives far less attention from most investors, even the careful ones, than do production, research, finance, or other major subdivisions of corporate activity.

【在当今竞争激烈的时代，极少有公司的产品或服务能优秀到无需专业营销就可以卖到极致。销售是任何企业最根本的活动。没有销售，企业就无法生存。而能否让满意的客户持续重复购买，是衡量企业成功的首要标准。然而奇怪的是，大多数投资者甚至是谨慎型投资者，对公司销售、广告、分销体系的效率，关注度远低于生产、研发、财务等其他重要部门。】

极简通俗解释

1.再好的产品，不会卖也白搭。没有完美到 “自动卖爆” 的产品。

2.销售是企业的命根子。没销售 = 没收入 = 活不下去。

3.能让客户反复买，才叫真成功。

4.但投资者普遍忽略销售能力，只盯着研发、财务、生产，这是巨大误区。

一句话核心总结

产品再好也需要强大销售体系支撑，销售与分销能力是企业生存关键，却最容易被投资者忽视。

There is probably a reason for this. It is relatively easy to construct simple mathematical ratios that will provide some sort of guide to the attractiveness of a company’s production costs,research activity,or financial structure in comparison with its competitors. It is a great deal harder to make ratios that have even a semblance of meaning in regard to sales and distribution efficiency. In regard to research we have already seen that such simple ratios are far too crude to provide anything but the first clues as to what to look for.Their value in relation to production and the financial structure will be discussed shortly. However, whether or not such ratios have anything like the value frequently placed upon them in financial circles, the fact remains that investors like to lean upon them. Because sales effort does not readily lend itself to this type of formulae, many investors fail to appraise it at all in spite of its basic importance in determining real investment worth.

【出现这种现象（投资者忽视销售能力）或许是有原因的。我们可以相对容易地构建一些简单的财务比率，用来大致衡量一家公司的生产成本、研发活动、财务结构相比竞争对手是否有吸引力。但要构建出稍微有点意义的、衡量销售与分销效率的比率，却要困难得多。关于研发，我们已经看到，这类简单比率太过粗糙，只能提供初步线索。它们在生产和财务结构上的价值，我们稍后讨论。但无论这些比率是否真的像金融界认为的那么有用，投资者就是习惯依赖它们。正因为销售能力很难用公式、比率来量化，所以尽管它在决定真实投资价值时至关重要，很多投资者还是完全不去评估它。】

简而言之，投资者之所以忽视销售，是因为销售很难用数字、公式算出来，而人总是偏爱能算清楚的东西。

Again, the way out of this dilemma lies in the use of the “scuttle-butt” technique. Of all the phases of a company’s activity, none is easier to learn about from sources outside the company than the relative efficiency of a sales organization. Both competitors and customers know the answers. Equally important, they are seldom hesitant to express their views.The time spent by the careful investor in inquiring into this subject is usually richly rewarded.

【使用“闲聊法”可以很好地解决这个问题。在企业所有经营环节中，销售团队的相对效率，最容易从公司外部渠道了解清楚。竞争对手和客户都乐于直言不讳地告知情况。谨慎的投资者花时间去调查这一点，通常会获得丰厚回报。】

简而言之：

1.销售能力没法用报表算出来，但特别好打听。

2.去问客户、问同行，就能知道这家公司销售强不强、口碑好不好。

3.只要愿意去调研，就能得到比财报更真实的信息。

I am devoting less space to this matter of relative sales ability than I did to the matter of relative research ability.This does not mean that I consider it less important. In today’s competitive world, many things are important to corporate success. However, outstanding production, sales, and research may be considered the three main columns upon which such success is based. Saying that one is more important than another is like saying that the heart, the lungs, or the digestive tract is the most important single organ for the proper functioning of the body. All are needed for survival, and all must function well for vigorous health. Look around you at the companies that have proven outstanding investments. Try to find some that do not have both aggressive distribution and a constantly improving sales organization.

【我对相对销售能力的论述篇幅少于相对研发能力，但这并不代表我认为它更不重要。在当今竞争激烈的环境中，企业成功依赖诸多因素，而卓越的生产、销售与研发，可视为支撑成功的三大支柱。硬说哪一项更重要，就如同争论心脏、肺脏或消化道哪个对人体正常运转最为关键一样。三者都是生存所必需，唯有全部高效运转，才能保持强健活力。看看那些表现卓越的优质投资标的，你几乎找不到既没有强大分销体系、又没有持续精进的销售组织的公司。】

1.费雪虽然写研发写得多，但销售一点也不比研发不重要。

2.一家公司要成功，靠三样：生产、销售、研发，缺一不可。

3.就像人要活下去，心脏、肺、肠胃都得好，少一个都不行。

4.你去看所有大牛股、好公司，没有一家是只会研发不会卖的。

简而言之，销售与研发、生产同等重要，共同构成企业成功的三大支柱，真正的好公司一定同时具备强大的销售与研发能力。

I have already referred to the Dow Chemical Company and may do so several times again, as I believe this company, which over the years has proven so rewarding to its stockholders, is an outstanding example of the ideal conservative long-range investment. Here is a company which in the public mind is almost synonymous with outstandingly successful research. However, what is not as well known is that this company selects and trains its sales personnel with the same care as it handles its research chemists. Before a young college graduate becomes a Dow salesman, he may be invited to make several trips to Midland so that both he and the company can become as sure as possible that he has the background and temperament that will fit him into their sales organization. Then, before he so much as sees his first potential customer, he must undergo specialized training that occasionally lasts only a few weeks but at times continues for well over a year to prepare him for the more complex selling jobs.This is but the beginning of the training he will receive; some of the company’s greatest mental effort is devoted to seeking and frequently finding more efficient ways to solicit from, service, and deliver to the customer.

【我已经提到过陶氏化学，并且可能还会多次提及，因为我相信这家多年来为股东带来丰厚回报的企业，是理想的保守型长期投资的杰出典范。在公众眼中，这家公司几乎就是卓越研发的代名词。但不为人熟知的是，陶氏化学在选拔与培训销售人员时，其严谨程度与对待研发化学家完全一致。一名年轻的大学毕业生在成为陶氏销售员之前，可能会被多次邀请前往米德兰（公司总部），以便公司和他本人都能充分确认：他的背景与性格是否适配公司销售体系。在他第一次接触潜在客户之前，必须接受专业培训——短则数周，复杂岗位的培训时间甚至远超一年。而这仅仅是培训的开始。公司投入了大量精力，去寻找并不断优化更高效的客户开发、服务与交付方式。】

陶氏化学是费雪心中完美的长期大牛股。

大家都只知道它研发超级强。

但费雪告诉你一个关键点：它的销售团队选拔和培训，和研发人员一样严格、一样重视。

招销售员：要反复面试、考察；要长时间专业培训（最长超过1 年）；而且公司一直在优化销售方法、服务客户的方式。

真正的好公司，不仅研发顶尖，销售体系也同样顶尖、同样被高度重视。

Are Dow and the other outstanding companies in the chemical industry unique in this great attention paid to sales and distribution? Definitely not. In another and quite different industry, International Business Machines is a company which has (speaking conservatively) handsomely rewarded its owners. An IBM executive recently told me that the average salesman spends a third of his entire time training in company-sponsored schools! To a considerable degree this amazing ratio results from an attempt to keep the sales force abreast of a rapidly changing technology. Nevertheless I believe it one more indication of the weight that most successful companies give to steadily improving their sales arm. A one-time profit can be made in the company which because of manufacturing or research skill obtains some worthwhile business without a strong distribution organization. However, such companies can be quite vulnerable. For steady long-term growth a strong sales arm is vital.

【只有陶氏化学和化工行业的顶尖公司才这么重视销售吗？当然不是。IBM（国际商用机器公司）就是另一个例子，它也给股东带来了巨大回报。IBM 的高管说：普通销售员，竟然有 1/3 的时间都在公司培训！这是为了让销售人员跟上快速变化的技术。这再次证明：最成功的公司，都极度重视不断强化销售团队。只靠研发、不靠强销售，只能赚一次钱，而且很脆弱。想要长期稳定增长，强大的销售能力必不可少。】

不只化工巨头重视销售，IBM 也一样；只靠技术不够，强大销售才是长期增长的关键。

总评，费雪的第二个维度强调了管理层的进取精神和进取能力，第三个维度强调了研发的重要性，第四个维度强调了销售的重要性，销售在给公司做估值时，甚至比研发更重要，因为研发可能创造的是短期的收益，只有研发和销售并举，才能创造持续的成长。

费雪让人佩服的一点，就是能够跳出公司看公司，以一个超然于所有公司之上，来看所有优质公司的共同特质，能看到研产销三者对公司长期成长的有机作用，给广大投资者提供了一个近乎圣人的视角，让投资者借费雪的眼，成自己的事，善莫大焉。