Sales
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Sales, or the activity of selling,
forms an integral part of commercial activity. It could be argued that
it is the cornerstone of business as it is the meeting of buyers and
sellers and all other areas of business has the goal of making that
meeting successful. Mastering sales is considered by many as some sort
of persuading "art". On the contrary, the methodological approach of
selling refers to it as a systematic process of repetitive and
measurable milestones, by which a salesperson relates his offering
enabling the buyer to visualize how to achieve his goal in an economic
way.
`Selling' is the heart beat of any business. No
business can function without professional sales people. Dubious
selling practices may occasionally result in a sale if the customer is
particularly gullible. But it is arguable that, even then, only good
marketing, great quality of product along with sales follow up (which
encompasses a far wider range of skills, with an almost diametrically
opposed motivation) 'will lead the customer to buy again from the same
company '. Organizations seldom profit from single purchases made by
first-time customers. Normally they rely on repeat business to generate
the profit that they need. However, there are some industries which
have a business model based on one time only sales relationship. These
tend to be the sale of very expensive, unusual household products such
as houses and new and used cars.
The economic reason for this
behaviour is that these items are usually unique. A customer is buying
a product because of that product's features and benefits along with
their emotional attachment or feeling about the product. These can be
slightly influenced by the salesperson, however, the sales person knows
that the same item cannot be resold to the same customer again at a
later date. They also know that the customer is unlikely to buy a
similar product for a long time, and so has no incentive to offer any
extra quality of service to encourage a long-term relationship. This
behaviour is generally true only of business-to-consumer sales.
Business-to-business sales are much more relationship based owing to
the lack of emotional attachment to the products in question.
Selling
is a practical implementation of marketing; it often forms a separate
grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist
operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson).
The
successful questioning to understand a customer's goal, the further
creation of a valuable solution by communicating the necessary
information that encourages a buyer to achieve his goal at an economic
cost is the responsibility of the sales person or the sales engine
(e.g. internet, vending machine etc).
The primary function of
professional sales is to generate and close leads, educate prospects,
fill needs and satisfy wants of consumers appropriately, and therefore
turn prospective customers into actual ones.
From a marketing
point of view, selling is one of the methods of promotion used by
marketers. Other promotional techniques include advertising, sales
promotion, publicity, and public relations.
Various sales
strategies exist, such as tit-for-tat which is best if ongoing dealings
and interactions are expected. This insight is behind so-called
consultative sales process which are used by Saturn to sell cars, as
well as for some direct Business-to-Business sales.
Several
types of sales exist including direct, consultative, and complex sales.
Complex sales varies from other types in that the customer plays a more
pro-active role, often requiring proposal response to their Request for
Proposal (RFP).
Links to Related Articles:
- Why sell golf products?
- What is the job of a Printing Salesman?
- Why is good customer service just as important as price when choosing a new promotional products vendor?
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