Sales Management

Introduction to Sales Management And

Personal Selling

Sales - Definition

- A sale is the pinnacle activity involved in selling products or services in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity.

- Sales is everything that you do to close the sale and get a signed agreement or contract.

Marketing – Definition

• Marketing is the process associated with promotion for sale goods or services. It is considered a "social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and values with others.” It is an integrated process through which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return.

• Marketing is used to create the customer, to keep the customer and to satisfy the customer. With the customer as the focus of its activities, it can be concluded that marketing management is one of the major components of business management. The evolution of marketing was caused due to mature markets and overcapacities in the last decades. Companies then shifted the focus from production more to the customer in order to stay profitable.

Sales and MarketingWhat's the Difference?

Sales• Sales starts with seller & is

preoccupied all the time with the needs of the seller

• Emphasizes on saleable surplus available with the company

• Seeks to convert products in to cash

• Views business as – goods producing process

• Sales views the customer as the last link in the business

Marketing• Marketing starts with the

buyer and focuses constantly on the needs of the buyer

• Emphasizes on identification of market opportunity

• Seeks to convert customer needs in to products

• Views business as – a customer satisfying process

• Marketing views the customer as the very purpose of business

The sales and marketing relationship

• Marketing and sales are very different, but have the same goal.

• Marketing improves the selling environment and plays a very important role in sales.

• The marketing department's goal is to increase the number of interactions between potential customers and company, which includes the sales team using promotional techniques such as advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and public relations, creating new sales channels, or creating new products (new product development), among other things.

Sales Management

• Sales management is attainment of an organization's sales goals in an effective & efficient manner through planning, staffing, training, leading & controlling organizational resources. Revenue, sales, and sources of funds fuel organizations and the management of that process is the most important function.

Objectives of Sales Function.

• To achieve Sales Targets

• To achieve Market share targets

• To manage dealer network

• To organize sales training

• To handle customer complaints

• To manage Sales promotion campaigns

• To effectively cover market

Sales Management…

• Managing Sales Force• Offering Sales Training• Managing Channel partners • Managing Direct sales• Managing Sales Promotion• Managing Sales Territories• Managing Sales Targets

PERSONAL SELLING

PERSONAL SELLING

Personal SellingPersonal selling occurs where an individual salesperson sells a product,

service or solution to a client. Salespeople match the benefits of their offering to the specific needs of a client. Today, personal selling involves the development of longstanding client relationships. In comparison to other marketing communications tools such as advertising, personal selling tends to:

• Use fewer resources, pricing is often negotiated.• Products tend to be fairly complex (e.g. financial services or new

cars).• There is some contact between buyer and seller after the sale so

that an ongoing relationship is built.• Client/prospects need specific information. • The purchase tends to involve large sums of money.

‘Everyone lives by selling something’ R.L. Stevenson

Personal selling and its fit in the promotional mix

• Usually more appropriate in B2B than consumer markets.

• Advantageous in promoting and selling high cost, complex items.

• Operates more effectively when customers are on the verge of making a final decision and committing themselves.

Characteristics of personal selling

• Impact - sales representatives have a much greater chance of engaging initial attention and responding to situations.

• Precision - targeting and message precision.

• Cultivation - sales force plays an important role in creating and maintaining buyer – seller relationships.

• Cost - personal selling is very labour intensive so comes at a cost.

Sales representatives - typical tasks

Forms of personal selling

• Order takers - external and internal.

• Order makers - finding prospective customers, identifying customer specific problems and needs, selling product and assisting with installation and training, and maintaining relationship.

• Sales support - augment the efforts of mainstream sales force.

• Missionary sales representatives - focus on particular segment of product to give enquiries and sales an initial lift.

• Sales engineers - focus on the technical or application problems of the product.

The personal selling process

Stages and objectives of the personal selling process

Sources of prospects

(1) Prospecting

Identify the potential customers

Making warm contacts rather than cold calling

• Leads - prospective customers.

• Prospects – before a contact, find they with potential.

• Qualified prospects – after a contact, find they with

great potential.

(2) Preparation and planning

It is to look for:

• Customer’s buying criteria and needs

• Customer organisation’s purchasing structures

• The application of the prodcut and the features and benefits required.

(3) Initial contacts

It is to build up mutual rapport, respect and trust between the buyer and seller before the formal and serious business discussion.

Two approaches:

• Initial phone call for a meeting appointment

• Could calling/visiting for a lucky meeting arrangement

(4) -Sales presentation

It is to show how the product offering and the customer’s needs match.

• Stimulus response.

• Formula selling.

• Need satisfaction.

(5) Handling typical objections

Typical objections:

Your: company, product, service, pricing;

You; you are not competitive enough

I can’t afford it; I don’t need it

• Ask the objection back.

• Agree and counter.

• Boomerang.

• Feel, felt, found.

• Denial.

(6) Types of negotiations

• Co-operative or win-win - trading concessions results in a better deal for both parties.

• Competitive negotiation - hard bargain focused on short term gain.

(7) Types of sales closure

It has reached the point where the customer agrees to purchase.

• Alternative close.

• Assumptive close.

• Time pressure close.

(8) Follow-up and account management

The role of personal contact

The sales management process

Questions