• Prospecting
According to the book, locating prospective customers is the first step in the sales process. Indeed, new prospects are required in order to replace the old customers that leave our company for a broad range of reasons such as plant relocations, turnover, downsizing, etc. However, not all leads represents good prospect. As a matter of fact, a good prospect has a need can be fulfilled by the salesman, has the ability and the authority to pay, can be approached favorably and is eligible to buy.
There are at least nine methods that can be used to find prospects. The best source is the satisfied customers, the endless chain method (which is the fact that a sales representative gets at least one additional lead from a person they interviewed
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This can be achieved through active listening, setting specific goals and focusing on resolving the customer’s needs. But most importantly, the salesperson needs to train a lot, through practical exercises such as role-plays and needs to keep a positive mindset to learn from the feedbacks of his performance.
• Planning for the sales call
Developing a clear plan for the sales call will save time for both the salesman and the customers. Moreover, the stress of the salesman will be reduced and his confidence will improve.
Gathering as much information as possible before making the sales call is required. As a matter of fact, it is important to find information about both the prospects and his organization. Lists and directories, secretaries and receptionists, non-competing salespeople and direct inquiries made by the prospect are all good sources of information.
The objectives of the sales call must be composed of three important characteristics. They must be specific, realistic and measurable. A plan gathering these three characteristics must be made for each call the salesperson has to make. Last but not least, a lot of salesmen benefit from defining different layers of objectives (primary, minimum and optimum) for each
The sales leads are now centralized and accessible across branches rather than individually gathered and processed by salespeople. In standardizing customer information, it now makes the marketing teams, analytic teams, and customer managers on the same page. It creates a “friendly competition” that encourages close cooperation for all areas. One major cost that this new strategy created was the confusion of different areas in RBC. Product managers and customer managers often misunderstood what way of action was appropriate, which lead to another problem: it took more time to make decisions. A benefit of this change is that there was no fighting for resources and instead cooperation. Another benefit would be the divisional organization, which can be seen in Exhibits 3a and
Personal selling will be measured in both qualitative and quantitative terms. Salespersons will have to fill reports regarding the interlocutors behaviour and product knowledge.
Sales agents, for example, are often more willing to prospect customers. They are more persistent and more inclined to offer a trial close to a negotiation than are company sales people.
1.1 Explain the value of customer service as a competitive tool Customer service is valued as a competitive tool by many organisations. It gives you the ability to gain customer loyalty while meeting the customer’s expectations. Staff will have the skills and knowledge that will provide a competitive edge. Most organisations are known for the quality of their customer service. This means that they are known for good customer service or poor customer service.
By requesting more information, the prospects have basically given permission for a salesperson to contact them. Not following up on the leads can cause the prospect to lack confidence in the firm. If the firm fails to follow up on a lead how can they be relied upon to provide effective service? It is also important that leads be followed up in a timely manner. If too much time passes the prospect may lose interest in finding out more about the product.
In the world of business-to-business marketing, the exposure of an organization depends on many actions taken by it. Some companies go towards personal marketing and sales, while others might prefer mass media advertisements. But nonetheless, all organizations need to set their foot in the market by creating ”hype” about their company and brand name. It is true that personal selling is one of the very important mediums of making a sale in the business-to-business marketing world, but where do companies get the contacts from to conduct personal selling? Contacts can be acquired by conducting a meeting with a company’s manager and carrying out a sales pitch, or even by the customer reaching out for the company because of the firm’s good reputation in the market, etc.
This involves Staff recruitment or hiring professional representatives to provoke the viewers interest and to sell to them company`s goods successfully. PS s also clever marketing sales tactic on products as their small packs samples are given for free to the customers assays and testing on their level of satisfaction. For example, some big businesses as VIRGIN, SKY, COSTCO and METRO could be pointed as some of the followers of this kind of ploys used to grab the client 's` attention towards a product. The Telecom`s companies often are hiring spaces in the most visited stores or on the streets in areas with high people-flow. That`s benefitting potential buyers too, because they are given chance to try something new. And finally, they have the right to choose the best possible for them from a range of products (Malik. G,
Telemarketing is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson asks to prospective customers to buy services, either over the phone or through a subsequent face to face or conferencing appointment scheduled during the call.
Summary: The author used in-depth interviews and a qualitative grounded theory to gather information about salesperson or sales manager’s approach on sales. The data were analyzed using qualitative data analysis software NVivo. The author intention for the study was to understand the factors affecting the performances of salesperson. Author opted to use qualitative method for this study because lots of previous studies on this issue employed quantitative research method which is empirical and involves hypothesis testing, measurements and numerical data. Author
In today's climate, companies are increasingly pushing social selling—like blogging, content creation, search engine optimization, and social media engagement—as the best means of marketing a product or service. But studies have shown the importance of traditional outbound marketing techniques, such as cold calls, emails, TV commercials, and print ads, for driving leads and sales. A good old-fashioned call can help to humanize you to your marketing prospects, no matter the size of a business or industry.
...e key areas covered are customer delight, strengthening of the sales team and reviewing your marketing strategy. While understanding how to increase sales, the firm must focus on satisfying the customer and making the customer feel extra-special. The sales team is the backbone in increasing sales and they need to be aware of the goals and objectives of the organization. The sales incentive program must be good enough and be a sufficient motivational factor for the sales team. While working on how to increase sales it has also been emphasized in this article as to how to review the marketing strategy. One must go back to the basics, begin reviewing from scratch and check whether the customer is satisfied. It is also important that the company understands that each of its employees is a brand ambassador and the image they portray reflects on the image of the company.
A sales manager has many responsibilities such as spreading product to customers, setting sales areas, goals, and analyzing sales data (“Sales Manager” What’s para. 1). Although a sales manager performs many duties, people in this position will also set a sales goal for the year, and will build a sales outlook on what they will do in the upcoming years (“Sales Manager” Sokanu para. 1).A person in this position will also manage where the goods and products their company will be distributing by giving certain sales area where a salesman will work and sell the product (“Sales Manager” Sokanu para. 2). During work time, a sales manager may be asked to hire and train a new salesman added to his team (“Sales Manager” Sokanu para. 3). Occasionally, a sales manager will interpret sales statistics in a specific area when looking where to assign certain salesman to a sales territory (“Sales Manager” Sokanu pa...
Tanner, Honeycutt, Erfmeyer. Sales Management: Shaping Futre Sales Leaders. Pearson International Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.
In this research, we are emphasizing on personal selling as the most effective tool which able to affect sales performance. According to Pendhakar and Pandey (2008), the sales tasks are
With the current revolution in the corporate world, many organizations find the need to keep up with the set trends in the corporate scene. This is essential for them to maintain relevance as well as achieve set targets and strategic objectives. One of the aspects business management is sales personnel management. This is an important business aspect that can lead to efficiency, as well as effectiveness in business, if executed accordingly. This study will seek to analyze the various tools and techniques used in sales personnel management.