Sales people -The heart of the organisation

There are a lot of misconceptions about sales management and sales people. Many students think of sales as a dead end job. They perceive sales job as travelling continuously, pestering customers, thanklessness, stiff targets et al; but the reality is very different.

Sales are the only activity that brings revenue to the organisation and salesmen are the link between the company and the customers. Salesmen are the eyes and the ears of the company. For the customer, he is face of the company

Salesmen help in launching the products into existing market or new market. They increase the sales volume and profit. They are the creators of demand. They educate and guide the consumers. They give customers satisfaction by providing them the exact product or a service that is needed.

Types of sales people: Sales people can be classified as

Order takers: Most common of all, order takers wait behind counters and passively accept the orders placed by customers. Examples being salesmen serving in retail shops, sweet shops etc.

Mobile sales persons: Mobile sales people travel in small three wheeler autos and tempos. They go to retail kirana shops and stores and persuade shopkeepers to buy their company’s products.

Counter sales people: Same as order takers but are more skilled and perform sales activities like demonstration, persuasion, negotiations and objection handling. Examples being sales people in textiles and gold shops.

Product sales people: They tend to be skilled and possess high level of product knowledge. Product sales people possess good communication skills. Examples being sales people in electronic shops.

Technical Sales people: They are highly skilled. They come from the same technical field as the customer. They possess high knowledge over product. They are good problem solvers. Sales people who sell equipment and machinery to industrial customers fall under this category.

Missionary sales people: They do not sell directly but use the indirect method. They sell the concept or idea to the opinion leaders who then market their products to the customers. Example, medical representatives counsel the doctors to prescribe them to patients. Doctors prescribe the drugs to patients who start buying them from pharmacy.

Services sales people: These are sales people who sell services and not products. Examples include all sellers from the fields of insurance, banking, real estate and other services.

Specialised sales people: Sell expensive and specialised products. They operate in teams. Boeing and Airbus have teams of sales people who sell their products directly to Kings, Emperors, Prime Ministers, Presidents and to aviation ministers.

Accounts management: It is one of the most significant aspects of sales management. An Account in sales management means a single customer. Here an account should not be confused with the traditional accounts of financial management. These accounts become the responsibility of the concerned sales person.

Thus the concerned sales person who handles an account is called the accounts executive. This nomenclature is popular in the service sector especially the advertising field. The effective management of the accounts for profit maximisation from the company's side and utmost satisfaction from the customer side is called accounts management.

Accounts are classified depending on the order size, order value, frequency of ordering and the magnitude of service required. Accounts can be classified as house accounts, major accounts, large accounts and One-Off-Sales.

House accounts: They are loyal customers of the company. These have been with the company for a long time and they are special for the company. Their needs are targeted with extra care and high priority is accorded to house accounts. The accounts are handled from the office. The responsibility of servicing this account will be borne by the sales manager himself.

Major accounts: These are large private sector companies that can give multiple orders. As the orders are given in multiples, they have to be treated more gently and with lot of care. These accounts are handled by experienced sales people.

Large accounts: These are large governmental concerns that can give multiple orders some time in triple digit numbers at a time. These accounts are handled by sales people experienced in handling large organisations. These sales people have to be well versed in Industrial buying behaviour.

They need to know the process of tendering, quotations, least price quotes, price negotiations and other technicalities. Loyalty of the customer and the service imparted becomes vital when one is selling to the government. The sales person should also be well versed with credit and the payment procedures like the proforma invoicing that the government concerns follow.

One-Off-Sales: These are companies that buy a product and most probably will not buy again. As the number of orders that we can expect from these customers is limited, these accounts are given to the fresh sales people.

Once they get more experience they are moved to the other accounts. In big companies One-Off-Sales are handled by the dealers/Distributors of the company and the company sales people assist the dealer sales people to make sales.

Sales calls: When the sales man meets a customer it is termed a sales call. Types of sales calls that can be made by the sales person

include:

Prospecting calls: These are calls in which the sales person tries to find out more about the customer and his organisation.

Cold calls: These are calls that are made on customer without appointment. It is a good way of calling on customers who are reluctant to meet sales people.

Enquiry calls: These are calls made on the customer to find out if they are in any requirement or if any enquiry is being raised for procurement of a product or service.

Customer contact and follow up calls: This is the call in which the sales person gets in contact with the buyer. These calls are made after taking an appointment.

Demo/presentation calls: This is one of the most important calls. In this call the sales person demonstrates the use of the product. If the demo is effective it will immediately lead to an order.

Price negotiations/objections handling calls: These are calls where the objections, stated and hidden are clarified by the seller and the seller and the buyer negotiate on the price, credit and the delivery terms.

Order picking up calls: These are calls where the sales person picks up the order and commits the delivery of the product.

Post order delivery/Installation/training calls: These are the calls that the sales person makes to deliver and install the product. The sales person ensures that the product is in perfect working condition and ensures that the customer uses the product properly and optimally.

Payment collection calls: This is the most important call. This is the stage in which the sales person picks up the payment. If the customer is not able to pay as per the agreement, restraint should be exercised by the salesman. This is to ensure a smooth working relationship with the customer.

Courtesy calls: These are calls that are made on the customer where the salesman does not try to sell his product/service. These calls are for ensuring customer satisfaction, receiving feedback, attending to complaints, repairs, maintenance and others related issues. Courtesy calls also ensure that adequate market knowledge is gathered. Courtesy calls can also lead to referral building that can lead to more orders.

Daily sales register: Daily sales register or DSR as it is popularly called is the most important document that all sales people have to fill up every day. Filled manually or using a PDA or a smart phone the DSR remains the most critical planning tool for a salesman.

It is the DSR that details the total calls made for the day, Day to month calls (total calls made up to that day in a month), type of sales calls, the person called on, the issues discussed, call expectation and outcome of the call. DSR is a control tool as the salesman has to record orders received or orders lost and also the date of the next call.

Supervisors use the DSR to make sales forecasts and also for analytics which are used for analysing sales man performance, product performance, product line performance and the total region’sperformance. The actual vs targeted salesperformance can be found out using the DSR.

Sales territory: A sales territory is the customer group or geographical area for which an individual salesperson or a sales team holds responsibility. Territories can be carved out on the basis of geography, sales potential, history, or a combination of factors. Companies strive to balance their territories because this can reduce costs and increase sales.

There are a number of ways to analyse territories. Most commonly, territories are compared on the basis of their potential or size. If territories differ sharply sales personnel may be given too much or too little work. This can lead to under or over servicing of customers.

Under servicing: If sales personnel are stretched too much, the results can lead to under servicing of customers. This can cost a firm business because over taxed salespeople engage in sub optimal levels of activity in a number of areas. They seek out too few leads, identify too few prospects, and spend too little time with current customers. Those customers, in turn, may take their business to competitors.

Over servicing: Over servicing raises costs and prices of the services and therefore indirectly reduces sales. Over servicing in some territories may also lead to under servicing.

Unbalanced territories: It also raises the problem of unfair distribution of sales potential among members of a sales force. This may result in distorted compensation and cause talented sales people to leave a company, seeking superior balance and compensation. Achieving an appropriate balance among territories is an important factor in maintaining satisfaction among customers, salespeople, and the company as a whole.

By:Dr M Anil Ramesh