Strategies and Techniques for Salespersons - Coursework Example

STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES FOR SALESPERSONS Prepared for Prepared by August 25, 2016 Contents Page No. Executive Summary 3 Purpose 3 Trade and commerce to keep pace with changes 3 Using media to impart training 3 Objectivity of sales training 3 Introduction 4 Sales Planning and Policies 4-5 Sales Force Size 5 Training of Salespersons 5-6 Context of the training 6 Types of training 6 Adoptive Selling 6 Client’s interest takes priority 6 High Tech Media 7 Use of web portal in training 7 Designing and Organizing Training 7 Objectives of Sales Training 8 Conclusions and Recommendations 9 References 9 Executive Summary Purpose This report analyses the techniques and strategies to help senior and young sales representatives improve their salesmanship. Trade and commerce to keep pace with changes Maximizing sales is the objectives of any commerce and trade organizations. The world is changing so fast that systems of trade and commerce has to keep pace with the changes in order to retain strategic positions of the respective industry in the developments. Ever developing media is playing fabulous role inventing new communication systems every now and then. Using media to impart training As media has taken a high- tech status in all its modes, the study recommends using modern media and techniques extensively to impart sales training. Objectives of such trainings should be clear to achieve dream sales maximization. Salespersons must fully understand the contents of company’s portal before they venture out to negotiate with perspective clients. Objectivity of sales training Innovative ways like training in adoptive sales techniques are highly recommended under the study. The objectives of sales training should clearly spell out what is expected out of salespersons after being trained. Overall, training should match with sales planning and policies of the company. The approach has to be cohesive to meet objectives. Introduction Business in essence is salesmanship. Effective sales promotion is the key of most of successes in any type of commerce and trade. Superior salesmanship is attained only when a salesperson masters the arts of a strategist, persuader, and common sense astute. Sales person must be perceptive in technique having the ability to persuade people to take actions, as people are sluggish in instant decision-making. Personal success of salespersons and the success of the company they represent largely depend on the ability to communicate convincingly and effectively. The accelerating popularity of new media is contributing towards globalization of the business. Understanding new media communication is becoming increasingly important in sales promotion.. New media is playing an important and overall inter-actionable role in creditable enhancement of sales. Salespersons’ training, product knowledge, and the sales environment presented to customers all have a bearing on sales. It is essential that companies understand the factors that contribute to training effectiveness. Companies need to design and execute training programs in most potent manner. In this fast changing marketing environments, the concept of adoptive selling is gaining importance. Adoptive selling is a personal selling concept for which training can play a vital role. This study analyses such and other techniques to enable salespersons to accomplish the acumen of perfect salesmanship Sales Planning and Policies Sales are not magic. Magic happens but not every business can achieve Harry Potter magical heights. Well-formulated sales policies enhance chances of the occurrence of magical sales. Sales policies have to be set over a range of areas that provide sales personnel a platform to exploit sales market effectively. Sales policy formulators should cover at least the following areas to achieve optimum results: a) Effective and impressive sales product line, b) Type of product services, c) Product guarantees, d) Distribution channel design. e) Motivated training and remuneration for sales and distribution personnel, f) Competitive pricing, g) Discounts and rebates, and h) Terms of delivery and payments. Sales force size The size of sales force is required to be fixed at the optimum level. A number of interrelated considerations involved in this respect are as under: Level of sales expected and the number of salespersons needed for generating such sales. Minimum number of salespersons needed from the servicing angle, irrespective of the level of sales. Costs involved in maintaining the sales force. Training of Sales Personnel After determining sales policies and optimum sales force, next step to achieve sales to the highest potential is imparting of training to sales personnel. The essence of all trainings is the belief that performance of people can be improved through training. This basic training approach should rest on the conviction that every salesperson be improved through carefully designed training. Context of the training The training needs of the salespersons depend on the context. For example, the initial training needs at the time of their joining the firm and the continuing training needs will vary from each other. Performance appraisal records are a good source for identifying the training needs of individual salesperson. Types of training As regards the types of sales training, there are under noted different possibilities: a) In- company training b) External training c) Individual training d) Group training e) On-the-job training e) Off-the-job training The choice will depend on the context, the firm’s requirements, and the costs involved. The salespersons should be given training on knowledge about market, company, customers, products, prevailing competition, and sales acumen- ship. All above stated training are personal training of salespersons. However, another type of personal training known as training about ‘adoptive selling’ is gaining importance in these high tech fast changing market zones. Adoptive Selling Adoptive selling is an approach where a sales person alters his behavior and style as per the nature of selling situations. The entire sales technique is developed based on the type of customer selling environments. For example, an adoptive seller may choose a concise, cost driven presentation when calling on a hurried and economic buyer. The same sales person could select a socially driven approach that emphasizes the features and advantages of the product when calling upon a product operator who enjoys conversation. Client’s interest takes priority One of the basic sales principles is that ‘the client’s interest takes priority over the intermediary’s interests and should not be sacrificed to the interest of other’ (Ontario Securities Commission). The training of adoptive selling is related to this principle of selling. When salespersons are aware of the interests of the customer, it is natural that they should mould their strategy to meet those interests in order to get positive success. This is what all about adoptive selling and the salespersons need intensive training in this aspect of learning of sales making. High-Tech Media In this high-tech media environment, every sales organization would like to use media to gain utmost popularity and create demand for its products and services. ‘Effective sales organizations want to integrate all their business development activities and sources into one portal to increase productivity. The goal is to develop one integrated solution to inform, motivate, and train their sales persons. The most successful companies measure their success with increased sales force effectiveness and better return from sales technologies they’ve invested in’ (Sales Portals). Use of web portals in training Companies’ web portals provide almost every information required by their customers. Therefore, the training to salespersons should contain special sessions to absorb into them the information displayed on these portals. This will not only save a lot of time and energy of salespersons and customers, but chances become bright to strike the deal in very first meeting, as both salesperson and customer come into the meeting well prepared with information about the company, its products, and sales terms and conditions. Designing and Organizing Training The company should be careful in designing and organizing sales training. The main steps involved in this direction are as under: a) Spelling out the aims of training b) Determining the training needs of the sales force as a whole. c) Determining the special training needs of individual salesperson. d) Deciding the nature of training and the types of programmes required e) Deciding the content of training. f) Choosing the methods of training. g) Developing the instructional material and training aids. h) Timing the training i) Evaluating the effectiveness of the training, and above all Objectives of Sales Training ‘Defining objectives for a training is a critical step in the whole development process… …without a training objective instructors don’t know exactly what is to be taught, learners don’t know what they are to learn, and managers don’t know what they are investing their training dollars in.’(Basic Instructor Training). The idea is that objectives of any sales training must be carefully determined and clearly spelt out. Generally speaking, the objectives of sales training should be mix of those listed below: Increasing sales Getting new accounts Faster turn around of stocks Selling of complete product line instead of just fast selling items Better merchandising and sales promotion Better product knowledge/ technical expertise Improving sales presentation and sharpening sales skills, particularly the deal clinching skill. Customer education on products, their use, and benefits. Poor performing sales organizations would like to scan their sales processes to find out dysfunctional activities, and the aim for such organizations would always be to train salespersons to detect instantly the defects creating bottlenecks. Conclusions and Recommendations Salesmanship starts with the buyer and focuses constantly on the needs of the buyer. The art of selling is to convert customers’ needs into products. Salespersons should view the customer as the very purpose of business. The salespersons’ training, to polish the existing charisma of senior salespersons and to equip newcomers with basic techniques of salesmanship, should involve modern media techniques as well as traditional art of strategy development, persuasion, and common senses abilities. It is highly recommended that training of salespersons should cover host of intentions like promoting the right brand image, understanding customers’ behaviors, building awareness, increasing sales, tapping into new market, satisfying customers, and above all managing the customer experiences. References Basic Instructor Training, TLC Seminars, http://www.tlcsem.com/binstrobj.htm Ontario Securities Commission, ‘Principles and Practices for the Sale of Products and Services in the Financial Sector’, March 2003, http://www.osc.gov.on.ca/About/JointForum/jf_20030306_ppsp-pc-insurance-examp.jsp Sales Portals, Logical Design Solutions, http://www.lds.com/sales.asp Read More