Frame Work of Sales - Term Paper Example

A good sales person is able to persuade people to buy something they don’t really want or even need”. Discuss. With the passage of time, the sales and marketing fields have evolved and so have the different methodologies and the ways and means through which they are carried day in day out. One needs to realize the fact that business is a consistently changing world and in this world only the people who are ready to diversify their products in different directions are successful. Thus to put it in the related context, change is the only constant in the world and in the sales and marketing scheme of things, changing to suit the will and desire of the customers and/or the stakeholders as well as doing one last bit to bring in more revenues and profits for the organization just plays the right trick for the sales and marketing fields to succeed both in the short term as well as in the long run. The organizations which stagnate over a period of time and do not change because of one pressure or the other usually die out quickly. The ones that have existed thus far have relied a great deal on the phenomenon attached with change and consistent upgrading of the needs of the customers, for whom the organization is in existence and in business in the first place. (Bauer, 1998) Thus in relation with the topic concerned, a good sales person can make or break a sale activity. He can win a customer as well as lose him. This all depends on his different actions with which he conducts himself in front of the customer. Persuasion remains the key during this while as it can benefit not only the sales person in developing his rapport with the customer but also in winning favors from the organization that he works for. (Baker, 1999) This will also benefit his financial standing within the team and provide him with incentives, increase in salary as well as promotion. However the aspect of marketing is what holds more significance here since the customer does not quite approve of the product yet he is being fed with insisting comments about the need that could be satisfied with the usage of this product. Some customers succumb into these sales tactics that are employed by the sales persons but many of them know the hidden agenda and hence do not lend an ear to what the sales person actually has to offer. What is a balancing act here is the fact that the sales person must believe what he is selling and be 100 percent sure of his claims since this is the make or break stage when it comes to building a solid customer relationship – not only for his own good but also for the organization. Selling and the whole related field of sales management has improved in the last two decades or so. There is more usage of technology in the related ranks and the processes have become much more automated. The aspects of Sales Force Automation (SFA) and Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) have come into the equation due to these changing regimes. The sales experts and entrepreneurs have devised a lot of different techniques as far as the art of making a sale is concerned. This involves the subjects of understanding the customers and the potential ones more and more. (Weitzul, 1993) Hence the old phenomenon has changed and there are a lot of things that have been embedded in the contemporary retail strategies which are under the patronage of the different brands, wholesalers, distributors, different agencies and so on and so forth. A lot of the business is developing due to the widespread use of word of mouth approach and then there are the tenets related with appointing opinion leaders within the stores and malls. But what has not changed is the way in which sales persons persuade or influence the customers into buying something that they do not even need. From an ethical standpoint, this kind of enticement for customers into buying something they do not require is not only wrong but also immoral to state the least. The aspect of forcing a customer to buy a product is very much in close association with such an undertaking and the organization must understand that its sales people do not pester around the customers as this could leave a negative lasting impression on their minds and hence they would stop coming to the relevant outlet or stop making purchases from this organization. (Bowie, 1998) Sales people deal with the distribution aspects of a product or service whereas the marketing manager is concerned with just about everything that revolves around the marketing communications. This means that the marketing manager has to keep ahead of the different tasks of advertising, public relations, publicity, sales promotions and so on. The sales manager has a different role whereas they have to make sure that the product is made available to the customers or the potential consumers at the right time at the right place and in the right amount. The aperture concept is applied here nonetheless. Sales people also make sure that the sales forecasts and figures are met earnestly and there are no shortcomings whatsoever. Sales department has got a huge role to play in the marketing aspects of any organization. (Ford, 2003) It carries out its processes and tasks in a manner that the marketing aspects seem to be coordinated in a well planned way. Thus the sales department makes sure that the figures; statistics and data are forecasted and eventually met on a proactive basis. There should be complete harmony between the two departments and the overall result is in the form of success for the whole organization. From the customer service perspective, whenever sales people force the customer into some sort of a sale, the customer is bound to react in a positive, negative or indifferent manner. This means that either he will appreciate the gesture made by the sales person or completely hate the idea of him being taught on the good and the bad points of a particular product. He could also not lend an ear and move on further with his shopping needs and thus completely disconnect himself with the sales persons. Planning of certain sales initiatives which will come about in the coming quarters and which would eventually facilitate the organization in attaining its sales goals every now and then remains the key here. Also the use of advertising and sales promotions as the most effective media tools within the sales department is of essence since sales staff knows that the two can have long lasting effects on the consumers and the potential ones who will try out the products in the coming times courtesy the retail outlets and shopping malls. Furthermore, use of word of mouth as a form of internal communication to spread the message across to the right publics in the most efficient capacity is important and should be made possible. Also the use of personal selling, trade promotions, publicity and in store branding to make sure that the sales activities are in line with the marketing and production ventures coming under the umbrella of the organization just make sure that the organization remains one step ahead of its competitors when it comes to drawing level on the sales front. However what is important here is to comprehend the fact that pestering around customers could mean no sale made in the end as well. From a truly customer service viewpoint, the sales person must know where and when to stop being nagging with the customer and he must understand that the customer has a right to make his own choice no matter what the said product could provide him with. Advertising of the intended products to be sold through the sales person’s actions and words works to the advantage since the sales person could provide something of evidence in the form of writing that seconds the claims which are made by the sales staff. This works to the benefit of what the customer is being told in the first place and has a positive affect on the eventual sale that is indeed made at the end. This kind of selling where sales persons repeatedly persuade people into buying a product is witnessed not only within the levels of outlets but also in different organizational settings. This is also the case in medical representative’s job since he has to constantly highlight the positives aspects of a brand of medicine to which he is loyal towards. He thus does not tell about the strengths and good points of the competing brands no matter how good the competing brand turns out to be at the end. Thus this kind of selling is pertinent to a number of different market segments and a solitary division cannot be earmarked as the one where it is being made use of the most. This is a stark reality which must be seen in the ethical contexts and the sales persons have to understand their due roles in these frameworks. (Winett, 1986) Repeat sales by the customers could be affected in a negative fashion if they come to know that they would be bombarded with persuading sales staff at the outlets and thus these kinds of customers would rather choose to visit a competing outlet, store or organization – a fact which is much detrimental to the cause on the premise of which the organization is working in essence. Sales staff has a very significant task of attracting customers towards making a purchase of the products but they should keep in mind the manner in which they are carrying out these tactics as these could easily annoy any customer. What is quintessential in such times is to charter a code of ethics and persuasion so that the sales persons could follow the very same and do not stray from the set course of action. (Randall, 1993) This will have a more balancing act in the organizational equation as well as look to benefit one and all. More than anything else, the customers would not feel hard done by in the event of a purchase where the product turns out to be of inferior quality than a competing one. As mentioned earlier, the claims made by the sales people must be genuine to the core and this has to be backed up with solid evidence. All said and done, the role that is adopted by the sales people is dependent on their own mannerisms and these needs to be checked upon time and again by the managers who are at the helm of affairs. In the event of any grievances received from the customers, it is better to pull the sales people from the relevant ranks and question them their persuasion tactics. There is a very fine line between being persuasive and being downright forcing. A sales person must not cross this line and look to work towards the betterment of the customer, which will indeed be beneficial for his own future within the very business and not to forget for the sake of the organization that he is working for. (Sullivan, 1990) Bibliography BAKER, Sherry. (1999). Five Baselines for Justification in Persuasion. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, Vol. 14 BAUER, Gerald J. (1998). Emerging Trends in Sales Thought and Practice. Quorum Books BOWIE, Norman E. (1998). Companies Are Discovering the Value of Ethics. USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Vol. 126 FORD, John B. (2003). Sales Management: A Global Perspective. Routledge RANDALL, Iris. (1993). How to Build a Premier Sales Staff. Black Enterprise, Vol. 23 SULLIVAN, Rawlie R. (1990). New Trends in Business-to-Business Sales Require Interdynamic Integration. Review of Business, Vol. 12 WEITZUL, James B. (1993). Sales Force Dynamics: Motives, Management, Money, Marketplace. Quorum Books WINETT, Richard A. (1986). Information and Behavior: Systems of Influence. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Word Count: 1,877 Read More