Tuesday, 24 May 2011

Sales agents

Agents in the sales process can represent either of two parties in the sales process; for example:
Sales broker or Seller agency or seller agent: This is a traditional role where the salesman represents a person or company on the selling end of a deal
Buyers broker or Buyer brokerage: This is where the salesman represents the consumer making the purchase. This is most often applied in large transactions.
Disclosed dual agent:This is where the salesman represents both parties in the sale and acts as a mediator for the transaction. The role of the salesman here is to oversee that both parties receive an honest and fair deal, and is responsible to both.
Transaction broker: This is where the salesperson doesn't represent either party, but handles the transaction only. The seller owes no responsibility to either party getting a fair or honest deal, just that all of the papers are handled properly.
Sales outsourcing involves direct branded representation where the sales reps are recruited, hired, and managed by an external entity but hold quotas, represent themselves as the brand of the client, and report all activities (through their own sales management channels) back to the client. It is akin to a virtual extension of a sales force (see sales outsourcing).
Sales managers: qualified and talented[peacock term] sales managers aim to implement various sales strategies and management techniques in order to facilitate improved profits and increased sales volume. They are also responsible for coordinating the sales and marketing department as well as oversight concerning the fair and honest execution of the sales process by their agents.
Salesmen: The primary function of professional sales is to generate and close leads, educate prospects, fill needs and satisfy wants of consumers appropriately, and therefore turn prospective customers into actual ones. Questioning – to understand a customer's goal and requirements relevant to the product – and the creation of a valuable solution by communicating the necessary information that encourages a buyer to achieve their goal at an economic cost comprise the functions of the salesperson or of the sales engine (for example, the Internet, a vending machine, etc). A good salesman should never mis-sell or over-evaluate the customer's requirements.
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Inside sales vs. Outside sales

Since the advent of the telephone a distinction has been made[citation needed] between "inside sales" and "outside sales", although it is generally agreed that these terms do not have hard-and-fast definitions.[3] In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act defines outside sales representatives as "employees [who] sell their employer's products, services, or facilities to customers away from their employer's place(s) of business, in general, either at the customer's place of business or by selling door-to-door at the customer's home" while defining those who work "from the employer's location" as inside sales.[4] Inside sales generally involves attempting to close business primarily over the phone via cold calling or telemarketing, while outside sales (or "field" sales) will usually involve initial phone work to book sales calls at the potential buyer's location to attempt to close the deal in person. Some companies have an inside sales department that works with outside representatives and book their appointments for them. Inside sales sometimes refers to upselling to existing customers.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org

Sales techniques


  • A sale can take place through:[2]
    Direct sales, involving person to person contact
    Pro forma sales
    Agency-based
    Sales agents (for example in real estate or in manufacturing)
    Sales outsourcing through direct branded representation
    Transaction sales
    Consultative sales
    Complex sales
    Consignment
    Telemarketing or telesales
    Retail or consumer
    Traveling salesman
    Door-to-door methods
    hawking
    Request for proposal – An invitation for suppliers, through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on a specific product or service. An RFP usually represents part of a complex sales process, also known as "enterprise sales".
    Business-to-business – Business-to-business sales are much more relationship-based owing to the lack of emotional attachment[citation needed] to the products in question. Industrial/professional sales involves selling from one business to another
    Electronic
    Web – Business-to-business and business-to-consumer
    Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) – A set of standard for structuring information to be electronically exchanged between and within businesses
    Indirect, human-mediated but with indirect contact
    Mail-order
    vending machine
    Sales methods:
    Selling technique
    Consultative selling
    Sales enablement
    Solution selling
    Conceptual Selling
    Strategic Selling
    Transactional Selling
    Sales Negotiation
    Reverse Selling
    Paint-the-Picture
    The take away
    Sales Habits
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org

    Sales

    A sale is the act of selling of products or services in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity.[1]

    The seller – the provider of the goods or services – completes a sale in response to an acquisition or to an appropriation[citation needed] or to a request. There follows the passing of title (property or ownership) in the item, and the application and due settlement of a price, the obligation for which arises due to the seller's requirement to pass ownership. Ideally, a seller agrees upon a price at which he willingly parts with ownership of or any claim upon the item. The purchaser, though a party to the sale, does not execute the sale, only the seller does that. To be precise the sale completes prior to the payment and gives rise to the obligation of payment. If the seller completes the first two above stages (consent and passing ownership) of the sale prior to settlement of the price, the sale remains valid and gives rise to an obligation to pay.

    Source : http://en.wikipedia.org

    Target market

    A target market is a group of customers that the business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise.[1] A well-defined target market is the first element to a marketing strategy. The target market and the marketing mix variables of product, place(distribution), promotion and price are the two elements of a marketing mix strategy that determine the success of a product in the marketplace.

    Once these distinct customers have been defined, a marketing mix strategy of product, distribution, promotion and price can be built by the business to satisfy the target market.Contents [show]

    Market segmentations

    Target markets are groups of people separated by distinguishable and noticeable aspects. Target markets can be separated into:
    • geographic segmentations, addresses (their location)
    • demographic/socio-economic segmentation (gender,age, income occupation, education, sex, household size, age, and stage in the family life cycle)
    • psychographic segmentation (similar attitudes, values, and lifestyles)
    • behavioral segmentation (occasions, degree of loyalty)
    • product-related segmentation (relationship to a product)[2]
    Strategies for Reaching Target Markets

    Marketers have outlined four basic strategies to satisfy target markets: undifferentiated marketing or mass marketing, differentiated marketing, concentrated marketing, and micromarketing.

    Mass marketing is a market coverage strategy in which a firm decides to ignore market segment differences and go after the whole market with one offer. It is type of marketing (or attempting to sell through persuasion) of a product to a wide audience. The idea is to broadcast a message that will reach the largest number of people possible. Traditionally mass marketing has focused on radio, television and newspapers as the medium used to reach this broad audience.

    For sales teams, one way to reach out to target markets is through direct marketing. This is done by buying consumer database based on the segmentation profiles you have defined. These database usually comes with consumer contacts (e.g. email, mobile no., home no., etc.). Caution is recommended when undertaking direct marketing efforts - check the targeted country's direct marketing laws.
    Examples

    CVS Caremark’s target market is women since they make up 80 percent of the pharmacy chain’s customers. CVS has marketed its stores to aid women who are constantly multitasking. They recently redesigned 1,200 of its 6,200 stores to women, including shorter wait times for prescriptions, wider and better-lit shopping aisles, and more beauty products.[3]

    The Oreo cookie is a popular cookie in the U.S., known for its two discs of chocolate with a white cream filling. The Double Stuf Oreo cookie is also marketed to U.S. consumers. However, Kraft has formulated a different version of the Oreo to target consumers in China. The Chinese version consists of four layers of long, thin biscuits coated in chocolate. Kraft CEO, Irene Rosenberg, trusts his executives who live and work in China to know what consumers would prefer in order to maximize their profits. In Germany, Kraft is appealing to the tastes and preferences of German consumers by creating dark chocolate products. It is also introducing premium instant coffee in Russia, which is a beverage that is popular to consumers.[4]

    World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) target market is young males. Monday Night RAW is the number one entertainment program on primetime cable among male viewers (2 million+) including the male demographics of 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54. It is shown at 9:00 PM ET to reach its target market.[5]

    Kohl’s department store has a target market consisting of consumers buying for themselves and their families.[6]
    The Psychology of Target Marketing

    A principal concept in target marketing is that those who are targeted show a strong affinity or brand loyalty to that particular brand. Target Marketing allows the marketer / sales team to customize their message to the targeted group of consumers in a more focused manner.

    Research has shown that racial similarity, role congruence, labeling intensity of ethnic identification, shared knowledge and ethnic salience all promote positive effects on the target market. Research has generally shown that target marketing strategies are constructed from consumer inferences of similarities between some aspects of the advertisement (e.g., source pictured, language used, lifestyle represented) and characteristics of the consumer (e.g. reality or desire of having the represented style). Consumers are persuaded by the characteristics in the advertisement and those of the consumer.[7]

    Source : http://en.wikipedia.org

    Marketing myopia

    Marketing myopia is a term used in marketing as well as the title of an important marketing paper written by Theodore Levitt.[1][2] This paper was first published in 1960 in the Harvard Business Review; a journal of which he was an editor. Simply Marketing myopia refers " focusing products rather than customer ".

    The Myopic culture, Levitt postulated, would pave the way for a business to fail, due to the short-sighted mindset and illusion that a firm is in a so-called 'growth industry'. This belief leads to complacency and a loss of sight of what your customers want.

    Some commentators have suggested that its publication marked the beginning of the modern marketing movement. Its theme is that the vision of most organizations is too constricted by a narrow understanding of what business they are in. It exhorted CEOs to re-examine their corporate vision; and redefine their markets in terms of wider perspectives. It was successful in its impact because it was, as with all of Levitt's work, essentially practical and pragmatic. Organizations found that they had been missing opportunities which were plain to see once they adopted the wider view. The paper was influential. The oil companies (which represented one of his main examples in the paper) redefined their business as energy rather than just petroleum; although Royal Dutch Shell, which embarked upon an investment program in nuclear power, subsequently regretted this course of action.

    One reason that short sightedness is so common is that people feel that they cannot accurately predict the future. While this is a legitimate concern, it is also possible to use a whole range of business prediction techniques currently available to estimate future circumstances as best as possible.

    There is a greater scope of opportunities as the industry changes. It trains managers to look beyond their current business activities and think "outside the box". George Steiner (1979) claims that if a buggy whip manufacturer in 1910 defined its business as the "transportation starter business", they might have been able to make the creative leap necessary to move into the automobile business when technological change demanded it.[3]

    People who focus on marketing strategy, various predictive techniques, and the customer's lifetime value can rise above myopia to a certain extent. This can entail the use of long-term profit objectives (sometimes at the risk of sacrificing short term objectives).

    Source : http://en.wikipedia.org

    Marketing planning

    The marketing planning process involves forging a plan for a firm's marketing activities. A marketing plan can also pertain to a specific product, as well as to an organization's overall marketing strategy. Generally speaking, an organization's marketing planning process is derived from its overall business strategy. Thus, when top management are devising the firm's strategic direction or mission, the intended marketing activities are incorporated into this plan. There are several levels of marketing objectives within an organization. The senior management of a firm would formulate a general business strategy for a firm. However, this general business strategy would be interpreted and implemented in different contexts throughout the firm.
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    Marketing strategy

    The field of marketing strategy encompasses the strategy involved in the management of a given product.

    A given firm may hold numerous products in the marketplace, spanning numerous and sometimes wholly unrelated industries. Accordingly, a plan is required in order to effectively manage such products. Evidently, a company needs to weigh up and ascertain how to utilize its finite resources. For example, a start-up car manufacturing firm would face little success should it attempt to rival Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Chevrolet, or any other large global car maker. Moreover, a product may be reaching the end of its life-cycle. Thus, the issue of divest, or a ceasing of production, may be made. Each scenario requires a unique marketing strategy. Listed below are some prominent marketing strategy models.
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    Marketing specializations

    With the rapidly emerging force of globalization, the distinction between marketing within a firm's home country and marketing within external markets is disappearing very quickly. With this in mind, firms need to reorient their marketing strategies to meet the challenges of the global marketplace, in addition to sustaining their competitiveness within home markets.[15]
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    Buying behaviour

    A marketing firm must ascertain the nature of customers' buying behavior if it is to market its product properly. In order to entice and persuade a consumer to buy a product, marketers try to determine the behavioral process of how a given product is purchased. Buying behavior is usually split into two prime strands, whether selling to the consumer, known as business-to-consumer (B2C), or to another business, known as business-to-business (B2B).
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    B2C buying behaviour

    This mode of behaviour concerns consumers and their purchase of a given product. For example, if one imagines a pair of sneakers, the desire for a pair of sneakers would be followed by an information search on available types/brands. This may include perusing media outlets, but most commonly consists of information gathered from family and friends. If the information search is insufficient, the consumer may search for alternative means to satisfy the need/want. In this case, this may mean buying leather shoes, sandals, etc. The purchase decision is then made, in which the consumer actually buys the product. Following this stage, a post-purchase evaluation is often conducted, comprising an appraisal of the value/utility brought by the purchase of the sneakers. If the value/utility is high, then a repeat purchase may be made. This could then develop into consumer loyalty to the firm producing the sneakers.
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    B2B buying behaviour

    Relates to organizational/industrial buying behavior.[16] "B2B" stands for Business to Business. B2B marketing involves one business marketing a product or service to another business. B2C and B2B behavior are not precise terms, as similarities and differences exist, with some key differences listed below:

    In a straight re-buy, the fourth, fifth and sixth stages are omitted. In a modified re-buy scenario, the fifth and sixth stages are precluded. In a new buy, all stages are conducted.
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    Use of technologies

    Marketing management can also rely on various technologies within the scope of its marketing efforts. Computer-based information systems can be employed, aiding in better processing and storage of data. Marketing researchers can use such systems to devise better methods of converting data into information, and for the creation of enhanced data gathering methods. Information technology can aid in enhancing an MKIS' software and hardware components, and improve a company's marketing decision-making process.

    In recent years, the netbook personal computer has gained significant market share among laptops, largely due to its more user-friendly size and portability. Information technology typically progresses at a fast rate, leading to marketing managers being cognizant of the latest technological developments. Moreover, the launch of smartphones into the cellphone market is commonly derived from a demand among consumers for more technologically advanced products. A firm can lose out to competitors should it ignore technological innovations in its industry.

    Technological advancements can lessen barriers between countries and regions. Using the World Wide Web, firms can quickly dispatch information from one country to another without much restriction. Prior to the mass usage of the Internet, such transfers of information would have taken longer to send, especially if done via snail mail, telex, etc.
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    Services marketing

    Services marketing relates to the marketing of services, as opposed to tangible products. A service (as opposed to a good) is typically defined as follows:
    The use of it is inseparable from its purchase (i.e., a service is used and consumed simultaneously)
    It does not possess material form, and thus cannot be touched, seen, heard, tasted, or smelled.
    The use of a service is inherently subjective, meaning that several persons experiencing a service would each experience it uniquely.

    For example, a train ride can be deemed a service. If one buys a train ticket, the use of the train is typically experienced concurrently with the purchase of the ticket. Although the train is a physical object, one is not paying for the permanent ownership of the tangible components of the train.

    Services (compared with goods) can also be viewed as a spectrum. Not all products are pure goods, nor are all pure services. An example would be a restaurant, where a waiter's service is intangible, but the food is tangible.

    Source : http://en.wikipedia.org

    Types of marketing research

    Marketing research, as a sub-set aspect of marketing activities, can be divided into the following parts:
    Primary research (also known as field research), which involves the conduction and compilation of research for a specific purpose.
    Secondary research (also referred to as desk research), initially conducted for one purpose, but often used to support another purpose or end goal.

    By these definitions, an example of primary research would be market research conducted into health foods, which is used solely to ascertain the needs/wants of the target market for health foods. Secondary research in this case would be research pertaining to health foods, but used by a firm wishing to develop an unrelated product.

    Primary research is often expensive to prepare, collect and interpret from data to information. Nevertheless, while secondary research is relatively inexpensive, it often can become outdated and outmoded, given that it is used for a purpose other than the one for which it was intended. Primary research can also be broken down into quantitative research and qualitative research, which, as the terms suggest, pertain to numerical and non-numerical research methods and techniques, respectively. The appropriateness of each mode of research depends on whether data can be quantified (quantitative research), or whether subjective, non-numeric or abstract concepts are required to be studied (qualitative research).

    There also exist additional modes of marketing research, which are:
    Exploratory research, pertaining to research that investigates an assumption.
    Descriptive research, which, as the term suggests, describes "what is".
    Predictive research, meaning research conducted to predict a future occurrence.
    Conclusive research, for the purpose of deriving a conclusion via a research process.

    Source : http://en.wikipedia.org