The sales function is often misunderstood or stereotyped in a negative light. That's unfortunate because, without a strong sales function, many businesses do not succeed. Without sales, there is no revenue to support a company's other functional areas.
In this unit, you will learn about the evolution of the sales function, the role salespeople play in companies, the different types of salespeople, and the importance of relationship building in successful selling. Selling is not just for people in the sales profession; we all have to use selling skills in business and our personal lives. The last unit of this course will focus on our personal brand: how we sell ourselves to others. We all go on job interviews, and we need to differentiate ourselves from the other candidates and demonstrate the value and benefits that we offer.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 4 hours.
Everyone uses personal selling (some more effectively than others!). Selling is what makes people successful. We all have to sell our ideas, points of view, and ourselves daily to all sorts of people. Whether you are working with coworkers brainstorming a new project or with your friends choosing what movie to watch, you have to sell your point of view. Job interviews are all about selling yourself and demonstrating the value you would bring to the company and how you differentiate yourself from the competition.
In the past, people have had a negative image of the sales process as a high-pressure interaction between a salesperson and a customer. A good professional salesperson will involve the customer in the interaction to assess their needs and help them find solutions to their problems with their products and services. A good salesperson will listen to customers' needs and strive to maintain a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship. The advancement of business technologies like the internet and social media create new means for reaching customers and maintaining relationships with them. Read this chapter and answer the review questions.
Customers have many options when making a purchase. The salesperson's role is to demonstrate the competitive advantage of their products. Otherwise, the customer will choose solely on price. The selling profession has evolved to focus on the customers' needs and what value the product can give the customer. How can that product offer up a solution to the customer?
Watch this video. It gives examples of how the sales function has evolved from the 1960s through today and how technology has changed the selling landscape.
The role of a salesperson is more than just closing the sale or taking an order. It is about learning the needs of your customer and helping them find a solution to their problems with the use of your product. A salesperson is the link between the company and the customer. Salespeople gain field intelligence which can help design future products to meet the ever changing needs of the customer.
This section introduces concepts including the types of selling, the selling process, and the future of sales as a critical component to business success.
There are many different types of salespeople, from order takers to those who sell consultatively. Some sales positions are more about service selling, which aims to retain and service current customers and increase the sales revenue of current customers. Developmental selling is more about building long-term relationships with prospective customers for future business opportunities. Many sales positions combine both types of selling – servicing and growing your business with current customers and developing new leads for future growth in sales and market share.
Watch this video on the eight different types of salespeople, keeping in mind that only three of them are consistently effective in closing a sale. Each of the eight different types has strengths and weaknesses. It is up to the sales manager to identify their salespeople's strengths and weaknesses and encourage them to mentor each other.
Read about how sales jobs can be classified on a continuum of service selling at one end to developmental selling at the other. Nine types of sales jobs are represented on this continuum. Sales jobs can also be distinguished from a low to a high level of complexity. For example, many sales transactions are repeat purchases, with little effort or thought, such as a consumer making a routine purchase at a grocery store. On the other end of the spectrum, complex sales have longer sales cycles, and many more people from different functional areas of the company are involved in the sales process.
The goal of any company is to have long-term loyal customers. It is important to gain their business, and loyal customers can influence and recommend your product to others. It costs more money to obtain new customers than to retain existing customers.
Watch this video on improving your customer relationships. Different types of customers will fall into different quadrants based on customer satisfaction and loyalty. While you watch, make sure you understand the difference between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.
Watch this video about relationship building and its importance for sales and business. Technology is important, but customers want to also connect on a human level. 80% of people stop doing business with a company because they don't like how an interaction made them feel. It's all about having a good experience with the company.
This review video is an excellent way to review what you've learned so far and is presented by one of the professors who created the course.
Watch this as you work through the unit and prepare to take the final exam.
You can also download the presentation slides so you can make notes.
We also recommend that you review this Study Guide before taking the Unit 1 Assessment.
Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.