Sales - what is it? Who is a sales manager?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Sales is a line of business in the service sector. The specialists of this industry are a key link in any company, since each area of activity is mainly closed by the sales department.

Analysis of manager activity

Sales manager in recent years has become widespread among the most sought-after and popular professions. Another name for this specialist is a sales manager.

Sales has achieved a fairly high rating. This was due to the rapid development of the service sector in Russia. At the same time, sales managers are the core of the service industry and ensure the overall success of the company.

A sales specialist is a professional whose associations are associated with the sale of something tangible (household appliances or real estate). However, modern representatives of this profession find themselves effective application in the service sector (for example, this is the financial market or banking).

Methods for determining key sales competencies

To understand what sales is, you need to define basic competencies. To do this, it is advisable to use some standard methods: repertorygratings (J. Kelly), interviews or critical incidents. Also, such an auxiliary method as a questionnaire can be used quite successfully, which includes six blocks of questions directed to the work profile of a business entity. The results obtained after conducting such a survey can be used in further analysis.

Sales manager profile

This profile consists of four main blocks. Each of them includes two competencies. The first block is called "Personal Features" and includes such components as a creative mindset, flexibility of thinking and purposefulness.

Creative mindset is used when presenting a business or individual services to potential clients. Flexibility refers to certain characteristics of a person that are necessary to perform certain tasks: establishing cooperation with consumers, determining the reasons for receiving refusals to cooperate, agreeing on price, quantity and delivery conditions. Such a component as purposefulness is necessary for a sales manager when agreeing on the terms of cooperation or promoting commodity items.

The second block of the profile is "Communications", which are the main vectors of interaction in the field of general communicative activity, teamwork and customer focus.

Specific services market

In this market segment, specialists in the provision of sales services are the most common professions. Indeed, the market is saturated with suchspecialists. They are responsible for the sales of goods of various categories, products and services. Difficulties in the availability of highly qualified specialists are associated with the peculiarities of sales and the specifics of goods. Education in this case is not important.

Here it is important to understand the principles of turnover of goods, to monitor the needs of customers and business partners, as well as the formation of demand. In this area, specialists with a basic economic education can make a fairly successful career.

However, both doctors and drivers can achieve high performance. Just keep in mind that in connection with the representation of the company in different regions, sales managers often have business trips (sometimes they take up to 80% of the time). Therefore, only flexible and mobile people can understand what sales is and what its benefits are.

Features of sales promotion and promotion activities

These activities are aimed at the efficient use of packaged goods. Sales promotion is carried out when there is a need to obtain a strong and immediate response from the service market. In this case, the product should be considered from the perspective of the life cycle.

This concept has become widespread in the field of marketing and reflects the stages of development of commodity items from the moment they are developed until they leave the market.

Sales promotion is considered justified not only at the stage of introducing a new product to the market, but also at the stage of its exit from the samemarket.

The goals that are achieved using sales promotion techniques are determined by the company's objectives and the characteristics of the target audience they are targeting. The short-term goal is to create a certain attractiveness or value of the product for a potential consumer (examples are the use of various discounts, durable and functional packaging). As a long-term goal, the formation in the consumer mind of feelings of greater value for certain products is accepted.

There are three main recipients of this sales format: consumers, intermediaries and sales personnel. The following examples can be given as the main methods and tasks of sales promotion:

• Discounts on the price for the agreed volume of goods. In this case, we are talking about a certain amount of goods to an intermediary at a lower price if they purchase a specific (specified) quantity.
• The so-called "push" bonuses, which are paid to dealers from the sale of products in excess of the previously agreed amount for a certain period of time.

What is a sales presenter

It's safe to say that this concept is associated with tools to increase sales efficiency. Often, a sales presenter is associated with a retail sales network. However, this format of providing data is quite effective at professional levels as well.

What does a sales presenter do? He is responsible for the implementation of activities aimed atimproving the efficiency of the company's sales. If this format is well-designed and of high quality, then the sales representative ensures the dominant position of his company in the outlets, thanks to which it will be possible to achieve a successful increase in sales.

The concept of "sales-presenter" is associated not only with human activities, but also with the organization of the work of a sales manager. For example, it could be a handy folder with tabs inside.