Wednesday, August 13, 2008

How To Employ Sales Development

By Hugh Roberts


Sales development is the act of developing a person in the act of sales. Sales, which can be done individually or as part of a team, is where a person sells a merchandise or service to a client. It is commonly thought that sales is the same as marketing but there is a distinct difference - marketing exists to advocate a item by making it attractive to a potential buyer and, through this, may inactively produce a sale. On the other hand, a sales person actively interacts with a potential client, demonstrating directly how their product or service can help the client by providing them tailored information. The best sales team is someone who works in conjunction with their client and performs to meet the customer's wants and goals with the merchandise or service to be sold.

Sales is an necessary part of contemporary business models. Not only does the sales person sell a company item or service, they also work to produce new corporate prospects and generate customers for their business, thereby supporting and growing their company's client base and industry standing. Sales is often the public face of a business so it necessary that proper sales development is provided to the sales person so that they can excel in their selling role but also know how to be the best promoter possible for the product and the corporation.

There is a plethora of approaches a business can employ to connect with their client. Direct sales - where the business deals directly with their client - is probably the most well-known. The most well-known direct selling approaches are door-to-door selling and telemarketing; in both cases the business directly connects with the buyer at home or at their place of business to tell them about the goods. Another way of direct selling is 'consultative selling' whereby the business deals directly with the client but first begins by consulting the client about what goods or services they need and developing solutions in collaboration with the buyer. Businesses also traditionally sell goods through retailers - so called 'middle men' - and through mail order, while the rise of the world wide web has given businesses a new way in which to deal with future customers. As can be seen, there is a large variety in the way businesses contact, connect and potentially sell to a buyer, which has increased the significance of sales training.

Sales training concentrates on the assortment of approaches a sales person can use when directly talking with the customer, so integral in these days of direct selling. Although there are a assortment of particular methodologies tailored for different varieties of selling, the main philosophy behind excellent sales practice is five-fold: analyze a customer's needs, offer solutions to the buyer, discuss the virtues of the item, overcome any questions the customer may have and close the sale. This methodology can sometimes be condensed to a three-part methodology: find the customer, present to the customer and finish the sale.

Sales development classes are extensively available with many training academies and specialist businesses offering classes that you can take in person or via correspondence or the internet. Many large companies have also developed their own in-house sales training programs. There are also a plethora of books available on the topic.

Exceptional sales development will always emphasize the need to ask customers questions in order to better give them solutions, will always emphasize the importance of knowing your product and will include motivational material, as selling is a high-pressure job that not only needs a lot of self-motivation but also deals with a lot of rejection as well.

Incentive programs, what they're for and how to use them are also included in a lot of sales development. These 'sales incentive programs' or SIP's, are a tool used to motivate a sales person and lists specific goals for achievement, which aims to focus selling activity.

Sales development will teach you self-motivation, direction and exceptional interaction abilities and, as such, would stand any person in good stead for any leadership role outside of sales, as well as within.

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