At this moment sales management is arguably one of the most challenging yet rewarding of all possible careers. In today’s highly competitive markets, sales managers are trying and testing new ideas, new sales channels and new technologies to develop mutually profitable relationships with customers. At the same time, technological advances, buyer behaviour and managerial creativity are dramatically changing the way “sales managers understand, prepare for and accomplish their jobs” (Johnston & Marshall, 2013). Today and for the future, several megatrends will continue to have an enormous impact personal selling and sales management. This essay will explore the three key drivers: behavioural, technological, and managerial trends and their effect and …show more content…
In recent years there has been a huge shift in the rise of customer expectations of a salesperson’s knowledge, speed of response and communication. According to Anderson (1996): “To push their company’s quality standards ever higher to keep up with rising customer expectations, salespeople need to reinvigorate their intelligence gathering role”. This means that as the “eyes and ears” of the company, salespeople would be able to provide warnings of change in customer expectations, enabling companies to plan and communicate more effectively with customers, as well as with their own firms. According to Stewart (1995): “What makes customers satisfaction so difficult to achieve is that you constantly raise the bar and extend the finish line. As your customer gets better treatment, they demand better treatment.” For example, if a customer has previously worked with a salesperson who has provided next day delivery of a product, that same company will hold the same expectations for future sales
As the salespeople’s immediate supervisor, it is the primary responsibility of the manager to provide proper training to enhance the salespersons’ effectiveness and improve their skills. Given the importance of having a productive and enthusiastic sales team, the manager needs to develop and manage effective reward and compensation packages to ensure a highly motivated and satisfied sales force. Sales managers also ensure that the company 's standards of professionalism, image, and branding are consistent with the sales team’s interaction with company customers. The manager 's presence also makes customers feel valued as well as provide credibility on behalf of the company (Pilling, Donthu, & Henson,
High levels of customer satisfaction will not guarantee future sales, but are more likely to result in repeat future sales than indifferent or poor customer service. Moreover, satisfied customers are more likely to try out other products/services in the firm’s range, or recommend it to friends and family. Build on customer loyalty Customer loyalty is valued highly by most businesses and can be
According to Business Studies ‘’Customer service is one of the most important ingredients of the marketing mix for products and services. High quality customer service helps to create customer loyalty. Customers today are not only interested in the product they are being offered but all the additional elements of service that they receive from the greeting they receive when they enter a retail outlet, to the refund and help that they receive when they have a complaint about a faulty product that they have paid for’’ (Business Studies, n.d).
The manager of baggage claims was attending his presentation and provided him with some insight on why he received the bad service during baggage claim. The manager tells him that he was forced to schedule less workers to make budget for the end of the month, which is a problem that most managers face today. Sasser believes that because there is no research being conducted on how the company is effected economically when they lose their loyal customers or the customers who have the potential to be loyal then they tend to make customer care or improvements to customer care a lower priority. If managers start considering the breakeven point they have to reach before customers actually start being profitable then they would increase their measures to improve their customer care to keep customers loyal to their business longer. Good customer service can take the slack off of a bad product. In an article Tabitha Naylor says “you see, if you have good customer service, people naturally assume you have good products” (Naylor,
Having prior knowledge of a customers needs, habits, and questions before or during every interaction and transaction can boost customer satisfaction. (Zueschner, Raymond. (1997). Communicating Today. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Without good customer service and keeping your promises, your company would have loyal customers. According to 5 Focusing Steps, “If you’re not yet sold on the idea, consider that a 2 percent increase in customer retention has the same effect as decreasing costs by 10 percent. Not only that, but it costs over six times more to get a new customer than it does to keep one.” Customer satisfaction should be a golden rule of all companies.
The main issue in case study 4-7 focuses on what the Japan company Nippon Cash Machines and their recent US merger National Office Machines should do to their Japanese sales force who has always followed a salary based payment plan and lifetime job security because they are quickly loosing market share in a highly competitive market. Therefore, the main statement for the case is as follows:
Over the past few years, the increasing dynamism and competition in the business operating environment has led to a lot of changes in how the companies conduct themselves with respect to its customers. Customers being the focal point of revenue; manufacturers are increasingly taking interest in being focused on customer satisfaction by delivering the products and services on time.
Providing great customer service and having the ability to retain customers require consistency in delivering the anticipated services. Customer service encompasses having the ability to provide a service or product to customers by means in which it was promised. However, there are times when unforeseen circumstances may occur, resulting in customer service breakdowns. Understanding the effectiveness of customer service relations provides the assurance needed to handle complicated service related issues. A well qualified customer service representative has the acquired skill to effectively defuse a potentially damaging service related matter. Service recovery influences customer retention and improves customer satisfaction.
Sharif, K. (2008) 'Impact of information and communication technologies on sales representative internal and external relationships — A study of the UK pharmaceutical sector', Journal of Medical Marketing, 8 (4), pp.341-55.
There are many skills needed to deal with customers. They range from dealing with indecisive people to emotionally unstable ones and even timid ones. By using positive communication, good body language, and by actively listening, you can be sure that you can identify the problem that is occurring and start looking for a solution that not only makes the customer content but that follows the policies and values of the business. Most problems arise because not everyone knows these skills and how to use them. The right training can go a long way for a business and its relationships with its customers.
Time management in sales is extremely important for us; this is because a lot of sales will work like trial and error being that the more people you can quote the more likely you are to make sales. That is the main reason that managing time in sales is so important. Another reason that managing time is important is because if everyone took 30 mins to give someone a quote then there are going to be a lot of people on hold trying to get through to us and this would result in a large percentage of them will hang up and therefor lose the business potential clients. It isalso important in other industries in sales because all sales people will be working on some kind of schedule and to meet that schedule you have o manage your time well.
Wasserman, Michael. 15 Techniques When Dealing With Customers. My Success Company. 25 January 2005. .
A sales manager has many responsibilities such as spreading product to customers, setting sales areas, goals, and analyzing sales data (“Sales Manager” What’s para. 1). Although a sales manager performs many duties, people in this position will also set a sales goal for the year, and will build a sales outlook on what they will do in the upcoming years (“Sales Manager” Sokanu para. 1).A person in this position will also manage where the goods and products their company will be distributing by giving certain sales area where a salesman will work and sell the product (“Sales Manager” Sokanu para. 2). During work time, a sales manager may be asked to hire and train a new salesman added to his team (“Sales Manager” Sokanu para. 3). Occasionally, a sales manager will interpret sales statistics in a specific area when looking where to assign certain salesman to a sales territory (“Sales Manager” Sokanu pa...
With the current revolution in the corporate world, many organizations find the need to keep up with the set trends in the corporate scene. This is essential for them to maintain relevance as well as achieve set targets and strategic objectives. One of the aspects business management is sales personnel management. This is an important business aspect that can lead to efficiency, as well as effectiveness in business, if executed accordingly. This study will seek to analyze the various tools and techniques used in sales personnel management.