The sale of products and services is the basis of any business. From the moment when mankind switched to cash settlement, the first signs of sales management began to form. Trade efficiency directly affects the financial well-being of modern companies. A formal exchange of goods or services for a fee is not enough - in a competitive environment, only the one who sells a lot to a large number of customers will grow. These indicators depend on the manager’s work, which determines the importance of sales specialists.
Manager Responsibilities
It would seem that the only thing required of the manager is to offer the product, and then the client’s business. Or he buys or refuses. But with such an indifferent approach to potential buyers, the company runs the risk of completely being left out of work - the audience will be simply covered by a competing company, in which the sales manager’s sales technique is mastered more deeply and works more efficiently. Therefore, the range of duties of a sales manager includes a whole range of tasks, including:
- Direct sales, reporting and counseling.
- Increase in sales.
- Formation and maintenance of relations with the main customer base.
- Regular search and “recruitment” of new customers.
As a manager’s toolkit, it is worth noting negotiations, working with databases, receiving calls, etc. In addition, the so-called warehouse accounting with the maintenance of trading floors can also be included in the list of duties.
Manager Obstacles
To understand all the nuances of working with customers and what, in fact, the sales technique of the sales manager is designed, it is worth determining the essence of the work of a specialist in this profile. Unlike a regular salesperson, the manager’s efforts are aimed at precise “processing” of clients. The fact is that a priori not every company or private consumer is willing to spend their time on advertising. And the work of the manager is by and large an advertisement of products or services. Therefore, difficulties arise in the distribution of goods, which a sales specialist must overcome. Agreeing with clients, despite their apparent unwillingness to use the services of the company, is perhaps the key point in the work of the manager. And a whole set of techniques aimed at increasing sales comes to the rescue in this matter.
Active sales technique
There are many recommendations and advice from specialists in various fields, which are considered by sales managers. Basically, these are psychological techniques aimed at achieving the main goal - to convince the client that he really needs the proposed product or service. The most effective sales tactics take into account the advertising procedure from different angles - while one of the most important is the view from the point of view of the buyer. What does he really need? So, for example, the sales manager of digital technology after the initial conversation will not offer a device that the client is not originally oriented to.
AIDA Rules Package
The AIDA system most accurately and succinctly conveys the principles on which any methodology for increasing sales is based. It can be decrypted as follows:
- Attention - to catch attention. A well-formulated first phrase will attract a client who was not initially invited to discuss the proposal.
- Interest - provoke interest. For this, the sales technique of the sales manager provides for addressing directly the activities of the buyer company and comparing its needs with the products being sold.
- Desire - arouse desire. To note how much the work of the client’s company can improve if she decides to use the offered products.
- Action - bring the client to action. The first signs that the client does not mind discussing the matter more deeply should not go unnoticed by the manager himself. All contacts and conditions for further negotiations should be provided.
Cold calls
One of the tools that comes with the set of mentioned techniques. Most common in large companies that sell expensive products in large volumes. For example, a sales manager for construction equipment works with cold calls, who calls potential partners. When making a call, a specialist should be guided exclusively by benevolent intentions, understand the needs of the addressee, and be prepared for unwillingness to communicate. Such calls are the most common “weapon” of managers and require a lot of energy. To make 20-30 calls a day, you need a good initial preparation and, of course, communication skills with knowledge of sales techniques.
Failure Technique
Most of the attempts of managers to offer services or products encounter a refusal - in one form or another, it indicates a reluctance to cooperate with the seller company. The main way to correct the situation is one of the techniques of the so-called verbal aikido. As an illustration of this technique, we can cite a case in which the sales manager of household appliances offers a refrigerator and encounters a refusal because the client already has a good model. The specialist, in turn, takes the position of the interlocutor, noting that the second copy, by no means cheap equipment, will certainly be superfluous.
It is worth noting that this is a trick, the impact of which is aimed at relieving stress - it seems to the client that the manager has entered his position and realized the inappropriateness of the acquisition. In this gap, the main thing that professional managers strive for is creating - trust in the seller, experiencing which, the buyer lends itself more easily to soft persuasion.
Then another phrase comes into play - they say, the proposed equipment is available in the singular, since the rest have already been purchased by users who appreciated the functionality of the refrigerator and its overall quality. Of course, it is 100% impossible to guarantee that the client will certainly “peck” and get a model, but on average, the sales manager’s sales technique allows at least half of these 10 situations to lead to a successful result.
Basic Manager Skills
Now you can touch on the topic of personal qualities of a sales manager and his training. A specialist whose work is related to the sale of products and the offer of services should be able to find a common language with different categories of people. In many respects, this is determined by individual qualities - competent speech, initially good education, personal charm, etc. Special training is also important, which will give an understanding of how, in principle, the technique of effective sales in a particular direction works. On the other hand, specialties such as Advertising and PR and Management, backed by knowledge of the economic or legal framework, will undoubtedly increase the chances of a successful career.
Manager motivation
As you can see, the manager’s job is not easy. The main loads are psychological in nature, however, in some industries, specialists in this field also experience serious physical tests - for example, if you need to personally meet with several clients in a day. So the question arises, how do such workers motivate themselves? Of course, the decisive recharge is given by money. Moreover, the payment of managers is mainly formed by the result of personal sales.
On the other hand, the factor of love for his work is not excluded - for example, a computer equipment sales manager who is close to the world of high technologies will be more willing to offer laptops, printers, tablets and various accessories. Sometimes implementers, when advising customers, mention their personal experience in using the product - here the trust of the client is also achieved and in general the business conversation begins to take on the features of a friendly one. Perhaps this is the best effect that any manager strives for.
What is the ideal manager?
Top specialists achieve incredible sales results. Therefore, many talented and professional managers are “hunted” by many recruiting and personnel agents who want to get a valuable employee. What distinguishes such frames? Although there is no perfection, an approximate portrait of an ideal sales manager looks like this: a man aged 30-40, with a "suspended" language (in a good way), handsome, broad-minded, impeccable knowledge of sales techniques, the basics of NLP, etc. these qualities can be added the ability to quickly respond to the arguments of the interlocutor, maintain an emotional state, be patient and always remain friendly.