Understanding the Art of Salesmanship in Modern Marketing
Salesmanship is a crucial skill in personal selling, involving face-to-face interactions to influence buying decisions through persuasion and product knowledge. It plays a vital role in modern marketing strategies, adapting to diverse customer needs and preferences. Salesmanship emphasizes the power of persuasion and influence to create mutually beneficial transactions, with salespeople acting as ambassadors of their firms.
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Introduction Definition Features of salesmanship Scope of salesmanship Modern Concepts of salesmanship Utility of salesmanship Elements of Salesmanship Salesmanship: Art or Science Salesmanship: A Profession Qualities of Salesmanship
Salesmanship is one of the skills used in personal selling, as defined by Stroh, it is a direct, face-to-face, seller-to-buyer influence which can communicate the facts necessary for marketing a buying decision; or it can utilize the psychology of persuasion to encourage the formation of a buying decision . with information and motivates or persuades them to make favourable buying decisions concerning the seller s products or service. The salesman of today has to react and interact in any different ways to many different people. Salesmanship is seller-initiated effort that provides prospective buyers psychologist with one prospect, a human computer with another, an adviser with another, and at the same time a friend with some buyers. Salespersons must adjust their personalities on every call. Salesmanship may be implemented not only through personal selling but through advertising. Thus, advertising has been described as salesmanship in print. Apart from the knowledge of the product, a salesperson has to be a
According to W.G Carter, Salesmanship is in attempt to induce people to buy goods. According to the National Association of Marketing Teachers of America, It is the ability to persuade people to buy goods or services at a profit to the seller and benefit to the buyer. people to buy at a mutual profit, that which we have to sell, but which they may not have thought of buying until call their attention to it. Salesmanship is the ability to persuade people to want they already need. According to Knox, Salesmanship is the power or ability to influence on the part of the seller to induce a prospective buyer to purchase something that he had not really decided to buy, even if he had thought of it favourably. It consists of persuading people to buy what you have for sale in making them want it, in helping to make up their minds. According to Prof Stephenson, Salesmanship refers to conscious efforts
Personal selling or salesmanship is a distinct form of promotion or communication. As a highly specialised activity, it has its own unique features. The world of commerce has changed dramatically over the last three decades. Now businesses or business houses compete in the global markets using highly sophisticated communication, transportation and management information systems. The important features of Salesmanship are: Personal Selling is Oral Presentation Personal Selling is the Ability to Persuade Personal Selling creates and retains Customers Service First to any thing Else Personal Selling works for Mutual Gain Personal Selling is an Educative Process Personal Selling is a Creative Process Sales Person is the Ambassador of the Firm
1. Personal Selling is Oral Presentation: As a specific method of communication, it is two-way as it involves direct face to face contact between salesman and the prospect. The result of such interaction depends on how deep each has gone into another and reached the height of common-understanding. The main task involved in personal selling is one of matching up specific products with the specific requirements of consumers in question so as to bring about transfer of ownership. Thus, it is a direct approach to dispose the goods and services. 2. Personal Selling is the Ability to Persuade: Fundamentally, the essence of personal selling is the interpretation of product and service features is terms of benefits and merits to the buyer of persuading the buyer to buy the right kind of quality of the product. Salesmanship believes in persuasion and not pressure. Persuasion is the heart of personal selling, and, therefore, the art of persuading others is the bug-gun at the command of any creative salesman. It is the wit-act, accumen, skill of understanding human desires and convincing them to buy and not to compel them to buy. in effect it is to do with impelling the prospects and customers rather than compelling them.
3. Personal Selling creates and retains Customers: The greatest asset one can create is this world of highly competitive business is not land and buildings, plant and machinery, nor even bank or cash balance but the SatisfiedCustomer . A true salesmanship stands this test. That is, it creates and maintains a class of satisfied customers. It is a matter of building long-term partnership for mutual gain. In other words, true sales person sells not goods and services but the company or the firm he represents. lt is one of building the reputation or goodwill of the firm. Reputation or the goodwill is the reflection of good dealings between the firm and the customers through sales persons and salesmanship. A creative sales person is the liaison who makes or mars the very super structure of selling house. 4. Service First to any thing Else: The real salesmanship, in its true sense,, stands for service. Sales-person is one who is to serve the masters of his own namely, producers, distributors and customers. He serves the producer by relieving him of the botherations of selling thus making firm to concentrate on production and production problems; he serves his distributors by making distribution easier, cosier and smooth by his mere presence. He is the lubricant in the entire machinery of distribution; he serves the most real master Customer the King -by rendering highly personalised service by facilitating him to select the best product or service as he sees them through their eyes. He is the decision-maker for his BigBoss .
5. Personal Selling works for Mutual Gain: Salesmanship is founded on the basic idea of mutual gain to the two parties of the exchange process. He is the link between the two- ends of exchange namely, the buyers and sellers. In this game of exchange, it is the other man who gains much than what he gets for his service. The employer expects him to create, maintain and extends the sales with profits on one hands, and the customer with ever-increasing and sustaining satisfaction on the other. The role of a salesman is very delicate and making to the parties to the exchange where every one stands to gain. A good salesman does not bring loss to his boss and dissatisfaction to his Big Boss-namely, customer as he converts his needs into wants . 6. Personal Selling is an Educative Process: Salesmanship is an educative process. People may have money to buy good products. Education denotes KnowWhy ? It is the process of acquiring background knowledge of a given subject. It is person oriented. Some people go to the extent of telling that a successful salesman sells a fridge to Eskimos and magic tonic or comb to bald-headed persons. This is wrong. People may have money to buy goods and services; they might be belonging to the specific life-style. Yet they may not be aware fully of what exactly need in terms of goods and services to match their life-styles. A true salesman is one who brings to the notice of the goods and services that are meant for a particular life-style. Education is the process of making people to learn and understand formally what they are expected to know as to how their life can be made attractive, alluring and what goods and services make than achieve the given life-style or styles. It makes them to learn and unlearn the essentials of successful life and learning.
7. Personal Selling is a Creative Process: Creativity is an aptitude-a state of mind- a fruit that distinguishes firm from others. The psychological process of creativity is very complex so much so that it is attributed to divine power. However, creativity is the outcome of logical, mental or intellectual stages that make up creativity. The logical steps in the creative process are preparation, incubation, illumination and verification. Here, salesmanship is a creative process because he creates demand out of something or sometimes nothing on which he en-cashes. Look at the following picture as to how a creative salesman really creates on opportunity and en-cashes on it, a course with the benefit to the buyer and profit to the seller. He is a very keen observer, cool listener and has a practical bent of mind as to how to create a problem into an opportunity. 8. Sales Person is the Ambassador of the Firm: Salesman is rightly called as the ambassador of his company. Customer though interested in meeting the higher authorities, it is rarely possible. It is the salesman who meets him on regular basis. It is because he looks after a specific sales territory and meets the customers on regular basis, say weekly, fortnightly, monthly or quarterly.
The scope of salesmanship is very vast and is not confined merely to selling goods to customers. It includes many things in its orbit, like transport, repairing, teaching, painting, banking, legal, medicine, insurance, and so on. With the advancement of science and technology its scope is increasing day by day. The scope of salesmanship has got no limit. It is a skill which is essential in every sphere of activity. In deep sense, every one of us is a salesman. Whenever a person convinces another person of the truth and correctness of his point of view and wins his support, he acts as a salesman. In this sense, a diplomat or a professor or a lawyer can act as a salesman, though this type of salesmanship is intangible. Thus, salesmanship is not restricted to selling alone. The skill is applicable to a number of diverse situations. knowledge, knowledge of customers, training and control of salesman, organization and management of sales departments, etc. Advertising and publicity are integral part of sale because they help in popularizing the products and services. Salesmanship in its higher levels includes the subject-matter of product specialized science and art. It covers today a wide arrange of activities and offers wide scope for development in future. Thus, salesmanship has been developed from a mere selling activity to
Modern Concepts of Salesman I - Manufacturer s Salesmen 1. Missionary Salesmen: They are also known as Creative Salesmen or Pioneer Salesmen. They are employed by manufacturers and do the work, of missionary nature. They create demand for the products. They usually develop goodwill. They call on distributors- wholesalers, retailers, customers, in order to educate, train and induce them to promote the products. Manufacturers of medical supplies use this type of salesmen to promote their products. 2. Merchandising Salesmen: They assist dealers by giving suggestions on display, store- layout, service facility etc. They arrange wide publicity and conduct demonstration for dealer salesmen, by even working along with them. They are largely involved in drugs, medicines, grocery etc. There is a wide scope for this category.
3. Dealer-Servicing Salesman: These salesmen call on retailers in their territory and visit them often. They bring samples of new products, take orders and make up window display. 4. Sale Promotion Salesmen: They are also known as Retail Salesman. They are specialised in promotional work. They are representatives of medical firms or publishers. They may not take spot orders but they try to convince people like doctors about the new drug, research work, testing, result etc. They create demand by calling on customers, 5. Technical Salesmen: They are trained technically. They provide technical assistance to company s customers on matter connected with the product, its quality, its design, its installation etc. Generally these types of salesmen deal with computers, equipment s, machinery items, chemical products etc. II - Wholesaler s Salesmen Products reach the hands of customers through a number of channels, the main channel being wholesalers. They are the nerve-centres of distribution between manufacturers and retailers. These salesmen are mainly concerned with retailers through whom the products are to be marketed.
Salesmanship is the art of selling a product or service. It is the art of convincing the customer to buy a certain product or service. In the competitive modern day world the importance and utility of salesmanship has been increasing day by day. salesmanship has been increasing day by day. The salesman of today is the key figure in the business world of manufacture and distribution. Salesmanship is university accepted as an essential service. One could well imagine its utility which ranges from the producers, society, consumers, Govt. and the salesman himself. In the competitive modern day world the importance and utility of Following are the important Utility of Salesmanship: To the producers To the society To the consumers To the Government To the salesman
(1) To the producers: Good salesman helps producers to increase production and earn more profit. (2) To the society: As good sales force helps the producer to produce and earn more, it also benefits the shareholders by way of higher dividends, employees get more salary and bonus and ultimately the slope of more employment arises. (3) To the consumers: A good salesman helps the consumer to get standard at a moderate rate and also the consumer also very often enjoys a number of services. (4) To the Government: Salesman helps producers to produce more and sell more goods and services. With the increase of production and sale, the govt. is able to get more revenue by way of various taxes, duties, levies like income tax, sales tax, excise duty, etc. (5) To the salesman: The salesman himself is benefited directly or indirectly. Generally a salesman is paid both a monthly salary and commission which is linked with sales. A sincere and hard working salesman therefore increases his income by selling more and earning more by way of commission.
Elements of Salesmanship Salesmanship is the art of winning hearts of consumers to dispose the firm s products and services. It is the act of persuasion. It is the science of understanding of human instincts and paving the way to their fulfillment. It is the art of stressing the appropriate values of firm s products and services to fit the individual and varying needs of different buyers called on. It is the ability of a person to persuade the people to buy the goods and services for mutual gain namely, satisfaction to the buyer and profit to the seller. It is the art and science of serving the clientele. Following are the elements of salesmanship Mutual benefit Salesmanship is a persuasion Creation of permanent customers An educative process Winning of buyer confidence Link between the buyer and the seller A creative process Aiming to serve producers, distributors and customers Discourages unnecessary arguments Customers are always right
1. Mutual benefit- The price of the product or service must be reasonable for both the buyer and seller. As a matter of fact, salesmanship should benefit both the buyer and the seller. It is not the art of making a profit at the cost of the buyer. Salesmanship helps the buyer in obtaining the maximum return (satisfaction) for the money he spends and at the same time, it provides a reasonable profit to the seller. This is possible when price charged is higher than the cost and buyer gets qualitative goods at reasonable price. 2. Salesmanship is a persuasion: Salesmanship involves the ability to influence or persuade people. It is the art of persuasion not pressure, which is highly essential. In fact, persuasion is the soul of modern salesmanship. Modern salesmanship does not rely on pressure tactis or compulsion to force a sale. 3. Creation of permanent customers- Modern salesmanship does not sell duplicate, fake products to customers. Cheating the customers by inferior, spoilt or unusable goods have no place in modern sales because it can never create a permanent customer. Rather, good salesmanship guides the customers in buying something which will give them utmost satisfaction.
4. An educative process- Salesmanship is an educative process. It educates people about their needs. Very often people are not aware of their needs or the way in which they could satisfy them. Salesmanship performs the function of educating the customers about their needs and their satisfaction. It also provides information about the products available, their special features, their utility in satisfying needs of customers. 5. Winning of buyer confidence- Modern salesmanship does not use doubtful methods of influencing buyers. Misrepresentation, cheating, dishonest no place in modern salesmanship. There is not attempt to take undue advantage of the ignorance and innocence of buyers. On the contrary, modern salesmanship aims at winning the confidence of buyers by providing a solution to the buyers problems. 6. Link between the buyer and the seller- Salesmanship always acts as a link between two parties, the seller and the buyer, looks after the benefit of both the parties. It makes sure that the seller gets benefit (profit) as a result of the sale and the customer must also derive benefits by purchasing the product. 7. A creative process- Salesmanship is responsible for creation of demand through a problem solving approach. It starts with customer s knowledge. It studies customers needs and problems and then suggests a solution to these. It demonstrates how the product or service can satisfy the need or solve the problem. Such an approach needs a lot of creativity, initiative and empathy.
8. Aiming to serve producers, distributors and customers- The salesman helps the producer in disposing off his products at a profit. He creates demand for new products at a profit. He creates demand for new products. While for the distribution process smooth, easy and meaningful. For consumers, the salesman helps them to buy wisely. 9. Discourages unnecessary arguments- When prices are fixed; there is no scope for bargaining or unnecessary arguments. But customers argue when prices are not fixed. Therefore, in the process of salesmanship, care should be taken to avoid unnecessary bargaining with customers, because it leads to dissatisfaction. The aim of salesmanship should always be to build upon an empire of good will, but not to impair it by dissatisfying customers. 10. Customers are always right- Salesmanship should always give utmost important to the viewpoint of consumer and consider him as always right. A salesman should always look a purchase from buyer s angle. Whenever a customer tells about the merits and demerits of goods, the salesman should give due regard to it. This is so because he pays the price uses the article and takes decision. He is in a better position than salesman. His knowledge regarding the product is practical. However, salesman should not accept any arbitrary statement blindly without protest.
Salesmanship is an Art Art is making of the knowledge more efficient by applying skill. Art is skill. Art is a practical science. Art is a knack for doing something which is acquired by study, practice and special experience. If science is knowledge, then art is action. Bioscience we know a thing; by art we do that thing. An art is skill in performance acquired by study, observation and experience. is acquired by study and practice. Science makes a man perfect and arts makes a man exact. Art is difficult to learn. It can be studied easily by the person who has the skill. A salesman must possess the skill and it can be acquired and developed. Art is the practical side of skill. It is a knack for doing something which salesman has to diagnose the customer by efficient dealings, of course by using his skills. A salesman must have necessary knowledge and skill to face the various types of customers. Exact human behaviour is unpredictable, uncontrollable and un-understandable. Therefore, we can say that salesmanship is an art. Every customer is an individual, but individuals are different. And a
Salesmanship is a Science Science is a body of systematized knowledge. When calling anything as a science, it must be able to build up a body of laws or principles. The characteristics and behavior of facts are analyzed systematically and laws are formulated. Science is a system of facts and principles concerning a subject. formulated with reference to the discovery or operation of general law. The principles or the set of generalization, universally accepted, are called laws of that science. It is the knowledge of research, discovery and experience and the principles are universally accepted. Science is defined as an accepted knowledge that has been systematized and own rules and principles. Salesmanship is a science based on human psychology. A salesman has to study the psychology of the consumers. He must have knowledge about their behavior. He must have knowledge about the different characteristics of goods which he has to sell. Salesmanship is a systematically arranged and specialized knowledge. It has its salesmanship tries to follow certain basic principles, approach, demonstration and concluding a sale etc. All these have to be followed systematically. Thus we may say that salesmanship is a science. As such, he requires a systematic knowledge of those goods. As a science,
Salesmanship is a Profession A certain degree of skill or specialization is required for a profession. Professional people such as lawyers, doctors, writers and actors get along with their clients. Some people say, Salesman are born, but not made. Others feel, Salesmen are mostly made than born. Still others assert, Salesmen are born and made. There are certain qualities-emotional, physical development etc., that are born qualities. be made attractive. But for a good salesman, personality alone is not enough. There are specialized institutions imparting training in salesmanship. A professional usually considers service as its aim. He offers his service to his employer, whose profit is increased. Again the profession requires skill. The skill is present in the salesmanship. With pleasing personality and through convincing approach, prospects can In the era of stiff competition, personality alone will not make a sale. Training makes one a good salesman. Thus, salesman is nothing but a skillful dealer with the public and he converts them into customers. The knowledge of four fundamentals- prospect, product, personality and organization together with mastery over sales process makes salesmanship a profession. A professional man secures the best regards for the mastery of his subject.
The success of a business undertaking largely depends upon the efficiency of its salesman. In the modern age of cut throat competition, a person possessing desired qualities can prove to be a successful salesman. Essential qualities of an effective salesman are: Personality Cheerful disposition Mental ingredients Courtesy Patience and perseverance and Complete knowledge about the self, product, company and the customer
1. Personality: A good salesman should possess a good personality. What fragrance is to a flower is personality to an individual. It is the ability to impress others. A charming personality always creates a good impression. He should possess good health, attractive appearance and impressive voice. He should not suffer from physical handicaps like stammering and limping etc. 2. Cheerful Disposition: He should have a smiling face. It is rightly said that a man without a smiling face must not open a shop. In order to impress upon the customers he should always be cheerful and sweet tempered. He should be properly dressed as the dress greatly enhances the personality. 3. Mental Ingredients: An individual cannot be a successful salesman unless he possesses certain mental qualities like imagination, sound judgment, presence of mind, foresightedness, initiative and strong memory. These qualities are of great help to a salesman in dealing with customers having different nature and temperament. He can successfully tackle the customers. The mental qualities are very helpful in creating permanent customers for the product.
4. Courtesy: A salesman should always be polite and courteous towards his customers. It costs nothing but wins permanent customers for the product. He should help the customers in making the right choice or in selecting the products. This will definitely help in winning over the confidence of the customers. 5. Patience and Perseverance: A salesman comes across different type of customers. Some of them purchase nothing but waste time by asking irrelevant questions about the products. Under such circumstances, he should not loose temper but give patient hearing to the customers. He should not get tired with his customers soon. He should try time and again to convince the customers. Customer is supreme for him and he should not leave any stone unturned to give full satisfaction to the customers. 6. Complete Knowledge About The Self, Product, Company And The Customer: A salesman should clearly know about himself. He should try to find out his limitations and make constant efforts to overcome them. At the same time, he should know his strong points. While dealing with the customers he should exhibit his plus points and avoid displaying the weaknesses. He can remove his weaknesses by undergoing proper training. There is no denying the fact that salesmen are made and not born. He should possess the full knowledge about the product so that he may properly answer the questions of the customers at the time of sale. The buyer depends to a great extent on the salesman especially in case of a new product.
Duties of Salesman 1. The principal duty is to make sales of products or services. 2. He has to do the assigned duty (travelling). 3. He has to make collection of bills relating to sale. 4. He has to make report-Sales made, Calls made, Services rendered, customers lost, competition and any other matters, relating to firm. 5. All complainants must be satisfied peacefully. 6. He has to attend sales meetings. 7. A salesman with his experience must supply information in order to solve problems relating to product or the firm. 8. He must maintain a good relation with the customers. 9. He must assist the customers to make good selection. 10. He must develop a goodwill for the firm and the products. 11. He must have cooperative habits. 12 He takes periodic inventories of the stocks.
Characteristics of Salesman 1. Establishing good relationship with a variety of people. 2. Learning quickly and adapting smoothly. 3. Planning ahead and efficiently managing his time and efforts 4. Working hard to achieve his goals, dedicating himself to provide long- term service, rather than having a get-rich-quick attitude. 5. Communicating clearly both in speech and in writing. 6. Thinking analytically and learning to break problems down to their basic components. 7. Producing constantly both in quality and quantity rather than performing erratically. 8. Persisting steadily his goal and not giving up easily. 9. Possessing and living up to high moral characteristics that enable to admire,, respect and trust him. people
