A Hollister Co. store in Leeds, England; the clothing retailing is a prominent sales market
A beach salesman showing necklaces to a tourist in Mexico
A vegetable seller in a rural Sri Lankan village
Franc Carr, salesperson c. 1965

Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred to as a "sale".[1]

The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in an interaction with a buyer, which may occur at the point of sale or in response to a purchase order from a customer. There is a passing of title (property or ownership) of the item, and the settlement of a price, in which agreement is reached on a price for which transfer of ownership of the item will occur. The seller, not the purchaser, typically executes the sale and it may be completed prior to the obligation of payment. In the case of indirect interaction, a person who sells goods or service on behalf of the owner is known as a salesman or saleswoman or salesperson, but this often refers to someone selling goods in a store/shop, in which case other terms are also common, including salesclerk, shop assistant, and retail clerk.

In common law countries, sales are governed generally by the common law and commercial codes. In the United States, the laws governing sales of goods are mostly uniform to the extent that most jurisdictions have adopted Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, albeit with some non-uniform variations.

Definition

A person or organization expressing an interest in acquiring the offered item of value is referred to as a potential buyer, prospective customer, or prospect. Buying and selling are understood to be two sides of the same "coin" or transaction. Both seller and buyer engage in a process of negotiation to consummate the exchange of values. The exchange, or selling, process has implied rules and identifiable stages. It is implied that the selling process will proceed fairly and ethically so that the parties end up nearly equally rewarded. The stages of selling, and buying, involve getting acquainted, assessing each party's need for the other's item of value, and determining if the values to be exchanged are equivalent or nearly so, or, in buyer's terms, "worth the price". Sometimes, sellers have to use their own experiences when selling products with appropriate discounts.[2]

Although the skills required are different, from a management viewpoint, sales is a part of marketing.[3] Sales often form a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespersons (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading "art". Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesman relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.[4]

The sales process consists of a series of measurable milestones. However, the definition of selling is often unclear because of its close relationship with advertising, promotion, public relations, and direct marketing.

Selling is the profession-wide term, much like marketing defines a profession. Recently, attempts have been made to clearly understand who is in the sales profession, and who is not. There are many articles looking at marketing, advertising, promotions, and even public relations as ways to create a unique transaction.

Many believe that the focus of selling is on the human agents involved in the exchange between buyer and seller. Effective selling also requires a systems approach, at minimum involving roles that sell, enable selling, and develop sales capabilities. Selling also involves salespeople who possess a specific set of sales skills and the knowledge required to facilitate the exchange of value between buyers and sellers that is unique from marketing and advertising.

Within these three tenets, the following definition of professional selling is offered by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD):

The sales process

The sales process is a structured series of steps that a salesperson or sales organization follows to guide a prospect from initial awareness to a closed sale. While specific models can vary by industry and company, a typical sales process includes the following stages:[11]

  • Prospecting: The first step is to find potential customers (prospects). This can be done through various methods, including lead generation, market research, and networking.
  • Qualifying: After identifying prospects, the salesperson determines if they have the need for the product, the financial ability to buy, and the authority to make a purchasing decision.
  • Approach: This is the first point of contact with a qualified prospect. The goal is to build rapport, gather information, and set an appointment or discovery call.
  • Presentation and demonstration: The salesperson presents the product or service, explaining how its features and benefits meet the specific needs of the prospect that were identified in earlier stages.
  • Handling objections: Prospects will often have questions or concerns. In this stage, the salesperson addresses these objections to resolve any doubts.
  • Closing: This stage involves asking the prospect for their business and gaining a commitment to purchase. Various sales closing techniques may be used.
  • Follow-Up: After the sale is closed, the salesperson follows up to ensure customer satisfaction, address any issues, and potentially ask for referrals or future business.

Methods

A sale can take place through face-to-face contact, via mail order, through a vending machine or through online selling. Other methods of selling include:[12]

  • Agency-based sales
  • Business-to-business – business-to-business ("B2B") sales are likely to be larger in terms of volume, economic value and complexity than business-to-consumer ("B2C") sales. Often the complexity involves one business working closely with the other to define problems, to finding solutions, to supporting after-sale operation. Because of this complexity, there is a need to manage the relationships between the buying and selling organizations, for example using Peter Cheverton's relationship models[13] and the stakeholder map by Anderson, Bryson and Crosby[14]
  • Channel sales, an indirect sales model, which differs from direct sales. Channel selling is a way for sellers to reach the "B2B" and "B2C" markets through distributors, re-sellers or value added re-sellers (VARs).
  • Direct sales, involving person to person contact
  • Electronic
  • Pro forma sales
  • Request for proposal – An invitation for suppliers, through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on a specific product or service; an RFP usually represents part of a complex sales process, also known as "enterprise sales"
  • Selling technique:
  • Traveling salesman

Sales agents

Agents in the sales process can represent either of two parties in the sales process; for example:

  • Buyers broker or buyer brokerage: This is where the salesman represents the consumer making the purchase. This is most often applied in large transactions.
  • Disclosed dual agent: This is where the salesman represents both parties in the sale and acts as a mediator for the transaction. The role of the salesman here is to oversee that both parties receive an honest and fair deal.
  • Internet sales professionals: These people are primarily responsible for ensuring immediate response to the leads generated via social media, website or email campaigns.
  • Sales broker, seller agency, seller agent, seller representative: This is a traditional role where the salesman represents a person or company on the selling end of a deal.
  • Sales managers aim to implement various sales strategies and management techniques in order to facilitate improved profits and increased sales volume. They are also responsible for coordinating the sales and marketing department as well as oversight concerning the fair and honest execution of the sales process by their agents.
  • Sales outsourcing involves direct branded representation where the sales representatives are recruited, hired, and managed by an external entity but hold quotas, represent themselves as the brand of the client, and report all activities (through their own sales management channels) back to the client. It is akin to a virtual extension of a sales force (see sales outsourcing).
  • Salesperson: The primary function of salespeople is to generate and close business resulting in profit. The salesperson will accomplish their primary function through a variety of means including phone calls, email, social media, networking, and cold calling. The primary objective of the successful salesperson is to find the consumers to sell to. Sales are often referred to as a "numbers game" because a general law of averages and pattern of successful closing of business will emerge through heightened sales activity. These activities include but are not limited to: locating prospects, fostering relationships with prospects, building trust with future clients, identifying and filling needs of consumers, and therefore turning prospective customers into actual ones. Many tools are used by successful salespeople, the most important of which is questioning which can be defined as a series of questions and resulting answers allowing the salesperson to understand a customer's goals and requirements relevant to the product they are selling. The creation of value or perceived value is the result of taking the information gathered, analyzing the goals and needs of the prospective customer and leveraging the products or services the salesperson's firm represents or sells in a way that most effectively achieves the prospective client's goals or suits their needs. Effective salespeople will package their offering and present their proposed solution in a way that leads the prospective customer to the conclusion that they acquire the solution, resulting in revenue and profit for the salesperson and the organization they represent.

Inside sales vs. outside sales

In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act defines outside sales representatives as "employees [who] sell their employer's products, services, or facilities to customers away from their employer's place(s) of business, in general, either at the customer's place of business or by selling door-to-door at the customer's home" while defining those who work "from the employer's location" as inside sales.[15] Inside sales generally involves attempting to close business primarily over the phone via telemarketing, while outside sales (or "field" sales) will usually involve initial phone work to book sales calls at the potential buyer's location to attempt to close the deal in person. Some companies have an inside sales department that works with outside representatives and book their appointments for them. Inside sales sometimes refers to upselling to existing customers.[16]

Sales coaching

Sales coaching is a one-on-one coaching process by high-performing sales professionals and consultants with salespeople, managers, and executives. The process involves equipping them with the knowledge, abilities, and skills needed to become more effective sales professionals. Unlike sales training, sales coaching is typically an individualized, ongoing endeavor.[17]

Law

In common law countries, sales are governed generally by the common law and commercial codes. In the United States, the laws governing sales of goods are mostly uniform to the extent that most jurisdictions have adopted Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, albeit with some non-uniform variations.

The European Commission proposed adoption of a Common European Sales Law in 2011 and set out a proposed regulation on this area of law in 2014. Whilst remaining optional, the Commission's intention was to offer traders a means of breaking down barriers occasioned by the different legal systems of its (then) 28 member states.[18] A 2012 Communication from the Commission argued that a Common European Sales Law would help to address some of the concerns which it had identified in the development of a market for cloud computing services.[19] However, the proposal was withdrawn in December 2014 when the Commission's work plan was rationalised.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ BBC Bitesize, How to find the original value before percentage off, accessed 29 June 2023: "When shopping for clothes or shoes in a sale, the price tag might show the cost after a percentage reduction."
  2. ↑ Putthiwanit, C.; Ho, S.-H. (2011). "Buyer Success and Failure in Bargaining and Its Consequences" (PDF). Australian Journal of Business and Management Research. 1 (5): 83–92. doi:10.52283/NSWRCA.AJBMR.20110105A10. S2CID 2873974. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-07-16. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  3. ↑ Philip Kotler, Principles of Marketing, Prentice -Hall, 1980
  4. ↑ Greening, Jack (1993). Selling Without Confrontation. The Haworth Press, Inc. p. 23. ISBN 1-56024-326-0. Page image
  5. ↑ "American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)". Sales Competency Project. Archived from the original on 2008-09-21. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  6. ↑ Paul H. Selden (December 1998). "Sales Process Engineering: An Emerging Quality Application". Quality Progress: 59–63.
  7. ↑ "Ending The War Between Sales And Marketing". hbr.org. Harvard Business Review. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  8. ↑ "How To Choose The Right Sales Representatives". marketingaudit.agency. Mark C. Jimenez. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  9. ↑ "Sales Outsourcing vs In-house Sales development team". salesoutsourcingservice.com. Archived from the original on 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  10. ↑ Petersen, Glen S. (2008). The Profit Maximization Paradox: Cracking the Marketing/Sales Alignment Code. Booksurge in 1221. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-4196-9179-9.
  11. ↑ Jobber, David; Lancaster, Geoff (2015). Selling and Sales Management (10th ed.). Pearson. pp. 20–24. ISBN 978-1-292-07759-3. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
  12. ↑ Compendium of Professional Selling. United Professional Sales Association. n.d. Archived from the original on 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  13. ↑ Peter, Cheverton (2008). Key Account Management 4th Edition. Kogan Page. pp. 90–104. ISBN 978-0-7494-5277-3.
  14. ↑ John, Bryson (10 Feb 2003). "What To Do When Stakeholders Matter: A Guide to Stakeholder Identification and Analysis Techniques" (PDF). London School of Economics and Political Science. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "elaws - FLSA Overtime Security Advisor". United States Department of Labor. Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2011-05-25.
  16. ↑ Low, Jerry. "Quick Tips For Upselling and Cross Selling". Business.com. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  17. ↑ Nguyen, Carlin A. (2017). Essays on Sales Coaching (PhD dissertation). University of South Florida. Archived from the original on 2022-11-10. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  18. ↑ Reicherts, M., Reviving the European economy: How a common sales law will boost growth and job creation, speech delivered 5 September 2014, accessed 16 September 2023
  19. ↑ European Commission, Unleashing the Potential of Cloud Computing in Europe, COM(2012) 529 final, pages 11–12, published 27 September 2012, accessed 17 June 2024
  20. ↑ Király, M., The Rise and Fall of Common European Sales Law, ELTE Law Journal, 2015 (2), accessed 16 September 2023
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