Page 28 - DMGT205_SALES_MANAGEMENT

Sales Management

Notes Technical Sales

The technical sales compulsorily requires a good knowledge of the product by the sales person.
It requires the approval of TECHNICAL people in the organisation. In the end it is one or two
people with technical knowledge in the organisation who influence the decision. The sales
persons have to identify and satisfy them with product characteristics, application, installation
processes, etc. The sales person are trained to use traditional approach and know the utility and
features of the product.

Commercial Sales

It includes non-technical sales to business industry, government and non-profit organisations,
e.g., office equipments, wholesale goods, building products, etc. Commercial sales person makes
the sales on first or second call.

Direct Sales

Sales of product to ultimate consumer, e.g., restaurants, door to door sales, insurance, encyclopedia,
magazines, etc. There is emotional appeal in such type of selling. The sales persons must have
persuasive ability. They are trained to close the sale on first visit. If given time they may buy
from competitors or cool off and postpone buying.

2.6 Buyer Seller Dyads

Dyad is a situation where two people interact. The sales person and the prospect interacting with
each other constitute a buyer-seller dyad. The seller seeks to motivate the buyer to behave
favourably towards the seller. This interaction has a great impact over the buyer. This is even
much greater when the salesman has product knowledge, honesty, follow up, good and proper
presentation.
Franklin Evans researched buyer-seller dyads in the life insurance business. He found out that
the prospects who bought insurance knew more about sales persons and their companies and
felt more positively towards them. The more alike sales persons and their prospects were the
greater was the probability that the sale would result.
Evans' findings have significance for sales management. He concluded that:
1. Prospects who know the sales persons and their companies were more positive about
buying than those who did not know them.
2. If the sales person and buyer were alike in their physical appearance, objective factors
(income, education, religion, etc.) and other personality factors, there were more chances
that a sale would result.
Then Henri Tosi studied whole sale drugs sales people and retail pharmacists and concluded
that besides the factors given by Evans, the behaviour of sales people was also an influencing
factor in buyer-seller dyad relationship. Studies conducted on the attitude of buyers reveal that
sales person's lack of product knowledge, failure to follow up, uninfluential presentations,
flattery, bad manners, dishonesty are the major causes of failure of sales. According to Henry
Tosi, behavioural factors of sales people are most influencing factors in buyer-seller dyad
relationship. A conceptual model has been made in this regard.

The sales process is influenced both by the sales person and the buyer by their personal
characteristics and role requirements. The personal characteristics include personality, values,
attitudes and past experience. Formal authority and organisational autonomy interact with

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