Page 44 - DMGT205_SALES_MANAGEMENT

Sales Management

Notes There are two major techniques of discovering hidden objectives. They are:
1. Keep the prospect talking.
2. Use the insight gained by experience, i.e., the sales person should have extensive knowledge
of their own products as well as those of competitors.
The sales person should always adopt a low pressure approach or the customer may feel that he
is pressurised into taking a decision.

Prospects can raise many kinds of objection related to price, quality, service, quantity,
expectations, colour or a mix of all these related to the product. These can be handled deftly by
comparing with other products or restructuring the advantages of the product to be sold.
Sometimes the product to be sold has weaknesses which can be compensated with other desirable
features and attributes of the product.
Objection Price: To tackle these kind of objections, cheaper variations of the same products can
be shown. Cash memos of bills of previous customers can be shown or some discount can be
offered as a last resort.
To tackle such objections reference of prominent customers may be given and the product be
supplied in the right size, colour etc. If the product has a good brand name then such objections
can easily be tackled and prominent features of the product may be compared and elaborated
with other brands.
Objection on after sales service: The customer should be assured that the service staff of the
company are paying regular visits to the customers and free service coupons given by the
company along with the product should be presented as a proof of the same.
Objection on payment: If the cash payment is not available at the moment then after verifying
the identity of the customer the product can be offered on credit or on installments. This may
result in the sales of the product.
Objections on timings: Some customers want to postpone purchases to some future date. The
salesman should with his intelligence and tact should be able to convince the customer and
persuade him to take a decision on the spot.

However the handling of objections is a very difficult job. If the customer is bent on postponing
his decision it is very difficult for a salesman to make an effective sales. A customer can walk out
of the shop any time with many excuses. He may want to visit other stores or see many models
before he is ready for a decision.

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Caselet Sales Planning

t is important for effective sales managers to respond to environmental threats and
opportunities. Environmental influences consist of social, cultural, technological,
Ieconomic, competitive political and legal factors. Pentium-III (Intel processor) is in
great demand in the market because of its processing speed which gives greater and
quicker access to information which can be both received and sent.
The sales people also have access to more accurate and current data which proves useful in
selling.
Sales managers are motivated by incentives but the health of the economy also has many
repercussions. In difficult times the company tries to reduce sales incentives as they are
Contd...

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