Summary
In this work, the aim is to know the concept closest to sales strategies and how it is related to marketing, looking at it from two points of view, operational and managerial, in the same way it is intended to relate to human capital, which is an essential part of the subject and from a different perspective, not only must they be trained but also motivate for the improvement of the job, they will also know the main types of sales that exist with a brief description of it, and in marketing knowing that not all companies has the same purchasing power, free tools will be released in which small businesses can advertise.
Sales strategies
Introduction
This work focuses on sales strategies and how they are related to marketing and human capital. Likewise, the concept of each one will be disclosed and how they are all related to sales strategies, giving examples for the best possible understanding of the subject, as well as advice.
Looking from different points of view, the essay pretends that all the areas that are related to the topic of sales strategies are important for the achievement of sales objectives.
Background
The first sales strategies were when bartering began, each merchant elaborated his strategy to know what products he had to exchange.
At the beginning of the sales strategies, when the concept began to take shape, it was only to sell to any customer that passed through an establishment, then it evolved to know how to sell, where and to whom it was sold. At this stage, an analysis was made but not as deep as the concept requires.
Currently for modern sales they have to be related to all areas of the company such as sales, marketing, accounting, that is, to build a good sales strategy teamwork is important.
The sales staff that apply the strategies have to be more trained in the market because it is constantly changing. Sales strategies cannot be the same, but they cannot be aggressive or change them all at once because the customer reacts differently.
Development
The concept of sales strategies according to:
"… is a type of strategy that is designed to achieve sales objectives. It usually includes the objectives of each seller, the promotional material to use, the number of clients to visit per day, week or month, the budget of expenses assigned to the sales department, the time to dedicate to each product, the information to provide to customers (slogan or promotional phrase, characteristics, advantages and benefits of the product), etc. ” (Thompson, 1999, p. 131).
Considering the above, sales strategies can be defined with the set of forms or steps for making a sale.
To know the sales strategies you have to know the main types of sales that exist:
- The commonly called traditional personal sale, here the seller interacts directly with the customer; The seller is more likely to convince the customer with their sales strategies. Selling by phone This type of sale interacts seller and customer through the communication tools known as phones or cell phones. The probability that the seller will get his sale is 60%. Online sales: here the seller no longer interacts, everything is through web pages directly with the customer.
Currently there are more types of sales, but the ones that are mainly used are personal sales and online sales, but each one has advantages and disadvantages for both parties (Seller-Client), everything will depend on the negotiation, the environment in which the negotiation is carried out and the knowledge of both parties.
Sellers are the party that carries out these strategies no matter the type of sale you make, so it is considered necessary:
- "… Being a strategic partner, which requires more skills to listen, negotiate and think differently than in the past. Internally the modern sales professional will need to work with an integrated team, and externally realizing that the current customer may not be the one to make the purchase decision in the future. Be a source of reliable analysis. To do this you need critical, conceptual and creative thinking skills, leveraged in a timely manner to provide information, ideas, trends and facts to future and current customers. Effectively managing the demand to create profitable value, which requires management skills financial to obtain benefit for the client and for the hotel or the chain. Use a progressive development process,This requires the ability to plan and create the strategy that defines the value, both added value and expected, that changes strategic thinking. It also requires additional personal development that may require new technical and behavioral skills. ” (Hosteltur.com, 2014)
The analysis of the sellers to form their strategies becomes a little more complicated because now the customer has other habits and the seller has to evolve; A clear example of this is that the potential customer or consumer is dedicated to online shopping, leaving behind the traditional sale that he buys in stores, so the seller has to adapt his strategies to the new technological era, a disadvantage that has the seller, is that the client, having all the knowledge in his hands, sales cannot be made, because the client can check more offers and decide on the one that best suits him, this is when they apply the sales strategies maybe sell a little more expensive but if you give a plus to the product or service the sale can be made.
Technology is what it is now, it facilitates sales and the seller can use his knowledge of markets and thus give a price to the products or service he offers.
Another example is the vendors of cambaceo who dedicate themselves selling from house to house, these people have to use their persuasion skills so that the potential client buys them, in case they do not succeed, they acquire knowledge and as the days go by they adapt their strategies because they already know the market they are targeting.
But what steps must be followed to achieve a sale:
“… A sale involves at least three activities: 1) cultivating a potential buyer, 2) making him understand the characteristics and advantages of the product or service and 3) closing the sale, that is, agreeing the terms and the price. Depending on the product, the market, and other aspects, the process may vary or place greater emphasis on one of the activities… ”(DeGerencia.com)
The previous steps can be known as a negotiation that is when two or more parties interact to discuss or agree on the purchase or sale of a product. Trading is a stage of the sales process and this is where cambaceo sellers use their sales strategies.
However, sales strategies are not only given at the operational level but also at the management level, because that is where decisions are made so that sellers can sell, for example when a board of directors authorizes the promotions that are given, or discounts on buying so many items.
Sales strategies work in all departments of a company because it decides what will be done, when and how, in order to do the above, they need marketing help.
Sales and Marketing Strategies
Both the words of sales and marketing strategies are linked but should never be confused; Marketing in simple words what it does is attract and persuade the customer, while sales carry out the processes they formulated in marketing. Here is an example:
Large and small companies can find themselves in two situations:
- In which they spend an endless amount of money on campaigns, web pages, commercials, etc., in order to be recognized by their clients, but in reality not everything is necessary, because sometimes the goal of being recognized is not reached. They do not have the necessary resources to make themselves known, but with a good marketing analysis and finding the key moments in the year, more is achieved than just advertising.
All this is related to sales strategies because it follows from this if their promotions are carried out, the period that the promotions must take and what type of customers they are targeting.
Marketing is related to the managerial area because here it will be decided if announcements are made and what means will be used. Following the example of large and small companies.
Small companies due to their low investment in marketing prefer not to advertise (advertise, make themselves known, etc.), that's a terrible mistake because people with technology now are when they make themselves known quickly, because what they should to do a deep analysis in your market, it doesn't take a lot of money to make yourself known, this is when marketing comes into action, because the results of a well-done analysis describe our market in detail and among the thousands of alternatives that give us, one will be chosen.
There are several marketing tools that are used today that do not generate a cost to the prey but it can be a very good way to advertise. New word-of-mouth advertising that is used by communication channels such as Facebook or Twitter can also be used as a form of improvement, receiving criticism.
Another tool is to have a database that can help to make promotions to our clients, which arrive directly to their emails or at the time of purchase.
Bloggers who are web pages where you can post your products, place ads, etc.
Sales strategies and human capital
Just as everything is related, human capital is the most important link because it is the one that carries it out. Motivation in human capital reflects many things, such as increased sales or the opposite when there is no good motivation.
Motivation in human capital can be given in different ways, but the most common are compensation and incentives, according to Accenture:
"… proposes actions to optimize incentives:
- Optimize spending on incentives. Analyze the agreement scheme of the company, its business model and work culture. Redesign the sales incentive plans. Evaluation of bonus programs and the participation of credit sales, saving between 5% and 7% of annual incentive funds. Determine goals and quotas. 41% of the sellers of the surveyed companies are not clear about the corporate goals and objectives, while 36% and 47% of the sales representatives in the surveyed companies do not reach an increase in the findings derived from data. This serves to identify opportunities for profit generation and productivity optimization in a faster way. Through the use of analytics, you can access statistical models, forecasts and optimization,that will help companies recognize market opportunities.
5. Increase sales productivity. Carry out an incentive program that reinforces the behavior of their sales ”(Arau, 2014)
As mentioned above, human capital is an important factor for the implementation of a sales strategy, small companies have a low budget for personnel training, but as demonstrated in the previous points, it is not the only way to train someone.
conclusion
Throughout history, the importance that is given to sales strategies has been very important, because most of it will depend on how these same strategies are applied, the environment in which it is developed and the knowledge they have.
Traditional sales strategies are already becoming old as time goes by as a technological era is entering, and for fear of entering something new, they stagnate and companies close down. Not all sales strategies have to be expensive, but there are already free tools in which you can advertise, it is just looking for innovation to adapt to the constantly changing market.
Most of the strategies were included in a single market entering into an error, at present, not only should strategies be developed for products or services, staff must be trained since this is the one that will carry out the strategies, Having trained staff may not only apply the strategies well but improve them.
Companies want to attract more customers with the minimum cost, but how will it be achieved by training staff, enabling them to develop skills in which they can use sales strategies not only in one way.
References
- Arau, M. (February 14, 2014). Financial Compass. Retrieved on February 16, 2014, from Incentives and compensation, business strategy to increase sales: http://www.brujulafinanciera.com/notas/pymesDeGerencia.com. (sf). Definition of Sales. Retrieved on February 19, 2014, from http://www.degerencia.com/tema/ventasHosteltur.com. (February 10, 2014). Hotel news. Retrieved on February 14, 2014, from Hotel Marketing Strategies in Sales, Marketing and RM for 2014: http://www.hosteltur.com/136370_estrategias-comercializacion-hotelera-ventas-marketing-rm-2014.htmlThompson, I. (1999). Marketing Dictionary. Cultural Group.
