Summary
In this essay we will analyze the importance of human capital in the company and its sales. We will mention the importance of staff motivation in achieving sales objectives, we will also analyze the importance of sales from a personal, business and global scope.
We will know the steps to define a good prospect and how to approach them to guarantee a sale. Finally, we will mention the importance that coaching, personal motivation, organizational climate and effective communication have on the company's sales objectives.
introduction
This text will analyze sales from a human perspective, mention how motivation or lack of it affects the sales department and its objectives. We will analyze the steps of the sales process such as prospecting and qualifying clients, prior approach, approach, handling of objections and closing, in addition to the importance of after-sales service. It also contains information on the activities that a good coach should carry out for the benefit of employees and sales. We will mention the benefits of conducting an organizational climate study and, finally, the fundamental role that effective communication plays in the company.
Although it is true that the company has different types of capital such as technological and financial, human capital plays an important role within it, since despite the degree of mechanization, and independence acquired by a company, it will always require of the human factor to carry out the last order and decision making.
II. Background
Commercial activity and sales are as old as the history of mankind, as we can see in the barter activities that Llamas describes in his book "Scientific structure of sales: professional sales techniques", "however, in the human ensemble, some were less fit and skillful for hunting. Soon they were destined to exchange the leftover skins for the salt that was lacking for the seasoning of the meat and the tanning of the skins… ”(Llamas 1994, p. 39). This was the first type of sale to be made in the world, although it later specialized in more advanced cultures such as the Phoenician and the Roman.
As we can see, the world has always been immersed in the process of buying or selling, today thanks to increasing competition, the sales process has become more complex every day. Consumers have become more and more demanding, companies that do not have a well-trained human capital for the sales area, without a doubt will not have the success they want. While it is true that sales in companies are essential for their survival and success, it is also true that human capital is the most valuable asset they have.
It is for this reason that the sales administration in the company must be focused on the training and motivation of both the line personnel and the staff, in order to make their activities more productive.
The motivation of sales personnel is essential for them to achieve their goals, to understand what motivation is, we must know that the word motive is “That which originates a propensity towards a specific behavior. This impulse to act can be caused by an external stimulus (which comes from the environment) or it can be generated internally in the mental processes of the individual. " (Chiavenato 1999, p. 6).
Now, before focusing on the sales process, we must know that it is the administration of human capital, also known as human resources, according to Wayne and Noe, the Human Resources Administration is "the use of people as resources to achieve organizational objectives. " (Wayne and Noe 2015, p. 4).
III. Development
Sales are important to a person, a company or a nation, the products to be sold can be tangible and intangible, Kotler lists the 10 basic offers that products can have such as “goods, services, experiences, events, people, places, properties, organizations, information and ideas ”. (Kotler 2002, p. 6). As we can see there is a great diversity of possible products that can be sold, however, we must know who can buy us and how we can get our products to them.
The 6 steps of the sales process are:
- Prospecting and qualification of customers: It is the stage in which the seller identifies and qualifies customers based on their financial strength, their address, their needs and what possibility they have of being able to continue buying in the future.Previous approach: At this stage The seller must collect information from the prospect about tastes, types of purchase and purchase decision, in addition, he must plan for a future approach either personally or by electronic means and, take into account the time at which he wants to make said approach Approach: At this stage the salesperson has contact with the prospect, the personal appearance, communication skills and education of the salesperson will be essential to attract the prospect's attention. Presentation and demonstration:The seller must explain to the prospect what the characteristics of the product are and how they meet their needs.Handling objections: Because prospects do not express their objections openly, the seller must know how to interpret these objections and give them answers, to reinforce the possibility of closing: The seller must know how to interpret the verbal language of the prospect that indicates that he is ready to make the closing, at this time the seller can ask the prospect about his quantity and type of order, offer extra benefits or indicate that he can offer you a promotion if you buy at that time. (Kotler & Armstrong 2003, pp. 530,531 and 532).The seller must know how to interpret these objections and give them answers, to reinforce the possibility of making the sale Closing: The seller must know how to interpret the verbal language of the prospect that indicates that he is ready to close, at this time the seller can ask the prospect on your quantity and type of order, offer extra benefits or indicate that you can offer a promotion if you buy at that time. (Kotler & Armstrong 2003, pp. 530,531 and 532).The seller must know how to interpret these objections and give them answers, to reinforce the possibility of making the sale Closing: The seller must know how to interpret the verbal language of the prospect that indicates that he is ready to close, at this time the seller can ask prospect on your quantity and type of order, offer extra benefits or indicate that you can offer a promotion if you buy at that time. (Kotler & Armstrong 2003, pp. 530,531 and 532).offer extra benefits or indicate that you can offer a promotion if you buy at that time. (Kotler & Armstrong 2003, pp. 530,531 and 532).offer extra benefits or indicate that you can offer a promotion if you buy at that time. (Kotler & Armstrong 2003, pp. 530,531 and 532).
In order to have a higher percentage of success when making a sale, we must take these steps into account before making the decision to approach a prospect.
However, the sales process does not end at the time of closing, the cycle continues with the after-sales service, in which possible doubts or customer needs must be resolved, according to Paz, customer service "… is not a decision optional but an essential element for the existence of the company and constitutes the center of fundamental interest and the key to its success or failure. " (Paz 2005, p. 2). It is essential to be in contact with customers, since a bad recommendation leads to a large number of bad recommendations that would affect the image of the company and its sales.
Before proceeding we must know what sales are and who is involved in it.
De la Parra in his book "the power of being sales and services" tells us that "sales are the science that deals with the exchange between a good and / or service for a previously agreed equivalent of a monetary unit, in order to to have repercussions, on the one hand, on the development and added value of an organization and nation and, on the other hand, on the satisfaction of the buyer's requirements and needs. " (De la parra 2004, p. 14). This means that sales have an impact not only on an individual level but also on a group, organizational and global level.
On the other hand, the American Marketing Association (AMA) defines sales as "" the personal or impersonal process by which the seller checks, activates and satisfies the buyer's needs for the mutual and continuous benefit of both (the seller and the buyer). " This definition tells us that sales must satisfy both the buyer's and the seller's needs.
Now, for salespeople to be well trained to be able to make their sales, various types of training and techniques in communication, psychology and knowledge about the product are required. It is here where human capital management must focus its efforts, to ensure that its employees have the tools to face the competitive world of sales.
Providing training to sellers is essential, because they are the image of the company with the client, they are responsible for providing the information that the buyer seeks, we must bear in mind that due to political, social and cultural changes, Roles in people's lives have changed, buyers' tastes are increasingly diverse and they have less and less time to stop to listen to a seller on the street, read an email with offers, or even meet someone in his own home, therefore, the seller must make the most of the short time
that the prospectus gives you, to inform you of all the benefits that the product in question offers you.
In order for salespeople to maximize their efforts, both the company and its staff must be committed to it. According to Mercado, one of the eight attributes of a company with excellent management is “productivity through people. Create in all employees the awareness that their best efforts are essential, and that they will participate in all the benefits of the success of the company ”. (Market 2012, page 23). It is understood that when an employee feels part of the company, their motivation increases and gives their best effort.
Some techniques that human capital managers can put into practice to maximize the motivation of their staff and therefore their efficiency in sales are:
Coaching
This technique is especially intended for all people who exercise leadership functions within the company. (Román and Ferrandez, 2008 p. 24).
The purpose of coaching is for the manager to develop skills that allow him to have better communication with his collaborators, give them confidence and solve the problems of the organization together, it is also about helping him to be able to help and motivate the people within the organization he leads, as well as motivating his personal development.
The activities that a good leader must carry out as a coach within their organization are:
- Active listening. It refers to understanding what collaborators express, rather than judging. Information gathering. The coach must obtain enough information regarding the activities of the company, in order to help in a certain situation in a correct way. The coach must give feedback on what the collaborators express Reinforcement. The coach motivates the collaborators for some achievement, through recognition in front of their work group. Self-responsibility. The coach is responsible for the results obtained. Management and leadership. The coach is committed to continuing to improve day by day. (Román and Ferrandez 2008, pp. 22 and 23).
Through active listening, the manager can collect information, which he can reformulate to offer feedback to his sales team, being close to the sales team will allow leaders to make decisions, taking into account the suggestions of each individual. It is worth mentioning that the manager is responsible for the decisions he makes, therefore, a good coach knows that his leadership must be directed towards the achievement of the proposed sales objective, with the help of all his staff.
Staff motivation
When we talk about motivation, the first element we have in mind is money, since we think that the employee feels valued with financial compensation, however, today there are many factors within a company that can motivate staff, such as “… Do the job well and see the result of it, feel part of a team, have information, have a certain level of control and responsibility over work, receive praise from a superior, active participation, quality of work life, internal communication, autonomy, social support, managerial vision, training or power, are some of the factors that are clearly motivating. " (López and Grandío 2005, p. 10).
It is important that managers, directors and supervisors within a company take these elements into account when developing policies, assigning tasks, assigning responsibilities, applying sanctions and when communicating with staff, the activities of the first level team should be aimed at increase staff motivation, otherwise, if a team member has low motivation, this could generate the same attitude throughout the team and low sales.
The individual within the company is very important, because it constitutes the entire organization in itself, each one has a different thought, a different way of seeing life, of feeling, of expressing themselves, of feeling satisfied. It is clear that the general objectives within the company are more important than the specific or individual ones, but we must not forget that when each individual feels motivated or fulfilled, the general objectives of the company can be achieved more easily, Therefore, it is important to know the level of satisfaction of each individual within the organization, we will achieve this with a study of the work environment.
Organizational climate
“The interpersonal and psychological peaks within any organization represent significant factors that influence the attitude and behavior of staff. The most crucial aspect of the organizational climate is obviously the relationship between the boss (director, manager, executive) and the employee. " (Cole and Gaynor 2005, p. 76).
The study of the organizational climate allows, to know what is the level of satisfaction of the personnel when carrying out their work and their perception of the type of leadership in the company, at the same time, it allows the first level team, to know what are the areas of opportunity regarding their type of leadership and what they can do to improve. The organizational climate study can be carried out by applying Likert-type questionnaires to employees.
An example of the questionnaire that collaborators must answer with a minimum of 1 and a maximum score of 5 includes topics such as.
- I like my work. My boss always listens to my opinion. I have the necessary equipment to carry out my work. There is good communication in the company. This company cares about my personal improvement. Etc.
It is important to mention that the team that carries out the questionnaires, at no time should answer any question from the collaborator, otherwise, the final result and the conclusions will be wrong. At the end of all the questionnaires, the team that applies the surveys must proceed to empty the information in a sheet in Excel, the next step is to analyze the information, then proceed to graph the information and obtain final conclusions.
The penultimate step is to present the information objectively to the first level team, the last step will be to provide feedback with the first level team.
This study will allow the first level team to compare the opinion of how they believe their leadership is and how the staff perceives their leadership, it will also provide the opportunity to know what are the requests, complaints and suggestions of the staff in their charge, it is possible Note that at no time should the individual names of those who answered the questionnaires be mentioned to managers.
Efficient communication
The people who are part of the organization must know what are the objectives that it pursues from the first moment that they are part of it. For this reason, good communication must let collaborators know among other things.
Short and long-term sales objectives, policies and procedures, mission, vision and values of the company.
The leader must have the ability to communicate effectively what he wants his collaborators to achieve, since “human communication is social interaction, it is sharing. The members of a community share a series of symbols and ways of thinking, feeling and acting. " (Báez 2000, p. 2).
It should be noted that the communication of the leaders with the collaborators, can not only be done verbally, but also through circulars, company magazines, wall charts, suggestion boxes, emails, videos, recreational activities, etc.
Good communication will allow leaders to be closer to collaborators and for there to be better feedback, for the benefit of the company, its collaborators and its sales.
IV. Conclusions
Human capital in sales is currently more globalized than 20 years ago, this phenomenon is not only occurring locally, but globally, thanks to globalization the sales team is more diversified and specialized.
Companies that wish to increase their sales must, apart from carrying out good marketing for their product and training their staff to make sales, know how workers feel doing their jobs, what motivates them to make a sale beyond the economic factor, how they can help them increase their motivation and self-esteem. Also, thanks to techniques such as the study of organizational climate, the benefits will cover not only employees, but also managers and the company. The phenomenon of business globalization is happening both in large companies, as in those that have a few employees in their ranks, therefore, knowing our human capital is essential both at the group and individual level, for the benefit of sales and success of the organization.
V. Sources
- Báez, CJ (2000). Effective communication. Santo Domingo: Owl. Chiavenato, I. (1999). Human resources management. Colombia: Mc Graw Hill. Cole, D., Gaynor, E. (2005). Organizational development and executive development. Buenos Aires: Noboku. De la Parra, E. (2004). The power comes to be sales and services. Mexico: Panorama. Kotler, P. (2002). Marketing direction. Essential concepts. Mexico: Pearson Education. Kotler, P., Armstrong, G. (2003). Fundamentals of Marketing. Mexico: Pearson Education.Llamas, JM (1994). Scientific structure of the sale: professional sales techniques. Mexico: Noriega Editores López, MA, Grandío, A. (2005). Human capital as a source of competitive advantages. Spain. Netbiblo. Mercado, S. (2012). Sales administration. Mexico: Trillas. Paz, R. (2005). Customer service. Vigo: Own ideas Roman, JD,Ferrandez, M. (2008). Leadership and coaching. (nd): LibrosEnred.Wayne, R., Noe, R. (2005). Human resources management. Mexico: Pearson Education.
