Summary
In this essay we will analyze the importance of sales within a company, the definition of sales, what types of sales exist, such as passive and active, the typologies (repetitive sales and negotiation sales).
Sales: The main objective of any company
introduction
Next we will talk about an issue that has been revolutionizing the existence of any company: sales. This is a topic that every entrepreneur should know, since the life of your company depends on sales. In addition, this issue arose for a long time, only that before it was not given the importance that today we must give it if we want to have a successful business.
There is a phrase that says "There is no favorable wind for those who do not know where they are going." By which he means that it is important that as entrepreneurs we know what the vision of our business is, that is, what we hope will happen with it in the future. And sales are the essential key to make our company grow, because if there are no sales then the company cannot grow, and in this case the opposite happens, it goes bankrupt. That is why in this essay we will talk about the importance of sales and some sales strategies that could help you in the growth of your company.
II. Background
Have you ever wondered what the engine of a company is? Surely many of us have ever wondered about such an important factor for companies, just as it is very certain that we all know the answer: "sales". Since ancient times, sales have emerged as a need for companies to achieve the same goal, "generate profits." We might think that the topic of sales arose not long ago, however, analyzing the situation we could realize that this topic began to arise from the need of primitive people to obtain food for their families. “When the first families were born, the first social conglomerates were generated. This led to the development of agriculture and with it the barter system developed even more… ”(Mejía, 2015).
"The historical antecedents of sales promotion go back to ancient merchants, who practiced bartering of products, and who, to encourage purchase, used beads and other small gifts…" (Salén, 1999, p. 8). However, the sales stage arose from great needs that companies faced “… the first half of the 20th century, with two world wars, a period between the wars marked by the Wall Street stock market crash and the Great Depression, hit the producing companies when consumption levels fell dramatically, and with it prices. Therefore, they found themselves in the need to create new strategies ”(Mejía, 2015). It is not until then that sales were seen as a fundamental strategy of companies to generate money,
The definition of Sales is “… science that is responsible for the exchange of a previously agreed equivalent good and / or service of a monetary unit, in order to have an impact, on the one hand, on the development and capital gains of an organization and nation and, on the other, in satisfying the buyer's requirements and needs ”. (Parra, 2003, p. 33). Sales will always be carried out within an organization for a specific purpose, which is that they achieve the highest number of sales that generate the financial resources they expect.
III. Development
As we have been mentioning from the beginning, sales are the fundamental and essential part of any company since it is through these that companies grow. Analyzing this topic, we can classify sales in two ways:
- Passive sale: “… the customer is the one who starts the purchase process”. (Parra, 2003, p. 34). In this type of sale, we cannot call it as such since the customers are the ones who take the initiative to buy, that is, there is no person who tries to sell the product. What happens in this case is that companies place people at counters to show their products or services, but the action ends there, since all they do is be as receivers of orders or order takers, that is, only serve the customer in their purchase without trying to sell anything. The true essence of this type of sale is that customers buy the product because they need it and not because the company needs to sell it. And at the end of all, the results that can be obtained with this type of sale is that the company has low productivity,that there is no customer loyalty to the company and that the company fails to reach its true potential. Active sales: "… the customer is an important part of the process approach, and all resources and approaches are channeled to it." (Parra, 2003, p. 35). Contrary to the previous type of sale, in this type of sale, companies are focused on making a true sale, that is, there really is a sales process in which sellers try to get customers to purchase the company's products. Through this, the sellers have the task of demonstrating how their products meet the customer's needs, what the characteristics of the product are and trying to make a positive sale closing. In this case,The results that can be obtained are greater customer satisfaction and therefore customer loyalty, that the company has good productivity and that it truly exploits its potential.
Many business owners act as if sales are not important to their business, which is completely wrong because without sales, the business cannot exist. But there is not only the fact that they do not give importance, in other circumstances, if they give importance to sales but do not know how to fully exploit their potential in the sales area. Many times the failure of a company is due to:
- Entrepreneurs do not realize that everything changes and will continue to change, that is, their target market will not always be the same because this same market may begin to adopt other tastes, which is why they tend to change their opinion about what they buy. So entrepreneurs must try to follow the trends of their customers to adjust their products or services.
Now, we are going to talk about the types of sales that exist, this division is made based on the level of knowledge required by customers to make the purchase decision:
Repetitive selling: "The client has been involved in a process of information and results before…" (Parra, 2003, p. 36). In this case, customers already know the product, that is, they know all its benefits, features and functions that help them relate them to their needs and in this way carry out the product purchase process. And the decision that the client makes will be based on their experience and needs at that time.
Negotiation sale: "Due to the lack of knowledge that the client has about the product or service, it is necessary to help, support, advise and assist the client during the sale process…" (Parra, 2003, p. 36). This type of sale is different from the previous one, since on the contrary, in this type of sale, the customer must be shown that the product or service is really going to meet their needs.
Once you know the above, below we will give you 7 strategies to sell more according to the magazine Soy Entrepreneur (Sánchez, 2015):
- Be effective: The first thing you should do is research your potential customers since there is no better seller than the one who knows who they are selling to. When you knock on the door of a client or when he arrives at the door of your business, you must have the ability to know how to investigate what they need to be able to offer it to them.Know your prospects more thoroughly: This point is related to the First, since in this you must outline the type of customer to whom you can offer your products with the certainty that you are offering them something that they really need Pay attention to details: Generally, what sellers do is talk and talk about the product, when what they really need to do is learn to listen to what the customer has to say in response to what they have heard. Deliver what you promise:When a salesperson wants to sell, he can do or offer anything to close the deal, which can cause problems because if he does not comply then the only thing that will win is that the customer does not return. Therefore, you must fulfill what you promise.Work your smart questions: There is nothing better than a well-trained salesperson to capture the important information obtained through the client and turn that information into key questions to convince the client. to sell: Before making the sale, it is important for the seller to know if the customer can really pay for the product or service he is offering. This should even be known from the beginning of the purchase process. It is worth diversifying:By this we mean that we should not focus completely on a single client or a single product is a service, we must have more variety between one and the other because if one fails, then we can resort to our second option.
Perhaps at this moment you are wondering why we have given you the previous strategies if you are not focused on sales, if not that you are or will be a future entrepreneur, well, it is important that we as entrepreneurs know each of our areas in the company and this one in particular since, as we have been mentioning, sales are the key to the success of your company. So we suggest that you invest resources and time in training your salespeople to ensure that they can attract all your possible customers.
IV. conclusion
As good entrepreneurs we must learn that sales will always be the pillars of our companies, that if we do not have sales, then we do not have business. And there is endless information about sales for a company that we must know so it is important that we start by knowing from the most basic to the most complex to develop our full potential in this area.
The first big mistake that many entrepreneurs usually make is to focus more on administrative areas and leave aside the sales area, certainly good administration is essential for all companies, but within that administration we must draw strategies for the sales area, it is To say, that it is an administrative area does not mean that it should focus on accounting, documents, permits and that kind of thing, of course they are important for the company to function, but within this same area we must still deal with issues such as training for the sellers. At the end of it all, if there are no sales, then we will have nothing to record or manage because sales are and will continue to be the reason why a company may or may not stay in the market.
There may be many reasons that we could give you so that from now on you start thinking about your sales, but at the moment we have only done it in a generalized way. Now we invite you to continue investigating the topic of sales, which is very extensive and never ends because the market is constantly changing and you must find a way to satisfy their needs through the art of selling.
V. References
- Mejía, M. (03 of 07 of 2015). Creative market. Obtained from https://mercadeocreativo.wordpress.com/el-vendedor-exitoso/historia-de-las-ventas/Parra, ED (2003). Sales and Negotiation Strategies. Mexico: Panorama Editoral.Salen, H. (1999). Sales promotion or the new commercial power. Madrid: Ediciones Díaz de Santos Sánchez, G. (July 06, 2015). I am an Entrepreneur. Retrieved from
