Activities in Sales and Marketing Class 9
Selling is an art of persuading the customers to buy the firm's products and services. As it generates revenue, it is the most important activity in marketing. Salesmen act as a link between the firm and the customers for satisfaction to the buyer and profit to the seller. He has to perform many selling activities and non-selling activities.
Types of salespersons:
Manufacturer's Salesmen: They are employed to sell products either directly to the customers or to wholesalers or retailers.
Wholesaler's Salesmen: They call on retail dealers at regular intervals to inform them about various products offered, help in selection and book the order.
Retailer's Salesmen or Sales Engineer: They are of two types, (a) counter salesman: who attends to customers that call at the store and (b) outdoor salesman
They meet potential customers and explain the usefulness of their company's products, thereby persuading them to buy. They are also called 'speciality salesmen'.
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Activities in Sales and Marketing - Class 9
Sales tasks or Selling Activities:
A Selling process involves certain important tasks undertaken by salesmen to complete an order. Some major selling tasks are- Order Getting and Order Taking, Order Processing, Order Delivery and Support Personnel Activities.
- Order getting and order taking:
A salesman does 'creative selling' for getting an order. It means the assessment of situation with a customer, determining his/her needs and presenting the product to convince the customer to buy it. He tries to increase sales by sale to new customers and by bringing in the new customers. They have talent to convert prospective customers into customers. Companies pay salary plus commission to such people.
Order-taking is completing transaction after the decision of the customer to buy. This involves the transaction like processing and delivery and requires clerical training.
2. Order processing:
In Order-processing, procurement department and finance department of the company join hands to complete the order. It is very important for retail selling or wholesale selling; field selling or telemarketing sale orders.
Steps of Order processing:
- Verification: It involves verifying the availability of stock of goods to see if there isn’t any deficiency of product.
- Picking: It consists of taking and collecting products in a specified quantity before delivery to confirm customers' orders.
- Sorting: It is a process of separating the products according to destinations where they have to be delivered so that the delivery-process moves properly.
- Packaging: To prevent the damage to product and keep it safe, a product is properly packaged before delivery. Different products are packaged differently, depending upon their size, shape, value and nature. Large, bulky products are packed in cartons and boxes, while smaller products are packed in sheets or plastic. Products of high value will be packed with great caution long with 'Handle with care' mark.
- Consolidation: After packaging, products are gathered for delivery near billing counter. If products are to be delivered at buyer's doorsteps, they are brought together on the basis of common regions and areas of delivery, or on the basis of similarity of products.
3. Order delivery:
Order Delivery means getting products to the customers, after the order is processed and deal is closed. Delivery of products can be through these ways:
(a) The consumers collect the products themselves
(b) They make use of courier-services, logistical-service providers and drop shippers
Larger companies often operate multiple distribution centres allowing for the shipment to be delivered to the customer as soon as possible. Once the order is received by the customer, he/she completes the order processing, by inspecting the items and confirming the condition of the goods.
4. Support Personnel Activities:
Support personnel help in facilitating selling functions. There are two major types of support personnel:
(a) Missionary salespeople: They spread information regarding new goods or services, describe attributes and leave material to educate customers. They build goodwill of the firm, but do not close sales.
(b) Technical salespersons: They offer technical assistance to current customers and are usually trained engineers appointed by the company.
Activities in Sales and Marketing Class 9
Money collection and Sales reporting
Money collection:
Money collection means receiving payment from the customer in exchange of the product delivered. Payment can be in cash or digital, lump sum or in instalments.
E-commerce transactions are normally processed within seven working days. Companies prefer advance payments by use of credit card or electronic fund transfer by the customers. Cash on Delivery (COD) is also one of the popular modes of payments.
In case of B2B (business to business) sales, payment can be collected through cheque or electronic fund transfer. Account payee cheques or RTGS (Real time gross settlement) are used normally. The collection of bills should be made promptly without damaging customer relationship.
Daily sales reporting:
The salespersons have to send the daily sales reports to their superiors to show and prove their work regarding efforts to generate more and more sales. This report acts as a communication link between the salesperson, customers and the market in general, with the company.
The daily reports can be of different from company to company, depending on the nature of products, but the basic information remains the same.
It contains the name of the salesperson, his code number, the date, his work area during the day, names of customers met, presentation made or not, orders taken during the day and observation/feedback.
Daily sales reports are the basis for comparing actual results against the standards set for each activity. These help in setting future schedules and generate more sales.
Activities in Sales and Marketing Class 9
Role of Marketing Professional:
Marketing is the process of creating value for customer by selling goods and services for earning profit. A marketer identifies goods and services desired by a set of consumers, focuses on customers' needs and wants and facilitates marketing process. Marketing involves production, packing, promotion, pricing, distribution and selling.
Marketers focus on Marketing Mix i.e. four Ps of marketing i.e. product, price, place and promotion.
Role of the Marketers:
Marketers play crucial role for the customers, company and society as following:
- Marketers create value for money and larger choices to the customers:
They help in production by identifying the customers' need and try to maximize satisfaction through offering variety of product choices.
- Marketers promote and create product awareness to the public:
They create awareness about product or service in the market by advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing. The use of a particular technique depends upon the nature of product, market and the financial conditions of the company.
- Marketers Help in Increasing Sales and Market Share:
Greater awareness about the product and services will boost sales, means more profit to the company. It will ultimately help the company capture greater market share.
- Marketers provide more convenience to customers in purchase:
By offering customers both offline and online platforms to purchase, marketers are serving a greater number of customers through different ways, like sms, e-mail, facebook, whatsapp. Even customers have become smarter, as after thorough search they buy the best deal.
- Marketers help in Building Company Reputation
Brand recognition has become part of marketing activities these days. Consumers can easily relate the brand name with the images, logo, or caption that they hear and see in the advertisements. Thus, a business continues to grow and expand because of brand loyalty.
- Marketers create welfare in society:
In addition to profit maximisation as main motive, many marketers have taken up corporate social responsibility in order to give back to society in different forms.
- Marketers help in building relationship:
Good behaviour and better after sale services given by marketers create satisfied customers and repeat orders. By developing strong relationship with suppliers and distributors, the company gets higher levels of cooperation and increased efficiency.
Activities in Sales and Marketing Class 9
Role of Sales personnel:
A salesman is a friend and a guide to the consumer and a supporter and an aid to the producer.
- Helpful in increasing sales:
The main aim of a salesman is to maximize sales of the company's products. A salesperson tries to get customer want what firm produces. This helps in increasing sales and profitability for the company.
   2. Helpful in distribution of goods and services:
Salesman tries to meet the needs of existing customers and prospective buyers. This helps in increased orders and better distribution of goods and services, which is helpful in business growth.
  3. Helpful in promoting sales:
Salesman is a flexible tool of promoting sales as he can change his presentation to fit the needs of the buyer immediately after checking the customer's reaction.
  4. Feedback to company:
Salesmen take feedback from the customers and give it to the company. This helps the organization to know better about the customers' need and make the necessary changes in product development for better customer satisfaction.
  5. Helpful in framing pricing policies and credit policies of the company:
By providing his company the information about different market segments, customer needs and purchasing power, a salesperson helps in framing pricing policies and credit policies of the company
  6. Helpful in building image of the company:
A salesman gains confidence of his customers, convince them about the product or service and its superiority over competitors. This improves the company image.
  7. Guide to customers:
The salesmen inform the customers about the new products and its use to satisfy their needs. This helps buyers to make a purchase decision easily and save their time and energy.
  8. Enhancing customer satisfaction:
Customers also get information about the instructions in use, its installation, operation of the product and warranty by the salesman.
9. Building relationships:
By showing 'care about his customers', salesman builds a good relationship with the customers which make them repeat customers.
Understanding Customer and Consumer – Class 9