SELLING AN ART

Selling first and foremost is ART. The sales person has to acquire sufficient knowledge from where to buy and whom to sell and at what price. Gathering this information require certain skills which we call it an ‘art’ in this article. Here the assumption is that the sales person is working on behalf of small or medium trading company which is considered as a profit centre by the employers. Therefore the sales person has to be most performance oriented.
It is said that selling makes the World go around. It is somebody who sold some thing to someone else who in turn sold it to us. Let us consider the case of food products .The fertilizer company sells urea to the farmer who sells his produce to the food processing firms like Pepsi or Britannia; who after processing the agricultural produce, sell it to the wholesaler who in turn sells to the retailers and they sell the same to consumers.
Had it not been for the salesperson, the standard of living of an average person would have been much lower. Democracies would never have survived and many ideas and causes would never have succeeded. Selling is crucial to economic growth, political systems and an individuals and familys life-styles. It is so fundamental that every time we try to convince others, we sell. In such cases we sell ideas. Politicians sell ideologies. Research scientists sell researches.
Any time we advocate an idea, a cause or a product, we sell. Despite its significance its pathetic to see how little we know of selling and also the quality of salesmanship exhibited. Each one of us have had both poor and good experiences with sales people which has helped to either reinforce or demolish the stereotype image of salesperson etc.
In todays world marked by complex technologies, and multiple choicesboth product and sales and service outlets the customer is increasingly becoming dependent on the salesperson The customer is wanting an answer to the question Why you and Why not your competitors product. The customer wants to be sure that he or she is getting value for his or her money and finally
Gets reassured that whenever service is required, the sale person will be there. In other words its the salesperson who provide competitive product information to the customer, helps the latter to apply the product to his or her situation and also reassure the customer on prices and service. Its through these activities that the salesperson provides a competitive advantage to the firm or enterprise.
Many a time salespersons have a hard time explaining why the customer should pay a higher price for a product which is available at a lower price elsewhere. Most of them hate to answer this objection and always put pressure on the management to lower its product prices, which is not acceptable to the latter. Rarely do these salespeople realize that a product is bought not just on the basis of price but on the basis of other variables also. This makes the difference between an order taker and a problem solving salesperson. The latter looks at the customers objection as problems needing solutions and hence attempt at generating alternatives to resolve them. It is a problem solving and a consultative style of selling that wins the day.
STIMULUS RESPONSE THEORY OF SELLING
This method or sales under his theory is possible under certain circumstances. They can be
i) Superior quality of the products under a well known brand name needed by many house holds. For example brand Basmati rice
ii) ii) Familiarity or confidence in the sales person iii) Incentives offered by the firm selling the products etc. We have given in detail about the theory and its applications in the ensuing paragraphs.
The stimulus response theory states that if the salesperson uses the right stimulus of an appropriate strength, the prospect will respond the way the salesperson wants him toin this case buy the product. Some of the stimuli that the salesperson has a control over are:
1. Self-Physical appearance, mannerism, tone of the voice or modulating the voice and interpersonal skills exhibited by the salesperson.
2. Price concessions: A salesperson have limited discretions to give price concessions to the most promising and large prospects.
3. Announcement of price changes: Salespeople can choose their timing to announce changes in the price.
4. Preferential treatment to important customers like those who buy in large volumes, make on time payment and are willing to help the salesperson in liquidating his stocks.
This theory presumes a passive role of the prospect in the entire selling process. Like a robot, the prospect will follow the salesperson.
Unfortunately in most cases this doesnt work. In situations where it does work, it more often leaves the customer in a state of post-purchase dissonance. That because the customer is not convinced. May be at a particular moment of weakness, the customer gave in to the salesperson, or the customer who conned in buying from the salesperson.
This theory works in organizations which have a selling orientation and believe in pushing the sale at all costs.
The stimulus response theory saw firms emphasizing the physical appearance of the salesperson and his or her conversational skills. It also saw firms giving leverage to their salespeople to finalize the order at any cost. Hence, there have been examples where the salespeople made the sale for the firm but it was unprofitable. For, they lowered their prices or allowed extended period of credit to the prospect which had a negative effect on the firms bottom line.
Further, as markets become competitive, the thrust will be on relationship management. More and more salespeople will need to have both internal and external focus, if he or she has to be a change agent in the territory. Internally, its the sales person who provides relevant information to all departments and coordinates with them in order to ensure high customer satisfaction.
In the stimulus response theory, the principal contact of salesperson in buying organization is the purchase department.
Under this theory there is also a possibility of he sales person offering all sorts of concessions to pursue the customer to change the current product the consumer is using and later on gradually reducing the discounts. Here the sales person takes a chance. If the customer likes their product then he or she may continue to buy he product irrespective of withdrawal of discounts or incentives and can be loyal customer. Otherwise the customer may revert back to his old brand.

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