UNIT - I

INTRODUCTION
TO
SALESMANSHIP

GRADE – 11
2019-2020

1
 Unit-1: Introduction to Salesmanship

INTRODUCTION
Change is law of nature and business environment in which organisations are existing today keeps on
changing. Every business as a part of turbulent business environment not only has to keep profit motive
in mind but also has to reduce the cost of doing business. The cost of doing business reduces if effective
selling efforts are put across by salesmen through salesmanship along with good product. A transition
from production to service driven organization can only take place by making people driven
organization.
What is desired today is an organization of people (employees) and driven by people (customers). For
Example: Think of a shop opened in a neighbourhood, the window display was so attractive that pulled
you inside the shop, the products were also arranged in proper order. But there was nobody to sell and
guide you. When there was nobody to handle a customer like you? How would you feel?
Obviously, the impression that you carried from the window display and attractive display of products
couldn‟t get converted to sales in absence of a sales person. For Example: Think of another situation
where you are travelling and felt like eating something; saw a bright logo in red and yellow from a
distance, you stopped for eating out there. The moment you reached the food outlet you found it was
deserted; there was nobody to greet you at the entrance.
But you ignored and moved inside but after going inside too there was nobody. What came to your
mind? The impression you carried and decision you made to go to the restaurant all tend to change as
there was nobody to serve you and even no customer. How good the ambience might be but product/
service would only be sold if there is somebody to serve.
These situations illustrate that a product and ambience can‟t sell all by itself. Thus the focus of business
must be towards customers and people to serve them and not merely products. If a firm wants to earn
desired profit, it has to make desired sales and missing on every sales opportunity has a cost involved in
it. As companies adopt marketing orientation, the role of sales person and salesmanship becomes more
important. For a market, oriented firm the focus should be to be customer centric and establish its
organization structure around customers, gone are the days when being product focused above used to
give business a success.
Selling is an art and a business can only succeed if it does it well. Nowadays a business focusing on
mere selling products and earning profits is ought to be following marketing myopia (short-sightedness
strategy). Any business that is merely concentrating on products and profits can never be a long-sighted
strategy follower as these days if your business believes “customer is king," the next most important

2
person in the kingdom must be the one who interacts with the king (customer) and understands
requirement of customer. Obviously that person is none other than the salesman. The sales men job
doesn‟t end by just understanding the need of customer, satisfying the need but building a long-term
relationship is desired by lot of customers.
Thus personal selling involves a professional sales person who is a good listener and is oriented in
building a long term relationship with the customer. Personal Selling is a personal communication,
through the exercise of salesmanship, with the prospective customers where engaging customer is
essential.
Session 1: Meaning and Definition of Personal Selling
Selling is as basic to our society as metabolism is to our life. It is salesman that hums the wheels of
industry, turns income and raises the standard of living of society.
Personal selling is the art of convincing prospects to buy the given products and services.
When a salesman interacts personally with the consumer to persuade the prospect to become a customer
and buy the product.
Personal selling is the oral presentation in a conversation with one or more prospects to sell by
persuasion. For ex- directly face to face, through telephone or mail, etc.
Personal selling refers to the use of speech and personal conviction to bring about some action on the
part of another. Salesperson is a man who actually performs the personal selling.
Personal selling is a means of implementing marketing programmes. It is concerned with 'persuasive
communication'. A salesperson in personal selling tries to persuade the prospect so that he can take a
decision to buy a product. It is a major factor in creating sales volume. It is a direct presentation of a
product to a prospective customer by a salesman. It takes place face to face or over the telephone. It may
be directed to a middleman or a final consumer.
A few Definitions of personal selling are quoted below:
According to William Stanton and Walker, "Personal selling is the personal communication of
information to persuade somebody to buy something."
In the words of Philip Kotler, "Personal selling is a face-to-face interaction with one or more prospective
purchasers for the purpose of making presentations answering questions, and procuring orders."
In the words of Robinson and Stidsen; "Personal selling may be defined as interpersonal face to-face
interaction for the purpose of creating, exploiting or maintaining a mutually beneficial exchange
relationship with others."
According to Mahoney and Slone, "Personal selling is the personal communication between a
salesperson and a potential customer or group of customers."
In the words of Richard Buskirk, "Personal selling consists of contacting prospective buyers of product
personally."
According to American marketing association (AMA)

3
“Personal Selling is an oral presentation in a conversation with one or more prospective purchaser for
the purpose of making sales; it is the ability to persuade the people to buy goods and services at a profit
to the seller and benefit to the buyer”
Marketing mix:
Definition according to Philip Kotler “Marketing Mix is the set of controllable variables that the firm
can use to influence the buyer's response”. The controllable variables in this context refer to the 4 'P's
[product, price, place (distribution) and promotion]. Each firm strives to build up such a composition of
4„P‟s, which can create highest level of consumer satisfaction and at the same time meet its
organizational objectives.

Marketing programmes are designed around four elements of the marketing mix:
(a) Products to be sold, (b) Pricing, (c) Promotion, (d) Place.
(a) Product: Product refers to the goods and services offered by the organization. A pair of shoes, a
plate of dahi-vada, a lipstick, all are products. All these are purchased because they satisfy one or
more of our needs. Product can also take the form of a service like an air travel,
telecommunication, etc. Thus, the term product refers to goods and services offered by the
organization for sale.
(b) Price: Price is the amount charged for a product or service. It is the second most important
element in the marketing mix. Fixing the price of the product is a tricky job. Many factors like
demand for a product, cost involved, consumer‟s ability to pay, prices charged by competitors
for similar products, government restrictions etc. have to be kept in mind while fixing the price.
(c) Place: Goods are produced to be sold to the consumers. They must be made available to the
consumers at a place where they can conveniently make purchase. The activities that make the
product available to consumers.
(d) Promotion: Promotion is an important ingredient of marketing mix as it refers to a process of
informing, persuading and influencing a consumer to make choice of the product to be bought.
Promotion is done through means of personal selling, advertising, publicity and sales promotion.
It is done mainly with a view to provide information to prospective consumers about the
availability, characteristics and uses of a product. It arouses potential consumer‟s interest in the
product, compare it with competitors‟ product and make his choice. The proliferation of print
and electronic media has immensely helped the process of promotion.
While promotion component includes advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales
promotion there is relationship between personal selling and other elements of marketing mix. A right
product with right price & right place needs personal selling efforts to sell. It should be noted that
advertising and sales promotion are impersonal communications, whereas salespeople (in personal
selling) talk directly to customers.
Thus, personal selling involves two-way communication with prospects that allows the sales message to
be adapted to the special needs of the customer. Personal selling when combined with other element of
promotion mix can give excellent results.
Personal selling is an extremely effective but expensive form of promotion. In the promotion mix of an
organization, personal selling plays a dominant role. As sales is the life line of a business.

4
 The ultimate object of all produced in factory is achieved through sale; and without sales, no business
would survive. An important element of the marketing mix of a business firm is promotion. The function
of promotion is concerned with the establishment of contact and communication with the object of
creating „customers‟. But personal selling further enhances that to relationship building with customer.
Activity 1
Identify a product you are in need of. Identify the brand you want to purchase. Go to
the retail outlet of the brand and tell your need to the salesman see how he interacts
with you and do you have more information, or does he? Find out if he can change your
decision of buying the brand. State the reasons if changes made in decision making.

What is better, personal selling or advertising?

Personal selling helps in direct interaction and proper teaching to the customer. But advertisement helps
in promotion of the product and in a bigger way.
Different ways of personal selling-
 Face to Face
 Calling through phones
 Social media
MERITS OF PERSONAL SELLING
1. FLEXIBLITY AND ADAPTABILITY-
Personal selling by its nature is capable of providing more flexibility, being adaptable. The salesman can
adjust himself to the varying needs, moods, motives, impulses and other behavioural variables of the
prospect with a view to communicate effectively and affect the sales for the units.
2. MINIMUM WASTE-
The efforts put in by the salesman are highly focused on a single customer or a small group of customers
the message is likely to reach them without distortion and diffusion. This is perhaps the greatest merit in
contrast to advertising where the ad message is released in mass resulting in message diffusion and
distortion causing more wastage or promotional efforts.
3. ACTS AS A FEEDBACK-
The salesman is in effect a researcher being in contact with consumer, he has an advantage of collecting
and transmitting the relevant market information affecting his company. Such timely, authentic, variable
data is the basis of vital decisions, strategies and tactful adjustments
4. CREATES LASTING IMPRESSION-
The personal selling process is so direct and penetrating that lasting business relations can be developed
between a selling house and customers. In case of advertising, it acts like a flash which lasts for a few
seconds.
5. PULLS THROUGH THE LOGICAL SEQUENCE-
The personal selling follows the logical selling process which matches to the reasoning of one and all. A
salesman pulls through the customer in a step by step selling process starting with interest, desire,

5
 conviction and action. Further he detects the laws of consumer attention and interest which beings the
consumer back to the track by reputation and reinforcements.
DEMERITS OF PERSONAL SELLING-
1. IT IS EXPENSIVE: Personal selling as a method of promotion is quite expensive. getting a right
salesman and retaining him for a long time is very difficult. appointing a salesman has many cost such
as recruiting cost, training cost, the cost of retaining, etc. when a salesman leaves a job, the cost of
retaining becomes a loss for the organisation.
2. DIFFICULTY OF GETTING RIGHT KIND OF SALESMAN: Though, theoretically certain guidelines
are prescribed for getting right kind of salesman from the potential candidates, it is really very difficult
to get suitable salesman from company‟s point of view. The potential salesman so selected, trained and
placed, do not guarantee loyal service to the company.
3. STAKE IN CONSUMER LOYALTY: personal selling is such a process- direct and close between the
customer and salesman - that the consumer loyalty depends on the presence of such a salesman. The
firm‟s fortunes are tied to the loyalty of consumers which in turn depends on the very presence of
salesman. The moment the salesman moves out, the clientele drops down to the detriment of the firm.
4. MORE ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS: Personal selling involves more of administrative problems
than impersonal selling. Since the firm is to deal with manpower-a driving force behind sales- the
company has to meet the challenges in the areas of manpower planning, organising, directing, co-
ordinating, motivating and controlling. The solution to these problems even if found out are not
everlasting because, human content in management is unique.

Nature of Personal Selling

1. Part of Promotional Mix: Every marketing-oriented company has a marketing plan. -Personal selling
is a part of the promotion mix of the company's marketing program. The major elements in the
promotion mix of a company are advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, public relations and
personal selling efforts. Personal selling when combined with other elements of Promotion mix makes it
effective tool.

Advertising
Personal selling combines
with other tools Public
Relations
Personal Direct
Selling Marketing
Sales
Promotion
The
internet
Figure 1.2: Combination of personal selling with promotion mix

6
2. Understanding Needs: Personal selling is purely need based and understanding needs is most
important thing for initiating the sales process. Personal selling involves an interactive relationship
between two or more persons. The seller observes the needs of the customer and makes immediate
adjustments.
3. Two Way Communication: Personal selling is direct contact between seller and customer. It is the
personal communication of information between the seller and customer. Salesman first makes the
customer speak about his or her problem and identifies the need and offers various alternatives to meet
the need, he also provides information about each. Now the ball comes in customer‟s court of decision
making and he can choose the right product/service from the choices offered to him. It is face to face
communication which is in contrast to the mass impersonal communication of advertising, sales
promotion, and other promotional tools.
4. Persuasive: Personal selling is usually focused on prospective customers. The seller first considers It
is the art of persuasion by considering the needs, desires and buying problems of the customers and then
performs the art of persuasion. It is the art of winning customers confidence. A salesperson in personal
selling tries to persuade the prospect so that he can take a decision to acquire the product which the
salesperson is talking about.
5. Demand Creator: Salesman is known for persuading the customer and creating demand for a product
or service. Salesmen in person talks to the customers about the product and benefits associated with the
product. He induces that immediate buying action and the demand for product is generated. He creates
an urge to buy the product.
6. Flexible Approach: Personal selling is more flexible than other tools of promotional mix. Salespeople
can tailor their presentations to fit the needs and behavior of individual customers. Salespeople can see
their customer's reaction to a particular sales approach and make adjustments in different situations.
Sales talks and presentation can be adjusted according to situation to suit individual nature, motives, and
problems.
7. Relationship building: It‟s a misconception that selling is one time sales. Actually personal selling is
not just to sell a product once rather it is establishing a relationship with the customer. It keeps
customer's best interests at heart. It maintains long-run relationships. It makes the buyer feel that he is
listened to, and his needs are considered.
8. Educating Customers: Salesman through personal selling generates sales volume, by educating the
customer. He brings human element into marketing transactions and increases the customer's confidence
in the company by educating them. The customer is educated about product features, quality, how to use
and handle the product etc.
9. Broader Concept: Personal selling is a broader concept than salesmanship. According to Cundiff and
Still, Personal selling, along with other marketing elements, is a means for implementing marketing
programs. Salesmanship is one aspect of personal selling it is never all of it. Personal selling makes use
of salesmanship techniques.
10. Service Element: Personal selling is not getting rid of a thing or cheating the customers for short
term goal. Rather it is necessarily an act of assisting the customers to buy wisely. Today, it has become

7
a symbol for honesty and dependability. A product is tangible component when attached to intangible
component of service adds value and helps in personal selling.
Objectives of Personal Selling :
According to Still, Cundiff and Govani, the objectives of personal selling are as follows :
1. To do the entire selling job.
2. To "service" existing accounts.
3. To search out and obtain new customers.
4. To secure and maintain customers cooperation in stocking and promoting the product line.
5. To keep customers informed on changes in the product line and other aspects of marketing strategy.
6. To assist customers in selling the product line.
7. To capture and retain a certain market share.
8. To obtain sales volume in ways that contribute to profitability.
9. To obtain some number of new accounts of given types
10. To keep personal-selling expenses within set limits
11. To secure targeted percentages of certain accounts' business
Need and Importance of Personal Selling
In today‟s highly competitive world, personal selling has an important role to play. Few products like
home appliances, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and publications, etc., are not possible to sell without the
help of sales person. Personal selling though being expensive form of promotion helps in generating
huge sales. Many companies enjoy a strong position in market only due to effective personal selling.
Salesman can personally attend each customer to convince as well to solve problems. Personal selling in
not only important to sell the products, but also to create permanent customers. Salesman can renew
customer relations each time. People have more faith on salesman than exaggerated advertisement. In
many companies, personal selling is the largest single operating expense. It often equals 8 to 15 percent
of sales, whereas advertising costs average 1 to 3 percent of sales. This shows the importance of
personal selling element. Personal selling offers triple rewards. It benefits all parties, including
businessman, customer, and society.
Importance to Businessmen: It is helpful to businessmen as follows:

important tool to push the product in the market. A salesman helps in creating demand of the product by
describing its functions and demonstrating the product. A good salesman not only has knowledge of its
own brand but also knowledge of competitors in the market. They act as suggestion holders, create
demand and generate sales.
vertising is a mass promotional and communication tool, things
are exaggerated through advertising on the other hand efforts may even go waste. Personal selling

8
involves minimum wastage of efforts as compared to other tools of promotion. It is directly interacting
with the prospect and saves time which leads to minimizing time and resources.

to purchase it. Salesman helps in introducing a new product in the market. When we are suffering from
a disease, whom do we tend to visit? Obviously it‟s the doctor. The doctor prescribes a medicine. Have
you ever thought of how come the doctor comes to know about new medicines? It is through the
salesmen of pharmaceutical company who approach the doctor. These salesmen are called medical
representatives by personal selling explain the salt in the medicine convince the doctors to prescription
of medicines.
echniques can only attract attention and
arouse desire. By themselves they cannot create actual sale. Personal selling in most cases leads to actual
sale. A salesman can find prospective buyers, demonstrate the product, explain its operation, and
convince customers to buy it, install it at the customer's place and provide after-sale service. No other
method of promotion can perform all these functions. Therefore, personal selling does the entire job of
selling. Personal Selling is a complete promotional technique of keeping customers satisfied

interest can easily be assessed. The magic phrase of „May I help you‟ does wonder and is the way to
make customers speak about their needs. Thereafter, the presentation by the salesmen can be modified
as per the need of the customer.

product and the company rather personal selling is a mirror of market as it gives clear picture of the
market back to the company. It supplies market information‟s back to the firm. It keeps eye on market
nerve, fashion trends and consumer profile. It regularly assesses the competitive forces of the market.
: Salesmanship can improve image of the company by highlighting company‟s
achievements and offers. The detailed explanation about company and its products removes all doubts
and misunderstandings. It helps in restoring company image and reputation in market.

satisfying the want of consumers over the long run. Personal selling is by far the major promotional
method used to realize this goal. The number of people employed in personal selling are much more
than advertising.
Importance to Customers: It is important to customers as follow:

products and services.

company products. They transform prospects into buyers by understanding their needs. Personal selling
provides personal touch and can lead to „repeat purchases ' to the company.

product takes place, which generates sales. For Example: Think of a situation when you go out for
buying fragrance, the sales person demonstrates the fragrance on a paper strip and you choose the brand.
Television and internet these days also demonstrates products but touch and feel factor is missing. For
technical products, demonstration method has more relevance.

9
 es Customers: Salesmanship is not merely a tool of convincing and persuading people to
buy. Rather a salesman not only provides information but also educates and guides the customers. He
handles their complaints and assists them in getting value for their money. He has complete information
about the product and can clear their doubts on the spot.

might have lots of doubts about the product that remain unanswered. There might be need for explaining
the quality uses and price of the product. Salesmen can answer unanswered doubts and can make a
prospective customer to buy a product. In this way personal selling supports advertising. Salesmen
educates the consumers about new products and about new uses of existing products.

communication tools. They do not focus on individual needs and wants. Personal selling is the only tool
of promotion mix that focuses on personal problems of customers. It is comparatively more effective
and result-oriented. This is the only market promotion technique that provides an immediate feedback.
This is the only technique that helps in judging the customer and actually telling whether customer
intended to buy the product or service.
Importance to Society: It is also important to society as follow:

country thereby increasing employment opportunities. They help to maintain equilibrium between
demand and supply.

Latent demand is the desire for a product that a consumer is unable to satisfy because he is himself is
unable to point it out. At times the customer doesn‟t realize what is missing until pointed out. This
results in more production, and hence leads to increase in GDP of the country.
Opportunities: It provides opportunity of employment and ensures attractive career in
sales. There are numerous positions from 10th, 12th pass to post graduates are required. There is no
dearth of respect, variety, and security etc.
eople: Travel and tourism in the country get promoted by the mobility of the

consumption by selling standardized products.

KNOWLEDGE ASSESSMENT 1

Fill in the blanks with appropriate answers:

1. _________________________________is a personal communication, through the exercise
of salesmanship, with the prospective customers.
2. Personal selling starts with understanding _________________________of
prospects/customers.
3. Personal selling is focused on______________________________
4. Personal selling is the most _______________________as it builds up buyers' preference,
conviction, and action at much lesser cost than mass communication.

10
 5. Personal selling provides '_________________________to the company buy building relationship
with the customer.
6. Stanton writes, "Salesmen___________________ prospective customers, expedite orders,
coordinate deliveries, set-up displays, service their accounts, gather market information‟s,
and have to solve customers‟ problems.
7. Today's salesman performs _________________________of sales roles.
8. Personal selling offers triple rewards by benefiting not only customer but also
_______________and __________________.

9. Personal selling is the only technique that ____________the product and generates sales

10. Salesmen help to increase aggregate sales and production in the country thereby increasing
_________________________ opportunities.
Session 2: Approaches to Personal Selling
Marketing of products to customers, companies use different approaches, depending on the nature of
product or services, resources of the organization, expertise or others. Initially there were four
approaches:
1. Stimulus Response Selling Approach
2. Mental State Approach
3. Need Satisfaction Approach
4. Problem Solving Approach
5. Consultative Selling Approach
Approach 1: Stimulus Response Selling

Buyer response
thought: Continues
Favourable process until
reaction and purchase
eventual decision
purchase

Fig: 1.3 Stimulus Response Selling

11
Of the five approaches of selling, it is the simplest approach to selling. Salesman uses structured
questions and statements, these statements act as stimuli for the customer and sales person get the
desired response in their favour. Words and statements of sales person provide a stimulus if they are
well planned to convert prospect to a customer. A salesperson plans in advance the the desired
conversation. He prepares structured questions whose answer is most likely to be in ; YES‟ leading
towards the end of the sale in „YES‟. Proper sales training by the company is given. In case of
telemarketing, in which one script is being memorized and then repeated on every call till the sale call is
closed. The Fig.1.3, the sales person makes regular attempts to customers by providing stimuli or cues
which help in influencing the buyer. Once the buyer is conditioned, the salesperson tries to secure a
positive response leading to purchase decision made by buyer. This approach involves less contribution
of the buyer, its one sided conversation in favor of sales person, who has the aim to sell at any cost. So
it‟s suitable in the situations when buyer is unprofessional and has less knowledge.
Approach 2: Mental State Selling

Figure 1.4: AIDA Model

Mental state selling makes an assumption that buying process for majority of buyers is identical and
they go through certain mental states and these mental states i.e. Attention, interest, Desire, and Action,
makes AIDA model that is formed by the first letters of Attention (A), interest(I), Desire(D), and
Action(A). It is used by many organisations. It is described below:
(a) Attention: The first task in a sales presentation is to attract the prospect's attention and to create
curiosity. Some creativity is required to attract attention. Salesmen may suggest the product benefits by
making some startling statements for catching attention.
(b) Interest The salesman needs to hold the interest and stimulate a desire for the product. For this
purpose a product demonstration can be used to create interest in product.
(c) Desire: The third state is to create desire for the product or service. The salesmen must be trained in
such a way that he is already prepared with the anticipated questions that the prospect can raise. It also

12
consists of meeting customer's objections. Handling objections is an art that the salesmen must smartly
perform.
(d) Action: Desired action will generate sales. During trial close all objections of customers are handled
and customer just needs to perform an action of buying to close sales. William Stanton and others write,
"The toughest objections to answer are those that are unspoken. A salesperson must uncover the real
objections before being able to close a sale. For example: Selling a water purifier is not easy and it can
be sold by securing attention of customer by telling about RO water purifier and its quality to purify.
The customer gains interest if the salesman engages him by showing flipcharts, presentations and
brochures and also focusing on purity and health of the family members. The desire can be generated by
making them use the RO water purifier for their use and a glass of water can be served (demonstrate).
Further desire is generated by giving EMI option for payment and consumer makes a purchase decision
due to its effectiveness in providing pure water which is germ free too.
Approach 3: Need Satisfaction Selling

Customer Support Close

Open Probe needs

Figure 1.5: Need Satisfaction Selling Model

In this approach, understanding the need of a customer is essential as a customer buys a particular
product to satisfy a particular set of needs. Sales person first listens to customer and makes an initial part
of conversation to uncover the needs of buyer. Here the role is to probe the customer to understand
completely the set of needs of customer. When need is identified then sales person tells about his
product/services and how can they benefit customers and tell the entire features. Then sale is closed. The
customers normally like this method as they are being heard.
For Example: Set top box providers like Tata Sky, Sun Direct etc. follow need satisfaction selling. They
have different packages so as to meet the needs of different types of customers. They also have special
packages where the customer can choose the channels he or she wants based on their interest and that
particular package will be provided to the customer. This is where the need satisfaction selling comes
into picture.
Approach 4: Problem Solving Selling

Generate Evaluate Continue Selling

Define Problem alternative Alternative Until Purchase
Solution Solution Decision

Figure 1.6: Problem Solving Selling

13
Problem-solving selling is an extension of need satisfaction selling. It goes beyond identifying needs to
developing alternative solution for satisfying these needs. In this approach problem is already identified
by the customer, the customer clearly needs to state to the salesperson. Salesperson understands the need
of the customers. Then the salesperson presents all the alternatives available and that too of competitors
to solve the problem. The salesperson also explains his own company‟s product or service, this is
followed by customer evaluating amongst the alternatives carefully; making comparisons and finally
making purchase decision. For Example: Insurance is a intangible product whose benefits come in
future. The role of salesperson is very important where a through interaction with customer the need of
the product and its use in future can be explained.
Approach 5: Consultative Selling

1. Create
connection
to the
customer

5. Estabilish 2.
a Sustainable Understand
customer customer
relationship need

3. Address
4. Close the
Customer
Sale
needs

Figure 1.7: Consultative Selling

In this approach both buyer and seller work in collaboration. Sales person by „understanding customers‟
needs and works in the direction of addressing those needs. Sales person works in collaboration with
customers to achieve those goals. It involves two way interaction. Sales person sincerely tries to
overcome the objections of buyer and use all his resources. It may take several days for closing sales. It
believes in long term relationship building by providing best of after sales services so that the customer
feels satisfied and retains the brand.
METHODS OF PERSONAL SELLING
1. Selling across the table
 Firm‟s sales executive negotiates sales or the sales transactions across the table by inviting the
prospective buyers either at the company premises or at specific place.
 Price is negotiated based on price, quality and supply
 This method is used in long term and high value transactions.
 Examples: fabricated parts, raw materials, equipment and installations and supplies.
2. Selling at the counter
 Salesman sells the products of the company in the retail shop owned by it.

14
  Salesman demonstrates and supplies all necessary information.
 Salesman participates in decision making process on behalf of the customer.
 Ex- Bata, Carona shoe company, dealer in spare parts and readymade garments.

3. Selling at the door step

 Salesman call on prospective buyers at their residence or office
 He visits, present the product samples, convince them , arouse interest and finally negotiate the deal by
booking the order.
 Sales people act as the link between the company and the buyers
 This is popular in industrial products
 ex. Eureka Forbes, Hindustan Purit

4. Auction selling
 Salesman invites the prospective buyer at appointed place and time.
 He asks the group to quote their rates after giving them the opportunity to examine the product.
 Salesman quotes minimum price and bids starts with a higher value.
 This is done in agricultural products, in case of jute, tea, coffee etc.

5.Tender selling
 Company invites the tenders from the respective buyers through an advertisement
 Buyers submit their offers of purchase.
 The company sells the product to that buyer who offers the most profitable price and meets their company
conditions regarding sale.
 This method is used by government markets.
 Also, Private markets for disposing scraps, discarded machinery and obsolete equipment.

Steps or Process of personal selling:

1.
Prospectin
g

7.Follow 2. Pre
up approach

Steps of
personal
6. Closing selling 3.
sale Approach

4.Presenta
5.
tion &
Handling
demonstra
objections
tion

15
1. Prospecting: searching for prospect is prospecting. Prospect is a person who is likely to be benefitted by the
product. Prospecting is the work of collecting the names and addresses of person who are likely to buy firms
product and services. While collecting the details, suspects must be separated from the prospector to avoid or
reduce waste of time.

2. Pre-approach: Pre-approach is to get more detailed facts about a specific individual to have effective sales
appeal on him/ her. It is a record to get details regarding the prospects such as his ability, need, authority,
accessibility to buy, likes and dislikes, taste, habits, financial status, social esteem, marital status, etc. the
objectives of pre-approach are to provide additional qualifying information to build up a confidence between
salesman and customer.

3. Approaching: Before calling on the prospects, the salesperson should fully learn their number, needs, habits,
spending capacity, motives, etc. Such knowledge helps in selecting the right sales appeal. After such learning, the
salesperson should approach the customer in a polite and dignified way. He should introduce himself and his
product to the customer. He should greet the customer with a smile and make him feel at home. He should
introduce himself and his product to the customer. In case he is busy with some other customer, he should assure
the new customer that he would be attended very soon. The salesperson has to be very careful in his approach as
the first impression is the last impression.

4. Presentation & demonstration: For this purpose, the salesperson has to present the product and describe its
features in brief. The presentation should be matched with the attitude of the prospect so that the salesman can
continuously hold his attention and create interest in the product. In order to maintain customer's interest and to
arouse his desire, the sales-person must display and demonstrate the product. He has to explain the utility and
distinctive qualities of the product so that the prospect realizes the need for the product to satisfy his wants. He
should not be in a hurry to impress the customer and should avoid controversy. He may suggest uses of the
product and may create an impulsive urge to possess the article by appealing to human instincts.

5. Handling objections: A sale cannot be achieved simply by creating interest and desire. Every customer wants
to make the best bargain for the money he is spending. Presentation and demonstration of the product are likely to
create doubts and questions in his mind. The salesman should clear all doubts and objections without entering into
a controversy and without losing his temper. Testimonials, money-back guarantee, tact and patience are popular
means of winning over s hesitant buyers. The salesman should convince the customer that he is making the best
use of his money by purchasing the product. For this purpose, the salesman should prove the superiority of his
product over the competitive products. He should not lose patience if the customer puts too many queries and
takes time in arriving at any decision. If the customer does not buy even after meeting rejections, the salesman
should let him go without showing temper. He must believe in the universal rule that the customer is always right.

6. Closing the sale: This is the climax or critical point in the personal selling process. Completing the sale seems
to be an easy task but inappropriate handling of the customer can result in loss of sale. The salesman should not
force the deal but let the customer feel that he has made the final decision. He should guide the customer in
making the choice without imposing his own view. Some adjustment in price or other concession may sometimes
be necessary for a successful closing. The salesman should show the same interest in the customer which he
exhibited during approach stage. Sales should be closed in a cordial manner so that the customer feels inclined to
visit the shop again. In closing the sale, the article should be packed properly and handed over to the customer
with speed and accuracy. Once the customer has purchased the article, the salesman should show and suggest an
allied product. For instance, he may suggest socks, ties, handkerchiefs, vests, etc., to a customer purchasing a
shirt. This is known as additional sales and requires great skill and tact.

7. Follow-up: It refers to the activities undertaken to ensure that the customer is satisfied with the article and the
firm. These activities include installation of the products, checking and ensuring its smooth performance,

16
maintenance and after-sale service. It helps to secure repeat sales identify additional prospects and to evaluate
salesman's effectiveness.

KNOWLEDGE ASSESSMENT 2

1. AIDA stands for attention, ________, desire and _________.

a) interest; action
b) intensity; appeal
c) involvement; action
d) None of above
2. The role of marketing communications is to engage audiences and there are four main tasks
that it can be used to complete. Which of the following is not part of the four main tasks?
a) Differentiate
b) Participate.
c) Reinforce.
d) Inform.
3. Which is not the part of Consultative selling?
a) close the sales
b) address the customer‟s needs
c) create customer centric approach
d) don‟t maintain customer relationship

4. In need satisfaction selling approach, sales person first ______________ to customer and makes
an initial part of conversation to uncover the needs of customer

a) Talks
b) Visits
c) Listens
d) All of above

5. Which is the approach customer clearly states its needs to salesperson. Then the salesperson
presents all the alternatives available.
a) stimulus response
b) mental states,
c) need satisfaction
d) problem solving

6. Mental state selling is also known as ____________________.

a) AIDA model
b) Transition selling
c) Relationship selling
d) None of above

7. Trust based relationship selling approaches are

a) Need satisfaction
b) Problem solving
c) Consultative selling

17
 d) All of the above

8. ___________________ is one time selling with the purpose of generating sales with low profit
potential.
a) Transition selling
b) Relationship selling
c) Value added selling
d) None of above
9. Consultative selling starts by understanding needs and address the need and ends with
a) Selling
b) Closing sales
c) Establishing relationship with customer
d) None of above

10. AIDA stands for

a) Attention
b) Interest
c) Desire
d) Action
e) All of above

Session 3: Introduction to Salesmanship

“The personal selling” and “salesmanship” are often used interchangeably, but there is an important difference.
Personal selling is the broader concept. Salesmanship is another important part of personal selling. Along with
other key marketing elements, such as pricing, advertising, product development and research, marketing
channels and physical distribution, the personal selling is a means through which marketing programmes are
implemented.
Salesmanship is one of the skills used in personal selling, as defined by Stroh, “it is a direct, face-to-face, seller-
to-buyer influence which can communicate the facts necessary for marketing a buying decision; or it can utilize
the psychology of persuasion to encourage the formation of a buying decision”
The broad purpose of marketing is to bring a firm‟s products into contact with markets and to effect profitable
exchanges of products for money. The purpose of personal selling is to bring the right products into contact with
the right customers, and make ownership transfer.
Salesmanship is seller-initiated effort that provides prospective buyers with information and motivates or
persuades them to make favourable buying decisions concerning the seller‟s products or service. The salesman of
today has to react and interact in any different ways to many different people.
Apart from the knowledge of the product, a salesperson has to be a psychologist with one prospect, a human
computer with another, an adviser with another, and at the same time a friend with some buyers. Salespersons
must adjust their personalities on every call. Salesmanship may be implemented not only through personal selling
but through advertising. Thus, advertising has been described as “salesmanship in print.”
Salesmanship is the art of influencing or persuading people to do what sales representative wants them to do. For
instance, contractors, teachers, ministers, authors, politicians, industrial engineers etc., practice the art of
influencing others to do what they want them to do. Every man is a salesman in his own walks of life.
Selling Function

18
 Buying and selling functions are two sides of the same coin; one cannot exist without the other. Thus, for every
purchase made, there is a corresponding sale and vice-versa. These two marketing functions of purchase and sales
have been commonly described as functions of exchange. It is more than an economic activity. Every time a
product is offered for sale in the market and a service is made available by salesperson to add benefit to the
product for the consumers. The product is able to fill in a need or a want; in return the seller is able to serve his
own self-interest by leading more sales and more profits for him.
A seller cannot generate sales without different salesperson performing their roles at different stages of consumer
buying process. Various selling functions performed are:
1. Order Takers: Sales person who mainly seek repeat sales. They book customer orders and pass on the
information to relevant people in the company. They are expected to be accurate. They are also expected to have
information about when the order has been booked and when will it be delivered to customers. They have to track
the delivery date of product and should be able to assist customer for the same. Order takers are of two type‟s i.e.
Inside order taker and field order taker.
a) Inside Order Taker: They are a part of sales office and receive sales order from different sources like phone,
mail and internet. Sales persons in retail stores are also inside order takers.
b) Field order Taker: When a customer is not interacting in the retail store, rather the order is placed when the
salesperson has met you outside or in the field and taken order is field order taker. The buyer relies and becomes
dependent on field order taker to place orders periodically.
2. Order Creators: The prime objective of order creator is to convince customers to buy the company‟s products.
The salesperson needs to understand customer‟s requirements and convince him that his company‟s products
serve his requirements best.
a) Missionary Salespeople: They are employed by manufacturers to sell their product to retailers. Once the
retailers are convinced they place the orders to wholesalers which ultimately lead to company‟s sale. In some
pharmaceutical and building industry, the manufacturer hires medical representatives and architects. Medical
representatives calling on doctors cannot make a direct sale since the doctor does not buy drugs but prescribes
them for patients. Architects also act as specifies rather than buyers. In these situations, the selling task is to
educate and build goodwill for the company.
3. Order Getters: An order getter persuades a customer to make a purchase. He is a frontline salesperson, and is in
a typical selling job. He is supported by technical support staff and merchandisers.
i. New business Salespeople: The selling tasks are to win new businesses by identifying and selling to prospects.
These salespersons should maintain good relations with current customers who can provide leads. They should
also be prepared to make a lot of cold calls and visits.
ii. Consumer Salespeople: They sell to individual customer‟s products and services such as cars, insurance. These
salespeople have to be sensitive to customers‟ time and they should not be insistent even when customers have
declined to buy. Sensing that a customer does not want the product is as important as sensing that he may want
the company‟s product. A consumer salesperson should be always wary of putting off the customers by being too
persistent. Exemplary behaviour is imperative for consumer salespersons.
iii. Technical Support Salespeople: Where a product is highly technical and the negotiations are complex, a
salesperson may be supported by product and financial specialists who can provide the detailed technical and
financial information required by customers. This may be on-going as part of a key account team or on a
temporary basis with the specialist being called into the selling situation whenever required.
iv. Merchandisers: Merchandisers advise on product display in stores, implement sales promotions, check stock
levels and maintain contact with store managers. They provide support to the sales function in retail and
wholesale selling. Salespeople serving individual outlets are supported by merchandisers.

19
Origin and Evolution of Salesmanship:
As time advanced and kingdoms established, coinage came into vogue. The need for a convenient medium of
exchange, which would not only retain its value over a period of time, but would also possess general
acceptability, was keenly felt.

Hence, beads, shells, skins and furs were introduced by different communities as a medium of exchange in order
to make transactions of goods and services easier. In the absence of proper transport facilities, people used to face
a lot of difficulties to go to the market for making purchases and sales.

Local Peddler:

As the settlements grew into villages, need for the exchange of surplus goods, more particularly the agricultural
surpluses, was keenly felt. Since farmers were producing more than their personal requirements, they needed to
dispose such surpluses with the help of some middlemen. The local peddler was the middleman who specialised
in the transaction of agricultural surpluses.

However, the area of operations by such peddlers was mostly confined because of lack of adequate transport
facilities. Despite all odds, the selling practices employed by the merchants and peddlers in those days were the
pioneer efforts for the development of modern salesmanship.

Chapman:

With the progress of civilization handicrafts began to be manufactured on a small scale. Simultaneously, a new
peddler known as the Chapman came into existence. The Chapman was a pack peddler coming from sea routes
and riverside towns who specialized in dealing in luxury articles. As compared to the peddler, chapman had to use
more elaborate selling skills in order to sell high specialty articles to the upper and middle class people.

20
Chapman may, therefore, be described as a door-to-door specialty luxury salesman similar to the modern day
salesman. As a matter of fact, the Chapman rendered great commercial service to the people, since travelling even
a few miles was quite risky due to bad roads, neglected bridges, robbers and highway-men. In spite of all these
hurdles, chapmen were selling a variety of specialty goods and handicrafts, covering great distances.

Shopkeeper:

During the early days of self-sufficiency, the need for exchange of goods and services hardly arose. Human needs
and wants, during those days, were limited; confined to limited articles and services, which could be met from
within the locality. The existence of caste system in India was the main reason for such self-sufficiency at the
local level, since persons belonging to a particular caste specialized in producing certain articles and providing
certain services.

The articles not found locally were purchased from the nearby town, market or fair. With the gradual increase in
population and growth of their needs and wants, local markets proved inadequate to meet the growing needs and
requirements of the people.

As such, the necessity for establishing shops for „settled selling‟ in local areas was greatly felt. The earliest stores
were called „shops‟ or „stalls‟. Gradually, small shops were opened in villages and towns.

These shops were open stalls, displaying goods made in home workshops. Goods displayed in such shop or stalls
usually were skilled and qualitative. Those shopkeepers usually made all the articles that they sold and were,
therefore, aware of the minutest details of the material and workmanship involved in the manufacture of such
articles.

Commercial Adventurer:
Despite best efforts, the area of operation of the Chapmen and shopkeepers was very much limited. In due course,
some merchants took on business through the sea routes. These ocean-going merchants were known as
„commercial adventurers‟ because they took high risk by taking the speciality goods to far and distant places,
from one country to another.

These merchants experienced hardships while developing commerce through sea. The shops used by such
merchants in those days were usually small and lacked basic facilities. The seas were ridden with pirates and
exposed to tempests and typhoons.

Under those difficult and unfavorable conditions, they undertook trade and commerce, which led to the earlier
development of international trade and commerce. These commercial adventurers may be described as travelling
salesmen.

21
Merchant Adventurer:
The commercial adventurers were responsible for selling domestically produced commodities. Those domestic
producers had established certain kind of monopoly through the trade guilds. This led to the formation of
monopoly by the producers, who produced only on orders, resulting in high price, low output and stifling of
demand. However, the merchant adventurers helped in breaking down the monopoly in trade, held by the
merchant guilds.

This led to the opening up of trading and commercial activities to a large section of the society. This resulted in
low price, high volume of output and expansion of demand. Thus, on a large scale the merchant adventurers did a
commendable job for the growth of trade and manufacturing activities.

Commercial Craftsman:
These commercial craftsmen were originally working in various workshops, producing different kinds of articles,
strictly made to the order of the consumers. Therefore, they were in a position to place a number of samples
before the customers and accordingly orders were being received by the craft guild. In the beginning, womenfolk
handled the task of presenting samples and receiving orders.

At a later stage, with increase in the number of customers, craftsmen from the workshops were deputed to handle
the same. Thus, they became craftsmen-cum-salesmen. Such craftsman in charge of the sales was known as the
commercial craftsman.

Bagman:
The bagman was the first modern traveling salesman, in the strict sense of the term. Bagman was a commercial
traveler going from place to place on horseback carrying samples of merchandise in the saddle-pouch on behalf of
his employer.

In their mission of keeping touch with old customers as well as locating new ones, bagmen covered wide
distances. As a result, they played a significant role in creating and extending demand for the goods and services
of the manufacturer and acted as missionaries of goodwill for their employer.

Salesmanship in olden days:

During early day, traders and sellers, as a community were not trusted much and in variably known as frauds and
dishonest by the general public. The Roman equivalent for the salesman meant „cheat‟ and the Greek word for the
retailer meant „falsifier‟. It was true that many of the commercial adventurers were pirates who would attack a
merchant vessel, kill the crew, seize the cargo and scuttle the vessel to remove the traces of their crime.
It was the responsibility of the buyer to satisfy themselves whether the goods they purchased were up to the mark
or not. The seller neither disclosed the defects nor gave any assurance about the quality of the goods they were
selling.
In fact, the main and ultimate aim of the seller was to sell the products by any means and at any cost. The rule
„caveat emptor‟ that is „let the buyer beware‟ was taken for granted both by the buyers as well as the sellers.
Different prices were charged from different categories of customers. High prices were charged invariably for
almost all the goods. Supply of goods was either limited or scarce, sellers or traders used to sell inferior quality
goods, charging high prices.
Sellers hardly expected repeat orders from the customers. Societal status of the salesman was the lowest; both in
terms of earnings as well as mobility and people took up sales jobs only as the last resort. There were also a few
travelling salesmen. Advertising and publicity was rare.

22
Salesmanship in Modern days:
The Industrial Revolution of the 18th century gradually swept off the earlier concept of production and
distribution. Manufacturing activities were undertaken on a large scale by gigantic machines. During that period,
transport facilities like railways, road network and sea routes also expanded rapidly. The significant development
of transport and communication facilities helped the traders and merchants in reaching remote places and
exploring the far and wide market. Mass production necessitated mass selling. Personal selling efforts became
highly essential for selling products in competitive markets. This led to the emergence and development of
modern day salesmanship which aimed at winning the confidence of the prospective consumers through
persuasion.
Producers started improving the quality of products and providing guarantee and warranty against defective
products so as to win the confidence of potential consumers. The modern salesman informs about the qualities,
uses and other characteristics of the products and services, demonstrates and displays their positive points so as to
create interest in the minds of the buyers. Thus, salesmanship in modern days is more of a skill or art of
persuading customers to achieve favorable results.
Sellers started offering several concessions like trade discounts, cash discounts for prompt payment, longer period
of credit, home delivery, free service, free gifts, prize coupons, etc. To increase sales, installments and hire
purchase system of selling were introduced. After sales services were offered for mechanical and technical goods
in order to instill confidence in the minds of the prospective buyers.
Sellers realized that honesty proved to be the best policy and they followed the principle of commercial honesty.
Professional salesman having specialized knowledge were engaged in selling goods and services. Proper training
was needed for the salesman to become successful professionals. As a result, a number of institutions started
imparting education and training to people willing to become successful salesmen.
Travelling salesmen were appointed by the manufacturers for canvassing their products and services. Large scale
advertising was resorted to create awareness about product and services. Modern day sale depends a lot on
advertising. The job of salesman has become easier through sales promotion.
Modern day salesmanship is the emergence and growth of selling services. They are intangible or impersonal
activities which are offered for sale or in connection with the sale of goods. Service may be consumer related or
industry related. Consumer services include hotel, personal care like beauty parlor, hair care, entertainment,
transport, communication etc. industrial services include transport, warehousing, advertising, sales promotion,
consultancy like legal, health etc.
Thus, the concept of selling has undergone a lot of change over the years. Salesmanship is not an effort to sell; it
is making the customer buy a product or service.

Salesmanship: Meaning and definition

Basically, Salesmanship is the knack of selling a product or service. It is the art of convincing the customer to buy
a given product or service. Salesmanship is the skill of creating an attitude in the mind of the buyer to buy a
product or service. It is not an effort to sell; it is the effort to make the buyer buy a product or service.

Definition:
1) According to National Association of Marketing teachers of America;

“Salesmanship is the ability to persuade people to buy goods or services at a profit to the seller and benefit to
the buyers”.

23
 2) According to American Marketing Association (AMA);

“Salesmanship is an oral presentation in a conversation with one or more prospective customers for the
purpose of making sales”.
3) According to C.A Paderson:

“Salesmanship is the process whereby a seller ascertains and activates the needs or wants of the buyer and
satisfies these needs and wants to the mutual continuous advantage of both the buyer and seller”.
Features of Salesmanship
If we closely observe the above definitions, we find certain essential features of salesmanship.
They can be enumerated as follows:
1. Salesmanship is the ability to persuade.
 Persons involved in the selling process usually possess the necessary skill and ability to convince
others.
 Persuasion is the soul of modern salesmanship. Gone are the days when a sale was forced on the
customers.
 Modern salesmanship does not rely on pressure tactics or compulsion to clinch a deal.
 The customer is lead to a favourable buying decision through careful and imaginative handling.
 A salesman creates a favourable impression on the prospective buyer‟s mind by presenting the
benefits associated with the product or service being offered for sale.
2. Salesmanship benefits both the buyer and seller.
 The salesman is the link between the buyer and seller. He ensures that both the parties involved
in the selling processes are benefitted.
 He ensures that his employer (seller) earns profit out of the sale and the customer derives the
desired benefits out of the purchase.
 Thus salesmanship is beneficial to both consumers and producers.
3. Salesmanship stands for commercial honesty.
 Ideal salesmanship depends on the principle that honesty is the best policy.
 Today‟s salesman seldom resorts to dumping or cheating customers in the selling process
because it can never create permanent customers.
 A good salesman rather guides the customers in buying goods or services which provide utmost
satisfaction and value for the money to spend/buy them.
4. Salesmanship aims at winning the buyer’s confidence.
 Modern salesmanship does not employ dubious methods to influence buyers.
 It aims at winning the confidence of the buyers by persuading and educating them about the
availability of products and services, their special features and their utility in satisfying the
respective needs of customers.
5. Ideal salesmanship aims at serving the producer, distributor and Consumer.
 The manufacturer or producer usually produces goods on a large scale in anticipation of demand. In
the fiercely competitive market, the salesman helps the producer in disposing off their goods at a
profit.
 For the distributor the salesman makes the distribution process smooth and easy by creating,
maintaining and extending sales.
 For the customer- he guides the customer in making a proper and wise selection of products and
services.
6. Sales man acts as a link between the seller and the consumer

24
  Salesman ascertains that a seller makes a profit as a result of the sale and the customer derives
benefits by purchasing the goods or services offered for sale.
7. Salesmanship is an educative process
 Salesmanship not only sells products or services but also educates people about their needs as
well as the way in which they could satisfy those needs.
 A salesman performs the function of educating the consumer about their needs and the
satisfaction thereof through purchase of goods and services.
8. Salesmanship creates satisfied customers.
 Salesmanship in modern days aims at creating satisfying customers rather than just profit
generating sales.
 Any selling transaction, a sale once made would indicate the end of the process. However once
there is a satisfied customer, it is the beginning of a long lasting relationship which can create
many more sales in future.

Is Salesmanship an art or a science?

The most common question which arises is whether salesmanship is an art or a science. One group is of the view
that „Salesmen are made‟ whereas another group says that „salesmen are born‟. To others, salesmen are „born and
made‟. Since there are conflicting opinions, it is necessary to decide whether salesmanship is an art or a science.
An art is defined as “skill in performance acquired by study, observation and experience‟. It is knowledge made
efficient by skill and experience. Hence dancing, singing, acting, writing etc are considered as arts. Art can be
developed by systematic application of skill and effort.
Salesmanship can be considered as an art. Success in a specific art requires certain qualities which are achieved
by practical knowledge and experience. To be successful in salesmanship, application of knowledge and
experience is essential.
Science is defined as „systematic knowledge‟. Science is branch of knowledge based on laws of derivations from
facts or deductions from self evident truths. It confirms to certain laws, theories and techniques. The laws of
science have universal applicability. Hence, mathematics, physics, chemistry are regarded as science.
Salesmanship may also be considered as science on the basis that salesmanship is a specialized knowledge that
has its own standards, principles and theories. However, these rules and principles cannot be applied universally.
Majority of the customers can be convinced by the approach and behavior of salesman, but may not be successful
in each and every case. This is because; the process of handling customer can never be reduced to unchangeable
laws and rigid principles.
Thus, salesmanship is not exact science. It is science based on human psychology. Therefore, salesmanship is
both an art and a science. There exist some definite rules and principles in salesmanship as in science.
Salesmanship also requires certain talents which can be acquired through experience and regular practice as in
arts.
IS Salesmanship a Profession?
Most often the question is raised whether salesmanship is a profession or not. The basic characteristics of
profession are:
1. It is an organized body of knowledge.
2. It must possess a formal structure of specialized knowledge.
3. It must possess an organized plan of individual training for the people who prefer to enter the profession.
4. It must possess an established and accepted code of ethics.
5. It must possess a set of standards for admission and disqualification.

25
 6. Service to others before self-interest must be the prime motto. In other words, principle of service first
and profit last must exist.

If the above characteristics of profession are examined for salesmanship, it can be seen that it has yet to
become a true profession like law, medicine, etc. Salesmanship, like other profession, is yet to have a ready-
made knowledge for application in each and every situation. Skill and technique applied by a salesman to
clinch a sale varies from person to person and with place and time.
Therefore,salesmanship cannot unhesitantly be called a profession. A great deal of effort and perfection is needed
before salesmanship achieves the status of true profession.
Scope of Salesmanship:
Salesmanship has become an indispensable part of business activity. Today everybody is a seller, selling
something or the other. Sales are the life blood of business. The job of today‟s salesman is not confined to selling
consumer goods. He also has to sell industrial, agricultural goods and services like transport, banking, teaching,
legal consultancy, medicine etc. The scope of salesman is vast and varied. It is a skill which is essential in every
sphere of human activity. Every one of us, in one sense or the other is a salesman. The job of a lawyer pleading
his case, a teacher teaching his ideas, an applicant applying for a job, resembles the job of a salesman. In each of
these cases, skill and ability of a salesman is very much necessary in order to be successful. The skill of
salesmanship is not restricted to selling goods and services but is applicable in several other fields.
A modern salesman occupies a essential position in the structure of an organization. Modern sales manager take
decisions about recruitment, selection, training and controlling of sales force. The activities of production and
sales are also considerably regulated by the sales manager of an organization. Therefore, salesmanship covers a
wide range of activities and constitutes an integral part of management. It also offers wide scope for development
in future. In fact, modern salesmanship is growing on scientific lines, day by day. Time is nor far when a
salesman will be in a position to dictate to the producer, what, when and how much to produce for sale in the
market.
Importance and utility of salesmanship:
Salesmanship plays a vital role to link between the manufacturer, seller and the consumers. Successful and
profitable operations of business enterprises depend to a great extent on the creation of such connection. In the
earlier days, manufacturing activities were undertaken relatively on a small scale. After industrial revolution,
production activities started being undertaken on a large scale and mostly in anticipation of demand. Distribution
also became quite complicated because of stiff competition. The producers and the distributors needed the skill
and persuasive ability of efficient sales force in order to sell their products and services in the market. In fact,
distribution of products and expanding market is impossible without modern salesmanship.
In the present day, salesmanship plays an important part. Salesman is the connecting link between sellers and
buyers at every step., i.e” from the collection of raw materials to the finished products. , Of all, customers are the
most benefited by salesmen. Present era is of large-scale production, which is in anticipation of demand. The
market expands along with competition. This makes distribution a difficult and a complex factor in the face of
still competition. The expansion of the market, growing competition etc., invite a better salesmanship.

1. Important to Producers:
Salesmanship is important to producers and manufacturers. For pushing products into the competitive market,
salesmanship is necessary. To capture new markets also salesmanship is very important. Salesmen increase the
sales volume. It brings larger profits to the manufacturers. Salesmen work as the “eye and ear” for the
manufacturers.

26
They improve their products according to the taste of the consumers. They improve their sales policies by keeping
in mind the suggestions, impressions and complaints of the consumers. He is the creator of demand. Hence it
leads to increased production and increased business activity. As such it increases employment opportunity as
well as personal incomes.

2. Important to Consumers:
Salesman educates and guides the consumers. He gives them more satisfaction. „Consumers are right‟ in the
marketing. As such, he gives more importance to them. Salesman helps the consumers in making the right
decision and proper selection of the products which they want to buy. Salesmanship increases the rate of turnover,
and hence reduces unsold stock. As such it minimizes the economic stagnation. Consumers can select the best
products according to their requirements, taste and money.

Salesmanship as a career is a highly remunerative. A salesman is paid monthly salary and commission which is
linked with the sales volume. Any increase in sales ultimately increases the commission of the salesman. A
travelling salesman enjoys the opportunity of visiting a number of places and meeting different people. It makes
an individual dynamic, resourceful, self-confident, social, cheerful and broadens his outlook. Salesmanship is a
skill which is in continuous demand throughout the world. Thus, salesmanship skills are universally acceptable.

27
 KNOWLEDGE ASSESSMENT 3

State TRUE or FALSE for the following statements:

1. Threes around which selling function revolves are: self interest, satisfaction and self
motivation. For indeed, it revolves around three S''s, namely: service, satisfaction,
and self-interest
2. Two types of salespersons are: order takers and order getters.
3. Order takers are supposed to increase the total sales by increase in sales of new
products.
4. A salesperson should gracefully back off when the customer does not seem
interested in the product.
5. Order getter is a backline salesperson, and is in a typical marketing job.
6. Order getter cannot persuade customers for making a purchase.
7. A merchandiser advice on product display in stores, implement sales promotions,
check stock levels and maintain contact with store managers.
8. Consumer salespeople sell to individual customer‟s products and services and have
to be sensitive to customers‟ time.
9. Order takers are expected to persuade customers to buy the company‟s products or
increase their quantity of purchase
10. Order takers are replaced by the more cost efficient telemarketing teams who call
customers and book their orders.

Session 4: Characteristics of A Successful Salesman

There are a few natural skills that are of great benefit if they already exist within those that want to be successful
in sales. Without these, success will take a longer time but it can still be achieved. If there is no desire and
dedication to learning or developing these skills, then the selling will be much more difficult and often very
stressful.
1. Effective Communicator: Communication covers a lot of territory. Sales is all about talking to people and
making then understand your thoughts. At times sales people need to speak in the local language in order to make
customers understand properly.

28
2. Ability to Listen: A salesperson has to balance the act of talking and listening. If he does not properly listen,
how would he respond back. So a salesperson has to be a good listener.
3. Inquisitive: Salespeople are naturally inquisitive and know that in order to isolate what the real need or desire
is in the buyer, they need to ask questions that will lead them to the answer. They naturally ask questions because
they have a desire to help solve their problem.
4. Problem Solver: Another natural skill is the desire and ability to solve problems. Great sales people are always
solving problems. The ability to know what the buyer's problem is and offering suggestions that will effectively
solve the problem with respect to what products or services we sell, and generally results in a sale.
5. Well Organized: Sales people have a keen ability to break things down into smaller steps and organize a plan of
action. They know how to analyze what their goal is and in what order the steps need to be in order to reach that
goal.
6. Self-Starter and Self-Finisher: A successful sales person moves forward on their own. They never need anyone
to tell them when it is time to go to work because they know that if they do not work they will not earn. They are
also very persistent to finish what they start. They achieve their goals, even if they are small ones.
7. Positive Self Image: Having the attitude that they can do just about anything that they put their mind to is
usually very common among sales people. They do not cower from meeting or talking to people or trying
something new. They rarely allow negatives that are either spoken to them or about them to effect what they are
trying to accomplish because they know who they are and what they are capable of doing.
8. Well Mannered and Courteous: Sales people are very well mannered. One may not realize it, but good
manners are a way of showing respect to others. People are attracted
to those that respect them and mutual respect is fundamental in building lasting
relationships with people, including buyers.

Selling and salesmanship:

SALESMANSHIP SELLING

 It refers to convincing the customer by  It refers to transferring the ownership of

sound arguments for the object of commodities to buyer in exchange for
persuading him to buy particular goods. money.

 As it is an art or technique so it is a  As it is an act so it can easily be done by

complicated process and cannot be any person.
performed easily. The persons who want to
conduct this process must be expert in
respective field.

 It is a primary function and so consumer‟s  It is a secondary function and so it is

mind is influenced before conduction of the performed after convincing of the
selling. consumer.

Sales Management and salesmanship:

Sales management is a broad term and includes all the selling techniques adopted. Salesmanship or personal
selling forms a part of the sales management. It is concerned with the creation of demand by personal and direct
selling of goods. Salesmanship is an art of technique of selling an idea or one‟s point of view.

29
Selling and salesmanship
Selling is persuading people to want „what you have sell‟. Salesmanship on the other hand includes all those
activities that are to be undertaken to convert a suspect into a prospect and then a prospect customer. In the
process one has to convince another person of the desirability of some article and persuade him to buy it.
Salesmanship creates satisfied customer and not just cash producing sales. A satisfied customer is only the
beginning of an everlasting relationship. Salesmanship includes all persuasion methods adopted by the seller like
advertising, personal selling and other methods.

Criticism and limitation against salesmanship.

Salesmanship is very essential in the present-day context; it is also not free from criticism. All the criticism level
against advertisement is directed at salesmanship also.
1. Salesmanship adopts a method of high pressure selling. It means that customers are pressurized to buy
things which they do not want, which are also beyond the financial capacity. This might be partially true
in the sense that people are persuaded and bought into a trap by an efficient salesman. In other words,
salesman can also simulate a want or persuade a customer to prepare his buying.

2. High cost incurred on salesmanship if large sales volume is not achieved. The cost of the product can be
reduced by large effective sales volume.

3. Thirdly other criticism is against the methods adopted in personal selling practiced in the past. In the past
it was a tool for the businessman to earn profits through dishonest means. For example: there are no fixed
prices for anything; goods were scarce, the products were of inferior quality. This was possible under the
caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) principle. But today the principle is caveat vendor (let the seller
beware). Hence cheating is not easy.

4. Salesmanship also becomes unproductive when it fails to achieve its aims. Salesmanship also becomes a
waste and hence unproductive when the product is not acceptable to the society.

Salesmanship is productive or Advantages of salesmanship

1. The main motive of the salesman is to introduce products and create market. Salesmen are bound to work
in field so they know where and when products are to be made available. This avoids dumping of goods
in places where there is no demand. It tends to reduce the cost of marketing.

2. Salesmanship increases sales and hence production. Thus fixed expenses would therefore be spread over a
large number of units. Therefore, reduce the cost per unit.

3. It is salesmanship that creates more uses even for the existing products. This increased use would
naturally increase the utilities for the product and raise the demand.

4. Salesmanship is powerful in all other methods of demand creation; this is because of its direct and
personal nature. This personal contact with customers enables the manufacturer to know the defects of the
product from the point of view of the consumers. The complaints are heard and promptly corrected. This
creates goodwill and prestige to the products enables the company to achieve more effective results.

5. Salesmanship raises the standard of living of the society, it encourages the use of new products and helps
the community to satisfy more demands. It is the salesmanship that has converted “yesterday‟s luxuries
into necessaries of today”.

30
Thus the answer‟s lead us to believe that salesmanship is productive.
Classification of salesmanship:
There are several methods of classifying the salesman‟s job. The most popular forms of classification are;
1. Creative salesmanship
2. Competitive salesmanship and
3. Counter salesmanship

Creative Salesmanship:
 Creative selling means to create a sale- to bring about a purchase where no purchase would have
taken place, to create the desire to buy and overcome buying resistance. Salesmen in those days had
to make little effort to clinch a sale as the goods produced and services offered were comparatively
less than they were demanded. Present day salesman is no more confined to merely execution of
customers‟ orders but creates and sustains demand for products and services.
 R.S Davar has defined creative salesmanship, „as the art of educating the public resulting in their
desire to demand new goods and services leading to improvements in the civilized society‟.
 The creative salesman is assigned with the important as well as difficult task of introducing a new
product, service or a new brand into the market and to create demand for such product. Creative
salesmen are responsible for the creation of new business, new market, and new customers and so on.
 Creative salesman after convincing the customer he creates a desire in the mind of the customers
which urges them to buy the product or service.
Competitive Salesmanship:
 Competitive salesman aims at increasing the sales of the existing products. The main motive is to clear
the stocks of the manufacturer in the competitive market. In order to increase the sales, the salesman
makes all possible efforts. Most often credit is offered to the prospective customers to boost sales.
 The motive of the competitive salesman is to outwit the competitors in the market by increased sales
volume. Creative salesman gradually becomes competitive salesman. Creative salesman aims at creating
sales for new product and services, but competitive salesman aims at increasing the sales of existing
product using innovative and new methods of the selling process.
Counter Salesmanship:
 Counter means the place from where goods are sold to the ultimate consumers. Counter salesmanship is
the art of passing on the goods in exchange for money. For example: if a customer asks for toothpaste, the
salesman at the counter hands over the same, receiving the amount due in exchange from the customer.
 Counter salesman requires certain essential quantities in order to be professionally successful. He never
attempt to force a sale but assist customer in selecting the right product in right quantities to meet their
specific requirements with utmost satisfaction. He should have adequate knowledge of the stock position,
prices, entry of new product, improvements of the existing products etc.
SELLING JOBS/ SELLING AS A CAREER
A widely-held view about a salesman is that he simply remains present at the counter and sells goods to
the customers. But in reality, the job of the salesman is not that narrow and limited. In the modern
business world, there are numerous types of selling jobs in any organization. The duties and
responsibilities are numerous and vary from salesman to salesman. The various types of selling jobs are
as follows:
 There are manufacturer's salesmen, wholesaler's salesmen and retailer's salesmen.

31
  Some are counter salesmen while some others are travelling salesmen.
 Some salesmen sell consumer goods like bags, shoes, toothpastes, etc. Some sell industrial goods
like hand tools, nuts and bolts, motors, machineries, etc. and some others sell agricultural
products like fruit, vegetables, grains, seeds, etc.
 Some salesmen sell tangible products like textiles, soaps, cycles, watches, etc. while some others
sell intangible goods like insurance policy, securities, advertisement space, etc.
 New and competitive goods need expensive selling efforts. Therefore, energetic, hardworking and
aggressive salesmen are required for selling new and competitive goods. Since well-established
products require only moderate selling efforts, average salesmen can accomplish such jobs
successfully.
 For selling products like medicines, books, magazines, etc. extensive travelling by salesmen is
required. Another kind of selling job requires the salesmen to be physically present at the shop and
selling at the counter. Examples of such goods are pen, soap, toothbrush, biscuit, watch, etc.
 Some selling jobs require detailed and technical knowledge about the product like machines, electronic
equipment, medicines, etc. Some other selling jobs are quite simple and therefore do not require
thorough and detailed knowledge about the product as in case of consumer goods and grocery articles.
 Some salesmen are required to sell directly to the ultimate consumers. Another set of salesmen sell to the
middlemen like wholesalers and retailers instead of the final consumers.
 Some selling jobs like insurance policies, motor cars, land, etc. require continuous effort on the part of the
salesman. Therefore, it takes time to finalize sales in such cases. Some sales may even take months and years
to finalize. On the other hand, some sales are finalized immediately and on the spot like pen, food
articles, grocery items, etc. since all effort is required to sell these articles.
 Costly items like automobiles, video cassette recorders, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, televisions, air
conditioners, etc. require technical advice and service both before and after the actual sales. Therefore,
for selling these articles technically qualified salesmen who possess adequate knowledge about the various
aspects of the products are needed.
 There are certain selling jobs which can be best performed by women. Products most ideally suited for
saleswomen are ladies‟ garments, cooking utensils, cosmetics, etc. Hence, sales women are preferred to sell
such articles.

Who is a salesman?
A salesman trades services or products to buyers in exchange for compensation. He functions as the human face
of a company, providing information and sometimes using persuasive techniques to influence the customer‟s

32
decision to buy. Beyond these basic points, the nature of a salesman‟s work varies widely depending on the type
of product or service he is selling and his sales method.
 Some salesmen are based at a product outlet and serve customers who come to the outlet actively seeking
that product.
 Others generate sales by visiting or contacting prospective customers to introduce their products.

The following characteristics of a good salesman:

1. Establishing good relationship with a variety of people.
2. Learning quickly and adapting smoothly.
3. Planning ahead and efficiently managing his time and efforts.
4. Working hard to achieve his goals, dedicating himself to provide long-term service, rather than having a
get-rich-quick attitude.
5. Communicating clearly both in speech and in writing.
6. Thinking analytically and learning to break problems down to their basic components.
7. Producing constantly both in quality and quantity rather than performing erratically.
8. Persisting steadily his goal and not giving up easily.
9. Possessing and living up to high moral characteristics that enable people to admire,, respect and trust him.

Classification of Salesmen
There are several methods of classifying salesmen‟s job. They may be classified on the basis of:
a) Organization
b) Goods they sell and
c) Services offered
I. On the basis of organization:

Salesmen can be divided into the following three categories on the basis of organization.
1. Manufacturer Salesmen: There are some salesmen who do the selling on behalf of the
manufacturing organizations. They usually posses specialized knowledge about the products or
services. They can be divided into three categories: namely, pioneer or promotional salesmen,
dealer or middlemen servicing salesmen and merchandise salesmen.

i. Pioneer or Promotional Salesmen: Such salesmen usually undertake the responsibility of

introducing new products and services to the market. Therefore, pioneer or promotional
salesmen have to be highly skilled and experienced. They should posses, considerable

33
 amount of imagination, aggression and self confidence, with the possession of these qualities
only, such salesmen are able to present the utility and usefulness of the product or services in
an interesting and innovative manner before the dealers or the customers. Consequently, the
interest of the dealers and the customer is automatically aroused about the product or service
which motivates them to purchase. As such, the job of a pioneer salesman is comparatively
difficult as well as time consuming and requires efficient and high level of salesmanship.
Since high level of skill and efficiency is required for such salesmen, they are usually
handsomely paid with attractive perks.
ii. Dealer Servicing Salesmen or Middlemen Servicing Salesmen: Usually manufacturer
employs these middlemen servicing salesmen to book orders, visit dealers at regular intervals
and convincing them about goods and services. These salesmen provide information to the
dealer about the selling points, salient features, product, improvements etc. Besides meeting
queries about the goods and services sometimes they also train the dealer‟s salesmen about
various aspects of selling and selling methods. Such type of salesmen needs to be
enthusiastic, energetic and friendly in nature so as to push sales and help the dealers. The job
of the dealer servicing salesmen is comparatively easy since they deal with goods and
services which are usually established in the market and well supported by promotional
measures. Another important duty of these salesmen is to provide detailed information about
the dealer‟s attitude, market condition and competitive position to the manufacturer. They
usually enjoy a steady income and job security. However, they are paid less than the pioneer
salesmen.
iii. Merchandise Salesmen: These kinds of salesmen are generally appointed to assist dealers to
expand their sales volume. Merchandise salesmen visit dealers at regular intervals and point
out ways and means to increase sales. They provide sound advice to the dealers with regard to
the arrangement of showroom, choosing appropriate advertising media, display provisions,
interior decorations and credit policies which have a direct influence on the volume of sales.
Such types of salesmen are usually employed in trades involving sale of medicines,
cigarettes, detergents, soft drink etc. These types of salesmen have to possess detailed
information about the various features of the product and their utilities. Besides, they should
also have adequate samples and sufficient literature about the product or service. Since their
main job is only to promote sales through the dealers, merchandise salesmen usually do not
receive or book direct orders. The importance of these kinds of salesmen is gradually
increasing since they have wide scope. They generally enjoy steady income and attractive
commissions.

2. Wholesaler’s salesman: Usually the job of the wholesaler is to purchase goods from the
manufacture and sell the same to the retailer or industrial users. Therefore, a wholesaler is the
main link between the manufacturer and retailer. Wholesaler therefore, appoints salesman whose
main job is to inform the retailers about the various products or service. As the wholesaler usually
deals with a number of products of various manufactures, the wholesaler salesman has to handle a
number of items they help the retailers in selecting the products and show them ways and mean to
increase their sales volume. The wholesaler salesmen usually visit retailers at regular interval.
During visits it is the duty of the wholesaler salesmen to see that goods are supplied to the
retailers regularly and in adequate quantities. They usually persuade retailer to stock a particular
brand or brands of product in which the wholesaler is interested. Another duty of these salesmen
is to collect all possible information on behalf of the wholesaler regarding dealer‟s attitude,
market condition and competitive position of the product. They also inform the wholesaler about
the credit worthiness of the retailers. Accordingly, the wholesaler is able to know the financial
strength of the dealers and thereby can avoid future bad debts to a great extent. Sometimes, these
wholesaler‟s salesmen act as collection agent of the manufacturers also.

34
Wholesaler‟s salesmen have to depend much on persuasive technique while dealing with the retailers
since the success of the job lies in convincing the retailers. In other words, once the retailers are
convinced, a major part of selling job of the wholesaler salesmen is over. Therefore, such salesmen
need to build up reliability and confidence in the mind of the retailers.
3. Retailer’s salesmen: Retailers constitute the end part in the chain of distribution of goods and
services. Usually, retailers purchase goods from the wholesalers and sell them to the ultimate
consumers. In the distribution process, retailers are those middlemen who directly come in
contact with final consumers. As such they deal with numerous consumers. Retailers play an
important role in the sale of products or services. To carry out their selling activities, retailers
employ salesmen. The salesmen appointed by the retailers can be broadly of two types namely,
(1) counter or indoor salesmen and (2) travelling or outdoor salesmen.

i. Counter or Indoor Salesmen: Counter salesmen are basically meant to pass on the goods
across the counter in exchange for money. Such type of salesmen usually sell commodities by
remaining present at the counter and are most commonly found in every shop whether big or
small. Unlike other type of salesmen, counter salesmen usually do not search for the
customers. Instead, customers always approach such type of salesmen. In such a sales
exchange, the money and the goods pass across the counter, one after another. In other words,
the salesman receives the price in exchange for the goods he sells. Whereas, the buyer
receives the goods in exchange for the price he pays. As it can observe there is comparatively
less effort on the part of the counter salesmen to sell products and services. In fact, there is
very little use of the art of salesmanship by the counter salesmen. Customers usually
approach the counter salesmen for goods and get the same in exchange of money. Sometimes
cash memo is also used to the customers. The job of the counter salesmen is comparatively
easier than other type of salesmen. The essential qualities of such salesmen are that they need
to have insight and proper imagination. Such qualities help the indoor salesmen to find out
the additional needs of the customers and make additional sales. For example, if a person
buys a pair of shoes, the salesmen should find out whether he needs a pair of socks, shoe
polish, etc. this is known as suggestion in sales. Thus, the salesmen can create additional sales
by offering related articles. However additional selling needs to be done skillfully. He should
never attempt to force the sale. It is the duty of salesmen to assist a customer in purchasing
the right product of their choice in right quantities to meet their requirements. The experience
of counter salesmen is always an asset and helps him in his dealings. In comparison to other
type of salesmen, these salesmen do not get an attractive salary as their job is more or less
routine in nature.
ii. Outdoor or Travelling Salesmen: Travelling salesmen are usually employed to contact
prospective customers scattered in different areas of a country. Generally, these salesmen are
required to sell high unit value and specialty goods. They are creative salesmen and sell
commodities by approaching prospective buyers personally. They travel extensively in search
of prospective customers, to introduce new products and popularize existing products in the
market. Unlike the indoor salesmen, these salesmen visit existing as well as prospective
customers in order to make sales. These kinds of salesmen have to be experts in the art of
selling. Success in travelling salesmanship requires high degree of initiative, persistence and
motivation. The sales talk of the travelling salesmen need to be lively so that they can hold
the attention, convince, and finally sell goods to the customers. Travelling salesmen are
required to possess sound health and appealing personality. They need to have enough
patience in order to sell well. Further, these kinds of salesmen need to possess a detailed
knowledge of the product, its utility, price, and stock. This helps them tackle the customer‟s
queries intelligently and convincingly.

35
II. On the basis of goods, they sell, travelling salesmen can be classified into two categories (1) staple
salesmen, (2) specialty goods salesmen.
1. Staple Salesmen: These kinds of salesmen specialize in selling necessities like food, clothes,
stationery, grocery, etc. these goods are usually sold in many shops and similar type of goods are
produced by many manufacturers. Consumers of these articles are free to compare the quality,
price and utility of various products available, and choose the best one which suits their needs.
Demand for these goods remains more or less stable and very little effort is needed to create
demand for such goods. These kinds of salesmen are of average type. They need to possess the
ability to meet the customers demand properly. They should have patience and should be friendly
in nature so as to create a favorable impression and win the heart of the customers. They should
give fair and equitable treatment to all consumers. They should also have thorough knowledge of
the stock position, the price and the various attributes of the goods offered for sale. These
salesmen are usually paid moderately.
2. Specialty Goods: Salesmen There are certain goods which are fairly durable, non- consumable
and have high unit value. Some of the examples of specialty goods are: vacuum cleaners,
electronic water purifier, sophisticated sewing machines, industrial products, materials, supplies,
etc. the specialty goods salesmen specializes in introducing new products as well as the novel
features of existing products, in the market. Salesmen of these goods need to have a lot of
imagination and self-confidence like creative salesmen. Specialty goods require special efforts to
sell. Therefore, the salesmen must have patience and detailed knowledge about the durability,
service, unique features and prices of competing products. Such knowledge helps them to sell the
products successfully and meeting the queries of the consumers. As the specialty goods are high
priced and long lasting, customer usually collect sufficient information and make several queries
before the final purchase. It is only after being satisfied about the utility of the product in meeting
their needs that the consumer, usually take the purchase decision. Therefore, the salesmen should
be alert, fluent in speaking, tactful and well trained. As this kind of salesmanship requires high
level of skill in selling, these salesmen are usually paid handsomely.

III On the basis of Services offered

Salesmen can also be classified on the basis of service they render. They can be categorized as (1)
house-to-house salesmen. (2) Missionary salesmen, (3) service salesmen, (4) exporter‟s salesmen,
(5) industrial salesmen.
1. HOUSE-TO-HOUSE SALESMEN: House-to-house selling is usually done by travelling
salesmen. This type of salesmen can be classified into several categories. The „independent
consumer salesmen‟ sell goods independently by moving from door-to-door, approaching each
and every prospective buyer personally. Some of the notable varieties of such salesmen are
peddlers and hawkers. The stock and varieties of goods these salesmen sell usually remain very
limited. Peddlers generally carry goods on their head, shoulder, back or hands and sell them by
moving from door-to-door. They usually deal with cheap cosmetic goods like bangles, vermillion,
powder, comb, oil; enables like biscuits, bread; and items like toys, vegetables, etc. Peddlers
purchase their merchandise either from the manufacturers, the wholesalers or the retailers and sell
them in small packs to suit the individual requirement of the buyers. Generally they make cash
sales. The market for goods sold by the peddler is limited to a particular area or locality in which
he makes selling rounds. The peddler should possess sound health because physical strength is
essential both for carrying goods and making selling rounds in a geographic area. As a local
salesman, the peddler is expected to be polite in his behaviour and conversant with the local
language, taste, and traditions. He must have persuasive nature in order to be successful in his
trade. A thorough knowledge about the goods he is selling and the substitutes helps the peddler a
lot to increase his sales. A hawker is also a house-to-house independent salesman like the peddler.
The only difference between these two is that while the peddler carries goods all by himself, the

36
hawker carries goods on cycle, rickshaw, carts or wheel barrow. As a result, the hawker is able to
deal with more goods as compared to the peddler. The coverage of the market for the hawker is
also larger than the peddler. The hawker moves from door-to-door to sell his product and just like
the peddler, the hawker should also be strong and healthy. He should also be polite in his
behavior, honest in his dealings and conversant with the local language. Both, peddlers and
hawkers, draw the attention of the prospective buyers by shouting, singing songs or playing
music. These types of salesmen are the owners of their business. The volume of the business
depends much on the physical fitness of the salesmen. If they are able to move around a lot, they
can sell more. Another type of house-to-house salesmen is the „route salesmen‟. As the name
implies these salesmen follow a specific route for selling their articles. Some of the notable
examples of route salesmen are newspaper boy, baker man; milkman etc. Similarly house to
house salesmen are employed by retailers, wholesalers or manufacturers. These salesmen also
move door-to-door to sell their products directly to the final consumers.
2. MISSIONARY SALESMEN: There are certain kinds of salesmen who are appointed by the
manufacturers to propagate the merits of their goods. These salesmen are responsible for
promoting sales and creating additional demand, thereby developing new sales territories. As
their job is to maintain the goodwill of the manufacturer, they are called missionary salesmen.
Generally, they give publicity to goods purchased by the wholesalers and retailers. This helps the
wholesalers and retailers to sell the goods easily and quickly. As a result, they place frequent
orders with the manufacturers. They help the dealers in arranging store display, train the salesmen
of the retailers and the wholesalers, and prepare advertisements for the retailers and so on.
Missionary salesmen help the dealers in all types of sales promotion activities. Sometimes, they
act as demonstrators at the retailer‟s store. These salesmen must be properly trained, well
experienced and able to convince the dealers. They should have detailed knowledge about the
product. They should also be persuasive in nature and polite in their behavior.
3. SERVICE SALESMEN: There are some salesmen who do not sell tangible goods but sell
only services. The insurance agents, bank deposit collectors, stock exchange brokers, persons
engaged to push up sale of tickets for a movie or theatrical performance, space for
advertisements, courier services, door-delivery services, are some of the notable example of
service salesmen. The jobs of these salesmen are different and delicate. Usually, they have to deal
with educated and highly placed persons. Therefore, they should be well educated and well
trained. They should be alert, tactful and fluent in speech. They should also possess a detailed
knowledge of the services they are selling. The remuneration of these salesmen usually depends
on the volume of sales they make. The secret of success for service salesmen depends on the art
of creativity and spirit of persuasion.
4. EXPORTER SALESMEN: These salesmen are the representatives of their organization in the
overseas markets. Firms engaged in the export business employ these salesmen. The
responsibilities of these salesmen are very complex. They generally supply goods to the foreign
dealers and provide necessary information about the goods to the dealers. Thee salesmen must
ensure prompt supply of goods to the dealers from the domestic organization. These salesmen
need to be well versed with the legal aspects in relation to import duties, custom duties and other
taxes and above all, the law of the country to which the export is being made. The exporter‟s
salesmen should be well conversant with the language of the country to which the goods are
being exported. They are generally paid high remuneration along with other facilities like
housing, travelling, medical, expenses, etc.
5. INDUSTRIAL SALESMEN: There are salesmen who sell industrial goods only. Machines,
plants, components, computers, spare parts, lubricating oil, grease, etc. are examples of industrial
goods. These goods are generally sold to manufacturers and business houses. Salesmen of these
goods need high technical knowledge and training. They must be capable of demonstrating and
training the employees about the use of those products. For purchasing industrial goods, in most
of the cases, purchasing agents are appointed who are professionals and experts in their own line.

37
 Therefore, they do not need much persuasion and selling effort. Rather, the customer or the agent
of the customer or his agents have expert knowledge of the products. Thus, the job of the
industrial salesmen is more of problem solving in nature. After sales service plays an important
role in industrial selling. As the job of these salesmen is more challenging, the reward is also
better. They are generally paid a handsome salary as well as commission.

Duties of Salesman:
1. Calling on Customers:
The foremost duty of every salesman, in general, is to call on a customer or customers‟ existing. Calling on
customer means keeping regular touch with existing customers which is also called as keeping accounts alive.
These calls are made either at the office of the customer or house of a customer or any other suitable place agreed
by them. It is not only calling on all the existing customers in a given area or which is called as a sales territory. It
also means opening new accounts or creating new customers which is an art of converting suspect into prospect
and prospect into a customer.
2. Maintenance and Extension of Sales Territory:
A sales territory is a geographical sea consisting of number of prospects and customers and suspects too. A
salesman is to work even sales territory where he keeps the existing customers and accounts, creates new accounts
by or new customers who are prospects by his art of persuasion and converting suspects to prospects clearing all
fears and doubts and then converting that prospect into a customer in a territory. A territory may be a city, area,
taluk area, district area, or a division area or even a state. He moves from city to district and district to division
and state. He is the person who represents his manufacturer, or a wholesaler or even a retailer. That is, sales are
increased.
3. Increasing Sales Line:
A company is not generally dealing in a single product, has a product line and product range. It is the duty of the
salesman to bring it to the notice of customers, retailers and wholesalers of the manufacturing company‟s product
line and product range. This results in well assimilated diversified sales mix which broadens sales ability,
stability. It is because; the overall performance and profits are increased.
4. Image Building:
The greatest thing in business is credibility, status, the image of sales organization. Sales have the crucial role of
building the image or status or good will of company. It is done by building the company's product
image, service image, managerial philosophy, management objectives and policies. He is to establish that how his
company is different from others and why it is worth appreciating as the best of all others in the line, area. He is to
sell company's vision, goals, objectives, policies and strategies that go in keeping them satisfied and delighted so
that they demonstrate others that it is worth to do business with this organization than others.
5. Developing Product Knowledge:
It is the world of keen competition and speed. The science and technology are able to bring new ideas, new
products, new processes, new services at much cheaper cost, of superior quality and in larger quantity. The release
of these products and services and ideas are not reaching the people who are not covered by information
communication network. They do not know about new products and services, their uses change their life styles. It
is the sales force which can bring these products and services to people. In each call they make, present them and
speak of their superiority and benefits convenience and solace these products and services could bring them
within a price range
6. Dealer Counseling:

38
The sales people are working for manufacturers, wholesaler and retailers as the dealers play a big role in
successful distribution of goods and services. There is need for heavy and effective doses of promotional
activities. In addition to advertisement and publicity and public relations, there are specific areas of promotion
namely POP-point of purchase promotion these relate to window display, counter display, showrooms and show
case and participation in exhibitions and fairs. Many times, good products have failed because of bad presentation
and promotion and in some case even average products succeeded very well with matching promotional efforts.
These salespeople are good campaign counselors.
7. A Good Feedback to the Producers:
Sales people are key people who collect detailed frank, factual information of their needs, expectations of a
product or a service in case of existing products and services and the products and services they expect from the
producers. Salesmen are the spokesmen of the consumer the king-and king pin of any economy. These producers
produce products which are wanted by the consumers who decide quality standards, price range quantity needed.
8. They are the Best Trainers:
Every year so many young guys join sales line to make their career in various positions. At the same time, the
aged and willing sales people who made their career-retire. As salesmen in the field of selling, they have a big
role to play is, they train new hands on the job to learn the tricks of the trade. Successful sales-people act as role
model. They teach the aspirants who want to not only fit and fine but want make better performers. This is the
greatest task they do by building successful sales force and teams for bringing every success to the organization
on one hand and individuals-their progress and property.
9. Collection of Dues and credit Information:
Collection of dues is the most delineate and arduous task that challenges his brain and tolerance. These are the
days of credit and since credit has become the breath of modern business one cannot think of surveying without
credit. Credit sues are like "hot-ghee" neither one can keep in mouth nor spit. That is, the point lies in collecting
lie dues yet keeping the customer. It is a great balancing act. Salesman cannot compel the person to pay but he has
to develop the ability to impel the customer to pay. It is because, if he loses one customer by enforcing his right to
collect, there is danger of losing other good customers. A disturbed customer can spoil the name of salesman and
the selling house.
Another thing is to know the credit worthiness of prospects who are willing to have business relation credit rating
is done on certain 'C's namely, character, capacity and conditions. That is, desman is to know about all these —C's
of a prospect before accepting him as a customer.
10. Participating in Sales Meetings:
Salesman, as a bridge between the outside world mi the organization, is to participate actively in the sales-
meetings that are held in the sales Department from time to time. Meeting provides a forum for exchange of ideas,
techniques, Methods, tricks that enhance the company sales, his knowledge about various dimensions of his sales
career. Attending the meetings will result in updating his knowledge making fit and fine se handle with
confidence any situation he comes across in his field of sales. He has plus point of developing his capacity to
organize his line of activities as route-sheets, time-table is to sales journey. To that effect, he develops a
systematic and scientific tools, attitude, and philosophy in improving his sales efforts for the benefit of himself
and the company at the same time. Thus, meeting is a melting point for overall refinement of his career.
QUALITIES OF A GOOD SALESMAN
The fundamentals of successful salesmanship are contained in three factors. They are:
I. Personality of the salesman

39
 1. Physical qualities,

2. Mental qualities,

3. Social qualities,

4. Character qualities

II. Knowledge of the product

III. Knowledge of the customer's psychology

PERSONALITY OF THE SALESMAN

Sales personality is the sum total of certain qualities and traits. Prof. Davar points out that for achieving
success in the field of salesmanship, certain positive qualities are required to be developed by the salesman. They
are (i) tact, (ii) courtesy, (iii) kindness, (iv) courage, (v) confidence, (vi) honesty, (vii) generosity, (viii) loyalty,
(ix) cheerfulness and (x) good health.
As against these positive qualities, the corresponding negative qualities which should be avoided by the salesman
are (i) indiscretion, (ii) discourtesy, (iii) harshness, (iv) cowardice, (v) fear, (vi) dishonesty, (vii) selfishness, (viii)
disloyalty, (ix) gloominess, and (x) ill health.
The qualities that make up the overall personality of a salesman cam be grouped under the following four
categories (i) physical qualities, (ii) mental qualities, (iii) social qualities, (iv) character qualities. Each of these
qualities can be subdivided into the following qualities.
1) PERSONAL QUALITIES

(i) Physical - Health, Posture, Voice, Appearance.

(ii) Mental - Alertness, Imagination, Self-confidence, Initiative, Memory,
Observation, Resourcefulness, Cheerfulness.
(iii) Social - Ability and Eagerness to meet people, Effective Speech, Courtesy,
Tact, Co-operation, Good Manners, Patience and Tolerance.
(iv) Character related - Honesty, Courage, Sincerity, Loyalty, Determination,
Industriousness.
1. Physical Qualities

A good physical appearance is a very big asset for the salesman as it creates a favorable initial impression. A
salesman having deficiency in any physical qualities is seriously handicapped while dealing with the prospective
buyers.
(a) Health
A sound health, in fact, helps the salesman to perform his duties perfectly, contributes to the development of
mental qualities and provides a lot of self-confidence. Salesmen possessing bad health cannot maintain a pleasing
and impressive appearance and therefore, cannot carry their duties efficiently. A travelling salesman has to travel
long distances, meet a number of customers, and deal with them. The counter salesman has to stand at the counter
for hours together while dealing with customers. To withstand such stress and strain, salesmen are required to
have a good sound health. Nutritious food, regular exercise, adequate sleep, and periodic medical check-up
contribute for the maintenance of sound health.

40
(b) Posture
Good and correct posture enhances the appearance and personality of an individual. It constitutes an important
aspect of the overall personality of the salesman. It is the position in which one holds his body while standing,
walking or sitting. A good posture of an individual spreads the message of confidence to one and all. Salesmen
with posture are able to create favorable impression on the prospects. Therefore, in order to be successful in a
selling job, all salesmen need to maintain a good posture.
(c) Voice
Pleasing and clear voice is another important physical quality, needed by the salesman in order to create a
favorable impression on the prospects. Therefore, the salesman should take care to have a clear as well as pleasant
voice. Hoarse, high pitched, shrill, commanding or nasal voices generally irritate the customers. The voice of the
salesman should not be too loud or too low or unpleasant. Normally, customers are able to hear as well as receive
clearly what the salesman is trying to say. Each and every statement of the salesman should be clear and pleasant
to the customers.
(d) Appearance
A good physical appearance is the biggest asset for the salesman. In fact, the first impression on the prospects is
created by the physical appearance of the salesman. A salesman should possess a good, neat and pleasing
appearance which provides him a lot of self-confidence to deal with the prospects. In fact, these qualities are
essential to be successful in every walk of life. The appearance of the salesman is judged from his cleanliness,
grooming and clothes.
2. Mental Qualities

Mental quality is another important consideration for the success of the salesman in selling jobs. The mental or
the psychological qualities of the salesman are alertness, imagination, resourcefulness, observation, self-
confidence, initiative, memory and cheerfulness. These attributes are the fundamental requirements of successful
salesmanship.
(a) Alertness
In selling, the salesman should be alert, attentive and active so that he is able to tackle and handle consumers
effectively and efficiently. An alert salesman has quick reflexes and keen mind to deal with every type of
situation. He is able to meet objections, remove them, know the actual need and serve to the best satisfaction of
the customers. Thus, alertness or mental agility helps the salesman meet each and every type of selling situation.
(b) Imagination
It is an important mental trait which assists the salesman to understand the problems and difficulties of the
prospects he is dealing with. The salesman, in fact, needs to have a creative mind. This is necessary to have a
customer oriented thinking. At times, customers just enter into the shop either with a vague idea about the product
or even without it.
(c) Self-confidence
Confidence is essential for achieving in any sphere of activity. In case of salesmanship, the need of self-
confidence is seriously felt since the salesman is continuously subjected to resistance, discouragement and
opposition. The self-confidence of the salesman should be focused on himself and the goods and services he is
selling to the consumers. Knowledge of the goods and services being offered for sale and knowledge of the
customer's needs builds the self-confidence of the salesman, to face and tackle selling effectively and efficiently.
(d) Initiative

41
To be successful in the job of selling, a salesman needs a lot of initiative. It is nothing but the ability to work on
one's own without any guidance from anybody. Otherwise called self-reliance, it is a very useful quality which
helps the salesman to reach new heights of success in his selling job. The salesman should be able to handle
difficult situations independently on his own initiative. Through imitativeness, a salesman can sell more products
to old customers as well as create new customers.
(e) Memory
Another important attribute of a salesman in sharp memory, i.e. capacity to recognize customers, recall previous
meetings and recollect their specific requirements and suggestions. The best way for developing such memory is
to keep record of various important points for future references. In this way, a salesman can become accurate and
alert while dealing with customers. This habit also infuses a lot of confidence and makes the salesman well
prepared for all types of selling situations.
(f) Observation
Another important quality of the salesman is keen observation. A salesman should be quick and sharp in his
observations and customers. He should keenly observe the changes in taste, style and fashion of people, activities
of the rivals and changes taking place in political, economic and technological fields. In short, he should have
knowledge of what is happening all around and for that he should keep his eyes and ears open always.
(g) Resourcefulness
Resourcefulness is closely linked with imagination. It is the ability to think about the alternatives and find out new
ideas. This ability helps the salesman to be more creative as well as confident. Knowledge of goods, customers
and their buying motives usually makes a salesman resourceful. If a customer asks a resourceful salesman about a
specific product, which the salesman does not have, he never says 'no'.
(h) Cheerfulness
Cheerfulness is a state of mind and it is also infectious. Therefore, everyone wants to be cheerful. A cheerful
smile not only makes the other person happy but also removes all kinds of tension. By being cheerful, a salesman
is able to attract more and more customers. A cheerful attitude induces the customers to call the salesman again
and again. Good health, vigor and a rich sense of humor are the essentials to remain cheerful.
3. Social Qualities

Man is a social animal and the salesman being a part of the society is no exception. A salesman is required to deal
with different types of people in the society, persuade and influence them in favor of products and services, move
in different circles, meet many customers and get along with them. Therefore, salesman must possess certain
social qualities. Her social qualities which are essential for a salesman are as follows:
(a) Ability and eagerness to meet people
The salesman is required to develop a natural tendency to meet people in a cordial and friendly manner. He should
be an extrovert, who likes mixing with people and enjoys talking with them. He is expected to be friendly by
nature so that he can meet different persons easily. He should develop the attitude of mixing with people and
adapt himself to customers of different age, sex, and lifestyle, and background, level of education, beliefs and
attitudes. He should never hesitate to meet unknown persons.
(b) Effective speech
A salesman should talk pleasingly, convincingly and logically to impress the customers. Ability to speak clearly
and correctly creates favorable impression on the customers. The sales talk should be clear, pleasant and
persuasive. For this, a salesman should have good communication skills, sweet voice, clear pronunciation,

42
appropriate use of words and fluent expression. It is necessarily an art and can be developed and d refines by
constant effort and practice.
(b) Courtesy
A salesman is expected to be polite and considerate in his dealing with customers. It has been rightly pointed
out, 'courtesy costs nothing but pays much'. Respecting customers and a sincere desire to serve customers are
essential for success in salesmanship. It should b remembered that use of courteous words like 'thank you', 'please'
'welcome', 'excuse me', 'just a minute' in appropriate occasions costs the salesman nothing. Rather, it creates a
favorable and lasting impression on the customers.
There are certain courtesy to deal with number of customers avoid talking loudly, dressing up neatly, listening
patiently and never losing temper. These common rules should not be forgotten by the salesman.
(d) Tact
A salesman has to deal with a number of customers. Tact is nothing but doing things correctly at the right
moment without offending others. He should speak properly and work accurately to avoid causing dissatisfaction
and inconvenience. Tact is the ability of the salesman to tackle all kinds of situations. This can be developed by
putting oneself in place of customers.
(e) Cooperation
Cooperation with customers, fellow salesman, superiors and general public helps the salesman in doing better
business and serve the firm in a better way. It is a collective action resulting in mutual benefit. Customers usually
depend on the salesman to a great extent for selecting the products, which will satisfy their needs most
appropriately. The salesman has to extend full cooperation and helps them by recommending the beat product to
suit their needs. The sales force therefore is required to work in unison and with a team spirit. This team spirit
helps solving their personal as well as professional problems and meeting the challenges in the market.
(f) Good manners
The most important social quality that a salesman must have is good manners. It has been rightly pointed out
that in the long run it is only the manner that count and not the price, quality and utility of the goods or services
which have been sold. A salesman must always be polite and respectful towards the customers and his talk should
be polished. A customer is the king for the salesman. Customers are automatically attracted towards a salesman
with god behavior and politeness. A salesman at no point of time should be angry with the customers. If he does,
he loses sale. Good manners therefore, should be developed. Certain behavior- like cleaning the throat frequently
while talking, chewing paan, scratching tables with fingers, swinging on the chair, propping the legs on the table,
fiddling with pockets or handkerchiefs, cracking the knuckles, toying with the ring and so on- generally irritate
customers. Therefore such manners should be avoided. It is true that good manners will come only when bad
manners are avoided. A salesman will prosper only when he cultivates good manners.
(g) Patience and tolerance
Another important quality that is needed for a salesman is patience and tolerance. At times, customers start
arguing regarding the utility and price of the product or service offer for sale. Under such circumstances, the
salesman should remain cool. He should try to listen patiently to the arguments of the customers, their objections
regarding the products or services. He should try to explain his views in a polite manner and remove the
objections through pleasing replies.
4. Character qualities

a) Honesty: The salesman must be honest throughout. A salesman has to be true, sincere and honest in
his dealings , statements and accents in order to win permanent goodwill for the organization. An

43
 honest salesman is appreciated by each and every customer. The salesman must be true and frank
about the product or services he wants to sell. He should never breed the idea of cheating the
customers.

b) Courage: Courage is the moral strength which is otherwise called as guts. It is but natural that a
salesman may commit mistakes and make false promises. This may sometimes lead to unpleasant
situations. The salesman must have enough courage to face such situations. Whatever be the
situations the salesman must face it boldly and courageously.

c) Sincerity: the salesman must be sincere in all his dealings with customers. Sincerity helps in attracting
new customer as well as maintaining the existing customers. A sincere salesman should be able to
present his products, his ideas, his company and himself with a lot of confidence.

d) Loyalty: Loyalty means obey or willingness to obey, co-cooperate and work in the desired manner.
Loyalty of the salesman can be viewed from three angles

(i) Loyalty towards the organization: A good salesman should remain loyal to his
organization. In other words, he should always work for the overall growth of the
organization. Every effort should be made to improve the sales volume of the
organization.

(ii) Loyalty towards his customers: A salesman should remain loyal to the customers. He
must present a true and fair view of the product or service he intends to sell along with its
merits and demerits before the customers. He must provide with the right product, at right
time and the right place to satisfy their needs.

(iii) Loyalty towards his fellow employees: the salesman should also remain loyal to the
colleagues. He should have a co-operative attitude towards his fellow workers. The
success of the organization largely depends on team work and team spirit.

e) Determination: Determination is the will to go ahead and succeed unless a salesman is determined to
move ahead he cannot he successful. At times, he may face resistance from various quarters. Each
such problem in selling efforts should make a salesman to determine to achieve success.

f) Industriousness: „No gain with pain‟ is very much true in the field of salesmanship. Hard work is
another name for industriousness and there hardly any substitute for hard work. The salesman must
work hard to achieve sales target, satisfy the customers and ultimately satisfy himself. He must
always remain active working under trying and challenging circumstances.

Sales as A Career Choice

Limitations of selling as a career

1. Image: Sales suffers from somewhat of an image problem. The salespeople generally don‟t fit the profile as we
see in the movies, though, as usual, there are exceptions. They tend to be thoughtful people who are good
communicators with an interest in achieving. This cultural image, sadly, tarnishes all salespeople, not only those
exceptions.
2. Stress: Sales, if done right, is a stressful endeavor. They will be expected to put very much in, though can also
expect the rewards to be worthwhile. Salesman have plenty of pressure from all sides; from boss, colleagues, and
prospects will all want something from the salesman at all times. They need to work all time even during
holidays, they have a quite a stressful job.
3. Time: A salesperson‟s job is never done, there‟s always something more to do. It‟s not uncommon to find high
performers working till late, then going home and working some more. It‟s an all time-consuming job precisely
because the responsibility is very high and it rests upon their shoulders.

44
4. Pay: Believe it or not, this can be one of the main disadvantages of sales while at the same time being an
advantage. Sales pay is variable and is usually commission-based. This means they only get paid as well as you
perform. If you have a good month, that‟s great, but if they‟re having a month not-so-good or a downright
miserable one, they can expect it to be reflected in their next paycheck.

Rewards of selling as a career

1. The fun factor: The environment is tense but very vibrant and diverse. There‟s nothing like the thrill of a deal
that‟s close to closing, or the deep satisfaction of bringing in a huge one. It‟s a kick, and it‟s a good one at that.
Sales is a constant challenge, and there‟s nothing like meeting a challenge. Furthermore, as a salesperson, they‟re
an expert, and their job is to help people. They get greater joy by doing that job every day.
2. Recognition: The company recognizes the salesman if he does a great job with hard work. If they are doing
good job he will be recognized, with rewards, promotions, or public appreciation.
3. Freedom: Salesman is free to do what he wants, they have a great freedom to experiment and do things their own
way. In addition, if he shows professional, responsible, and perform well, he‟ll be given an even greater degree of
freedom. As long as they‟re doing well, Salesman will have little trouble with this in most workplace.
4. Reward: Most salespeople (surprisingly) aren‟t in it for the money. Somewhat unsurprisingly, though, they don‟t
complain when it does come in. Sales is very entrepreneurial, and one of the aspects of that is that they get out
what they put in. If he works smart and hard, he will be amply rewarded.
5. Job Security: Sales is one of the more secure jobs in any company, and will continue to be so for some time. The
smaller picture is that as a salesperson earns revenue for the company. In times of difficulty or economic
downturn, they are unlikely to be downsized, since they bring in the money. They develop sales skills that are
largely transferable. Once the salesman able to sell well, he‟ll be able to sell anything.

SUMMARY:

1. Salespeople contribute to society by acting as stimuli in the economic process and by assisting in the
diffusion of innovation.
2. The salesperson will act as a consultant to the customer in trust-based selling, whereas transaction-based
selling concentrates more on making sales calls and closing sales.
3. Personal selling is a major ingredient of promotion mix of a company. It has a big role in implementing
promotional programme.
4. Personal selling is likely to carry the bulk of the promotional load when:
a) the market is concentrated either geographically, or in a few industries, or a few large customers.
b) The product has a high unit value, is quite technical in nature, or requires a demonstration.
c) The product must be fitted to an individual customer's need; as in the case of securities or insurance.
d) The sale involves a trade-in.
e) the product is in the introductory stage of its life cycle.
f) The organization does not have enough money for an adequate advertising campaign.
5. Approaches to personal selling include stimulus response, mental states, need satisfaction, problem
solving, and the consultative approach.

Knowledge Assessment 5

Long questions:
1. Why personal selling is needed in modern era? Explain in brief along with examples.
2. Explain the qualities require to be a successful salesperson.
3. Salespersons have to perform various functions in the market?
4. Explain the different approaches to personal selling.
5. How do salespeople contribute to our society? Are there negative aspects of personal selling from a
societal perspective?

45
6. What are the primary contributions made by salespeople to their employee‟s?
7. How are need satisfaction and problem-solving selling related? How do they differ?
8. How does the consultative selling approach differ from problem-solving and need satisfaction selling?
Explain the three key roles of consultative salespersons.
9. When do you think stimulus response selling would be most effective?

********

46