Sales Careers

 Personal Selling is any form of direct contact between a salesperson and a customer.  The key factor that sets it apart from other forms of promotion is the two-way communication between the buyer and seller.

 Retail Businesses  Retail selling is unique because customers come to the store.  Non-personal selling techniques, such as Internet Web sites, advertising, and displays, help to create store traffic.  Retail customers are pre-sold due to these promotional efforts.

 Organizational selling  Involves sales exchanges that occur between two or more companies or business groups. The sales process may take place in the seller’s showroom or company headquarters.  In other cases, sales representatives may make a cold call, which means they will visit without an appointment.

 Telemarketing is telephone and solicitation to make a sale.  In 2003, U.S. Congress passed legislation making it more difficult for telemarketers to operate. The law prohibits telemarketers from calling any phone number that has been registered with the national Do Not Call Registry, established by the Federal Communications Commission.

 Many Internet Web sites have supporting sales staff to handle customers who call to place an order. The sales support staff must know sales techniques to help callers make a buying decision.  Google  Yahoo  Amazon

 Approach the Customer:  Determine Needs  Present the Product  Overcome Objections  Close the Sale  Suggestion Selling  Build Relationships

 There are three distinct types of decision making  Extensive Decision Making--is used when there has been little or not previous experience with an item or that have a high degree of perceived risk, are very expensive, or have high value to the customer.  Limited Decision Making—is used when a person buys goods and services that he or she has purchased before but not regularly.  Routine Decision Making—is used when a person needs little information about a product that he or she is buying—low value and low risk items.