Unit 5 Demonstrate personal selling skills Recording information

Recording sales or customer information Customer Information plays an important role in the profession of salespeople and the organisation. The following are some examples customer information: Name and address: allows you to sell directly to them Also to personalise communication For contacting customers in case of delivery

Transactional history To determine customer preferences, for example, which products, when and how customers shop, often or not often It helps to monitor effective communication Profile: age, gender, income hobbies etc. Profile information also helps you to target your products or services to the needs of customers. For example: if you know that the customer visits the gym thrice in a week, you can target them by promoting your products or services there. Knowing your customer age and profession can help you to devise price strategy.

Spending Habits of customers and their birthdays Having knowledge of customers’ shopping habits can help an organisation to target them with goods and services in order to promote growth. For Example : impulse buying Where the customers are seen to buy products or services on impulse, you can display products or services to attract them to spend. Knowing of a customer’s birthday can help to promote customer loyalty to the products or services that your organisation manufactures or sell. This can be achieve by sending a birthday card to some customers. This will make the customer feel valued and attracted towards the organisation.

Payment information Salespeople are required to record all payment information during transactions for the following reasons: Prepare profit and loss account To chase customers who owe the organisation Determine commission and bonuses to be paid to salespeople To manage the organisation’s cash flow activities To forecast sales levels, etc.

How to collect Data Collecting important data in an organisation is one of the roles of salespeople. However, salespeople should never harass customers for their personal information or data. Do not ask customers to fill long forms as this may put them off Data should be collected in a professional manner and not in an intrusive way Data can be collected in the following ways from: Customer orders Birth data option Surveys- if an organisation runs a survey they can ask customers for certain information such as : age, name etc. Competition: an organisation can run a competition for public through which information can be collected. For example: customers can be asked to produce a recipe for baking a sponge cake, and to be entered into a draw. Customers who enter the competition may be required to provide their post code, names and date of birth Online: you can also track habits and preferences of customers through interaction on the internet. Market research: in this respect, research agency can be contracted to provide accurate information about customers to help an business plan its sales operations.

Class exercise 1 Read the Cosmopolitan survey and answer the following questions: What is the survey about? State or give three (3) conditions provided by the Cosmopolitan survey? Why is the Survey being conducted? Work in groups and present your answers in class 2o minutes

How do organisations gain competitive advantage Most organisations devise different strategies in order to gain and sustain competitive advantage. However, the following are some of the Strategies to gain competitive advantage in the business environment: 1.Focus on customer values- this means different things to different customers. But can include below; Timely delivery of product or service Flexible payment system quality service or product

Innovate with new product or service Organisations can attain competitive advantage by producing innovative product or service to meet the needs of customers. For example: A new product with new features- Samsung edge with a satnav A quality service provided to exceed the expectation and benefit of customers A quality product or service at a cheaper price Develop empathy – this means putting yourself in the place of customers so as to understand the needs of customers. With understanding of customers’ needs, organisations can better produce goods or services of the highest quality in order to obtain competitive advantage.

Take responsibility, make things happen and empower your people Employees should avoid “I don’t know what to do”, it is my responsibility attitude or behaviour” in order to release their creative ability and knowledge to satisfy the needs of customers. This can be achieved when employees practise the following: Use their free-will to render a superior service or product to exceed the expectation of customers Empowerment- this means management must provide support to help employees develop their potential freely Management must give support and encouragement to employees to take certain responsibilities without fear of reprimand Allowing employees to use their talents to exceed the expectation of customers can be achieved by removing barriers and bureaucratic measures in the organisation.

Look at other businesses: how they wok, what they offer and what they teach you Maintain keen awareness of the market Keep Updated information on your competitors: what they are doing, how they are regarded in the market- a leader, an innovator or a follower Be open to new ideas and do not concentrate efforts on internal organisational strength only Ensure that a proficient system of collecting information is in place to help you collect internal and external information for developing strategies, plans or operational activities. Focus on a specific aspect of the business to discuss and share information with colleagues so that a sustainable advantage is obtained.

Measure the right things Avoid measuring too many indicators at one time. Simply focus on 4-6 indicators at a time; for example: you can measure salespeople's performances sales levels Strategy for sales promotion or resources for employees. Measure revenue Measuring few right things at a time allows the manager or management to develop the skills of the employees to gain competitive advantage.

Class exercise 2 Read all the information provided in the Cow & Gate advertisement on sheet number 2, and answer the following questions: 1.Give three reasons why cow & gate is good for children? 2.Use the internet to answer the following questions: (a)Which organisation produces the cow & gate? (b) where is the headquarters of cow & cow located? (c)Give your impression of the advertisement (good or bad) One reason if you think it is good and one reason if you think it is bad Work in groups of two or three 25 minutes and present your answer in class.

Homework for next week Use the internet to find any product or service of your choice and answer the following questions: 1.The organisation's name ? 2.Three features of the product or service ? 3.One way in which the product or service can be promoted to obtain competitive advantage in the business environment? 4.You will present your work in class.

Develop empathy This means putting yourself in the place of customers so as to understand the needs of customers. With understanding of customers needs, products or services are manufactured or rendered to