Dealing with discounts - The Network Experience

Ask any salesman as to what is the most difficult thing to handle in a sales process he would promptly say objections. The best sales professionals are of the opinion that objections are curtains behind which opportunities for a sale are hiding, waiting to pop out. Open the curtain and the sale will pop out.

The one issue that crops up very frequently is discounts. Discounts are reductions on basic price of goods or services. Customers love discounts. Discounts offered by the salesman are not as attractive as those that are forcefully wrung out from the salesman.

So how to deal with discount? Let me cite an example from the company where I worked “Indian communications Network Limited”. Let us take the case of Pavan the salesman. Pavan has almost closed an order. Then comes the dreaded question “how much discount can you offer?” Pavan argues that the company does not offer any discount. But to no avail.  The customer wrings out 5% discount from the desperate for an order Pavan.

The customer is not satisfied. He tasted blood and wants more. He demands that Pavan offer him more discount. Pavan refuses. At this juncture the customer demands that he be allowed to meet Pavan’s boss. Pavan boss is the ASM (Area Sales Manager).

The customer meets the ASM and pulls the same stunt “How much more discount can you give?” This is where the ASM has to play the cards close to his chest. If he says no the sale might be lost. If the ASM is willing to negotiate more discount Pavan’s credibility as a salesman will be lost.

The ASM looks at the customer straight in the eye and says “We as a company have a policy not to offer any discount. Has Pavan offered you any discount?” The customer would be forced to accept that Pavan did offer him 5% discount. The ASM is shocked “Pavan should not have offered you the discount. I am afraid that we will have to reconsider the order”. The ASM is playing a very subtle mind game. In 9 out of 10 cases the customer is sold on the idea of the product and he would back track. The customer would plead with the ASM to let the 5% discount stay and retreat back to Pavan.

The ASM has delivered a very nice lesson of accountability and credibility to the customer. If more discount is given Pavan would carry less weight with the customer. By not offering any further discount and by saying that even 5% discount is not allowed the ASM is making the salesman have more value in the eyes of the customer. The customer would maintain healthy relationship and do business only with Pavan and not with the ASM. Any professional ASM would like the same – that the customer maintains a good relationship with the Salesman servicing the client or the territory. 

Excellence in Customer service - A Network Experience - Part II

“That’s a problem! Can you push it to 14 days? I have some urgent work”. I promised to try and followed it with the head office. It was an uneven fortnight and the SP promptly called on the 13^th day which was a Wednesday. Luckily the machine had arrived. I told him that we would deliver and install the machine on Friday. “As you know sir tomorrow is Deepavali and it is a off for us”. “That is right” he said.

“But it would be nice if you can install it tomorrow itself as I have to make a presentation to the District Collector. Try your best. I know it is not possible, but that’s my need” Saying this he dropped the phone. By his voice I could make that he was annoyed and upset. But he was too much of a gentleman to shout at me.

I went to my RM (regional manager) and explained the situation. My RM could understand my predicament. We loved the customer at Network and we wanted to serve him at all times. My RM was helpless. Deepavali was the biggest festival of India and there was no person who was willing to work on a festival day. The problem was that the district was 250 kilometers away and that meant that the entire day would be spent in delivering and coming back to Hyderabad.

I volunteered to take care of the training. Electronic typewriters were considered to be technically advanced and all customers were trained in the usage of the typewriters.  I went to the service deportment and explained the situation. A service engineer Durga Prasad accepted the challenge and volunteered to take care of the installation.

On Deepavali we started out at 6 in the morning, took a train and travelled till 11. Finally we reached the destination. A royal reception was waiting for us. There was a police jeep waiting for us.

Our day was very eventful. The SP of Police was delighted by our gesture to install the typewriter on Deepavali. We were given royal treatment. It was customarily to eat only vegetarian food on Deepavali. Otherwise I was very sure that we would have been treated with the tastiest non vegetarian dishes!

We installed the machine, trained the typist, and showed him how to make good presentations. The SP was overjoyed. We were dropped off at the railway station. It was almost 10 in the night when we reached Hyderabad. The bursting of the crackers (the highlight of Deepavali) had already ended.

Yes that Deepavali had become a normal working day for me and Durga Prasad. But we had achieved something that will last for a life time. We had succeeded in delighting the customer who will remember us and Network for a life time. Yes we were the company that sacrificed our Deepavali so that our customer’s day would be lit up like the Deepavali night. 

Excellence in Customer service - A Network Experience - Part I

The year was 1988 and I was a sales executive with Indian Communications network Limited. Network was the market leader in the Electronic Typewriter Industry and it was famed for its ace sales people. Way back in 1988 we were marketing successfully typewriters worth more than Rs 50,000/-.  Even our cheapest typewriter was over Rs 10,000/- rupees.

On that eventful day I was the office sales executive. Office sales executive is the backup sales executive. The city had many sales executives and the office sales person takes the place of the sales executive who is on leave or if all the sales executives are present then he is stationed in the office to take care of the walk in prospects (walk in prospects are customers who might walk into the office to buy a product).

At around 1600 hours a prospect did walk in. He was a strapping man who had ripping muscles. He appeared to be quite knowledgeable. He asked us many intelligent questions. It was crystal clear that he not a window shopper. We had to tread more carefully. May be this man meant business!

The prospect asked for a demonstration. I along with our stores in charge R.C.Raju demonstrated the typewriter. We were still very skeptical. In those days a sale could not be transacted so very easily. We had to struggle and make many sales calls and slog for many months before we could get the dream document - the purchase order.

We had come to know that by that time that our prospect was a Superintendent of Police (SP) from a district in Andhra Pradesh. He was fond of technology and wanted a electronic typewriter to make his correspondence more professional and appealing. The SP quietly watched the demonstration and said “I will take it. How much does it cost?”

My heart skipped a beat. It was like struggling to see Sachin Tendulkar for a second and suddenly coming to know that Sachin would be staying in your house for a week. We have been struggling to get order and here was a prospect who was dropping a order literally into my lap.

I gave out the financials and he quietly listened. He never asked for any discount. We watched with a open mouth as he took out the entire amount in cash (usually customers paid us 10% in advance and the rest 90% after lot of persuasion). We quickly made out a purchase order and got it signed by him. We gave him a receipt.

Things took an interesting turn. Our customer asked us as when we could deliver the electronic typewriter. “Minimum 21 days are needed” I added. Why 21 days?” I had to explain to him that the AP sales tax was 13.77% and the central sales tax was 4%. All our orders were booked directly to our factory at Noida.  The machines were delivered directly from our Noida factory to the customers. Of course the consignment was taken by us (with authorization from the customers) from the airport and delivered to the customer. 

The art of observation - learnings from Animal behaviour

The mother of all education is observation. I have learnt so much in life from observation. One of my favorite books is "How to read a person like a book". Let us discuss animal behavior especially dog behavior and what we can learn from it. 

Dogs gulp their food: This is a tendency that they have retained from their wild days. In the wild dogs are pack animals and they hunt and eat in groups. It is very important that a dog eats and eats fast. The dog that shows table manners by eating slowly will starve itself to death. Speed matters in eating if you are a dog. 

Dogs circle the place where they sleep many times before they settle in: Again a throwback to their wild days in the forest. In the forest dogs have to sleep on grass. The grass might be thorny, tall or might have unwelcome pests, small insects, bugs etc. By circling the grass gets crushed and so too all the unwelcome guests. That is why even domestic dogs circle many times before settling down. 

Dogs treat different people in the family differently: Very true. Dogs are pack animals and they tend to treat member of its family differently. The most dominating person (in many cases the father) will become the tribe leader and mother will become the feeder and the others will be the siblings. If the dog can dominate it will become the most dominant of the siblings and would dictate things to the children!

Dogs are friendly and are very social: Most well trained dogs are very friendly and can adapt to new situations very easily. A new dog in the surroundings would immediately gauze the environment and adapt. If it is possible the new dog would stiff leg (walking to the other dogs with stiff legs) and appears to be bigger than itself with raised body and fur. The dominant dog would growl. If the other dog does the same it could either led to a fight or one of the dogs will withdraw the aggressive posture thus defusing the situation.

The submissive dog would immediately tuck its tail inside its hind legs and make itself appear to be smaller and whimper. The entire posture is that of submission. If the aggressive dog were to approach the submissive dog, it would yelp and fall on the ground. It would lie flat on its back, expose its neck and look away. This  indicates total submission. The submissive dog is saying “I am totally at your mercy. Kill me if you want”. The dominant dog also has a code of conduct. The dominant dog would sniff the neck of the submissive dog and both would become friendly.  

Thus it is important to notice the play of body language in all situations including in sales and marketing. The customer might be saying something and the body might be saying something else. If there is a discrepancy of what is being said and what is being felt (through body language) the smart sales man who can detect and act on the discrepancy would emerge as the winner and walk away with the sale.

Gatekeeper is the Person to watch out for!

Secretary, personal assistant, office manager, receptionist, gate-keeper.  Call them by any name they all do the same function. Regulate the flow of information and visitors to the decision maker in the organization. It is their responsibility to see that the decision maker is unfettered and free to concentrate on his/her work. To make sure the decision maker's valuable time isn't taken up by needless interruptions. Gatekeepers are a necessary evil in everyday business.

Getting past the gatekeeper can be challenging but not impossible.

First you must pre-qualify the information that you already have regarding the decision maker (name, title).

Ask the assistant "who is the person handling the insurance matters for the company". Or. " Who is in charge of the specific services/product you are providing (insurance, graphics, Printing)? The person who answers the phone will probably be able to tell you who the decision maker is even if they don't allow you to speak with him/her.

So let's say for example that you are calling Mr. Ravi Sharma  at Ratan Body Shop. But instead of getting Ravi, you get his assistant. His assistant's job like any good assistant is to govern which calls require Ravi's immediate attention and which will receive a phone call at a later date.

Here is an example of what a conversation might sound like.

Salesman : Hello, is Mr. Ravi in?

Gatekeeper : Who is this?

Salesman : This is Paramjit Singh calling for ALL-IN Insurance Services. I'm trying to reach the person in charge of accepting proposals for the employee Insurance policies for thecompany. I was told that it was Mr. Ravi.

Gatekeeper : Yes, Mr. Ravi is the person who handles the insurance but he is tied up right now can I take a message?

Salesman : Can I make an appointment at a later date?

Gatekeeper : Yes Can you make it at 1000 hours on the next Friday.

Salesman  : Sure I will thank you

There are some points worth considering here.

First, always try to get the Gatekeeper on your side. You don't get anywhere by making an enemy out of the person who probably has as much info on the company as the owner/Managing Director.

Second, be straight forward with the Gatekeeper . If you are coy or evasive with him/her, the assistant will pick up on it. You want this person on your side so be direct and simply tell him/her the purpose of the call.

Third always ask for the decision maker’s E-mail ID.  If you get a particularly Gatekeeper on the phone, the chance that the decision maker will in fact receive an unbiased message from you decreases. So be sure to leave a message.

Next, be sure to send some information to the decision maker which helps to insure that they know who you are and what you can do for them. If you still haven't received a return phone call from the prospect then you may want to send a voice or e-mail to his attention. 

If you don't have an e-mail for the prospect from the Gatekeeper then be sure to go on-line to the company's website. There may be a link to the person's e-mail address or fax number.

A good sales man is as good as his last sale

One adage that is frequent used by many sales professionals. A sales person is as good as his last sales. A salesman can’t rest on his laurels. The euphoria of the sales gets evaporated as soon as it is submitted in the office. 

The race earnestly starts for the next sale. The sales person always has to be on his toes. Most sales people do not consider a single sale as a high point. It is the total sale that matters. That is the target achievement in a month or a quarter is more important than a single sale.  

The Prima donnas’ of a single glorified sales man are long gone. Most companies resort to systems selling. Systems selling where a team of sales people are responsible for servicing a client.  Systems selling also eliminates the need to have a daily high. The daily high of a successful sale. In the glorified single person –single order regimes the pressure of getting a sale was so high that sales people would get a sale by hook or crook.

In systems selling getting a sale is only a process not an end in itself. Lot of focus is on lost orders. Lost orders are identified, tracked and reasons for losing an order are analyzed. Analyzed, so that orders are not lost in the future.

Systems selling also emphasizes that getting an order is not as important as seeing that the sales is transacted well. The item has to be delivered, installed, and the user has to get the total satisfaction of possessing and using the product.  

Sales men are submissive and will inevitably have a dog!

Sales career is the toughest among all careers. Sales men are seen as parasites and they are, frankly barely tolerated. One can’t really blame the sales people. In many cases they sell or market products that are not purchased willingly. In other words if the product can get sold by themselves there is no need for sales men. 

Sales people thus acquire cunningness and ability to play the underdog – always. They appear to be the most submissive of all the people. But that is a just a front. A sales man hears about his targets early in the morning. The not so polite boss minces no words in letting the sales man know that getting the target is sacrosanct. 

On the road the salesman has to grin and bear with the heavy traffic. He does not want to lose his temper lest it affects his ‘getting into the zone’ mood (the psyching up or getting prepared for the sales pitch).

At the prospect’s office, the sales man has to deal with the tough security, go through the drill, bear getting his things examined and get a visitors pass. Then starts the waiting at the reception. The sale man can’t show his impatience. There are watching eyes always watching and ready to report. Getting past the determined and tough gatekeepers (the secretaries) is an art in itself. 

Once inside the sales man has to play his cards well. The prospect behaves like a know all. The prospect preens about his knowledge and stops the sales man dead on his tracks. Sales men have to bear with interruptions, sudden objections and many and sundry colleagues of the prospect joining in the discussion and dragging it in many other directions.

The salesman is not sure of the sale till it happens. The prospect argues on all items including the price, the guarantee, the delivery period and the payment process. The training of the sales man comes into the fore at this juncture. He very carefully and subtly gets his work done that is to get the order.

But his travails are not yet over. He has to play the submissive role at his dealer’s office too. The dealer/distributor has many reasons not to generate the sale that is expected but comes out with demands of early delivery of material and late payments. The sales person has to be wary of not rustling the feathers of the dealer/distributor. So he cajoles and wheedles his way through the dealer and sees that his work is transacted satisfactorily.

Back at the office the boss is not very happy. He is not satisfied with the quantum of discount that the sales man had offered. The boss Complains about the delivery date and lack of advance payment. He grudgingly accepts the order as if he is favoring the sales person. The concerned data entry operator who has to key in the order also plays his role. He shouts at the sales person on his late arrival. He makes snide comments about sales men who can’t manage their time.

Tired and worn out the sales man returns to his home. He takes off his shoes and whistles at his dog (all sales people have dogs). This is the moment that the sales man was waiting for. He talks to his dog in a confident and dominant way. The dog listens carefully and wags his tail. The sales man’s day has ended happily. For the sales man his dog is the only thing that can be dominated by him.

Consumer Behaviour - Way to bag large orders - Solution marketing

Sanjeev Duggal

 

Modi Xerox Machines

My senior batch of marketing students just popped in and asked for an extra class of Consumer behavior. That set off a train of thought process? What is consumer behavior? Is it something that is locked in the mind of the consumer and which can’t be explained, even by the consumer himself? It is something that the marketer can forcefully extract out of the consumer black box and get his or her proverbial pile of fortune! 

Savior this, why is that we are lees hungry when we are at the place of work and become hungry and ravenous at home. We are conditioned by the sounds and cues of cooking and we become hungry. This is the reason that explains the smell and sounds that the eateries make to make us feel very hungry. At the same time eating five star food however tasty and colorful becomes a pain after 1 or 2 days. We don’t tire of homemade food even after eating it for decades! Homemade food has got a word for itself. It is called comfort food. That is what makes consumer behavior so challenging. No one can accurately predict it. Some one’s food is somebody else’s poison.

I had in the past worked in the extremely competitive Office Automation company, NETWORK, and we used to market electronic typewriters costing between 50,000/- rupees to 1,00,000/- rupees way back in the late eighties. Our nearest generic competitor was Modi Xerox. NETWORK and Modi Xerox were famed for their extremely competent and innovative sales people. 

This incident that I recite is that of Sanjeev Duggal an ace sales professional from Modi Xerox. It was said that the company had set a very stiff target of selling over 100 Xerox machines for a quarter. That was the tine even selling even one in a month was extremely difficult. Good sales men used average at a maximum of 9-10 a quarter (3 months).

Sanjeev pulled off the impossible and achieved the target. He got a massive incentive and others were curious as how he could pull of such a big order. Sanjeev went on to explain” I knew that selling 100 Xerox machines is a herculean task. No individual buyer could buy that many. So I concentrated on MAJA (Major Sales) and LAM (Large Accounts). Only organizations that buy in bulk can afford to buy so many. I concentrated on government accounts”.

Sanjeev in his research found out that there were many police stations in his territory. He at that was working in western India. He went and observed the working conditions in the police stations. One of the things that he observed was that police stations have to take an inventory of all the belongings of the suspects who have to be kept in the police lock up. This meant lot of work for the police writer. The writer has to spend long time in inventorying the small and petty things that the criminals had in their pocket.

Sanjeev came out with a very bright idea. Why not simply deposit all and sundry belongings of the suspects that have be kept in the lock up in the Xerox machine and take a copy of it. This way time can be saved and the photo copy of the belonging can be kept as a proof and any accusation of pilferage of belongings can be avoided. Luckily for Sanjeev this idea was accepted by the police and the concerned authorities and Sanjeev got a large order of Xerox machines.

Sanjeev proved the point that when things get tough the tough get going. Way to go Sanjeev. 

Dos and donts of door to door selling and Sugging (trying to market in guise of market research)

Yesterday a girl student apprehensively asked me “sir would a career in sales mean always doing the beat?” For the uninitiated doing the beat means going from one house to another. Popularly referred to as door to door selling it is in the worst nightmare for any budding sales person.

I was thrown rudely back to my own sales days. I was a bag holding salesman. I have not done the beat but have experience of doing an extensive door to door campaign for a multinational giant who wanted to introduce chips and other snack items. It was in the mid eighties and I was surprised to see the reception that I received.

To put things in perspective the nice response could be because I was not marketing any product or service and I was only doing market research. My appearance as an obedient student also would have helped. It is said that sales people wear shoes with thick leather at the fore leg. The minute the door is opened the foot is thrust inside and the door can’t be banged shut again.

Jokes apart this is not done at all. But it is a lesson in perseverance that one needs to have to do the beat. Mind you doing the beat is tough and the following tips might help.

Dress well: Make it a point to dress well. Dress and address are important. The way we dress and the way we talk create a powerful impression in the mind of the customer.

Manners:  are very important. Greet the customer with respect. Once the calling bell is answered step away from the door and respectively greet the person with warmth. Treat women with extra care. Preferably visit the house early in the morning or late in the evening. Try to fix up an appointment with the owner and his wife at a time that is convenient to them.

Do not attempt to sit unless asked. Remain standing and try to conduct your business. Do not appear to be over smart. Much time will not be given. Do not ask for personal information like telephone numbers, income, religious affiliations, e-mail IDs and others.

Demonstrate the product or service and try to be respectful at all times. When dealing with woman and girls being extra cautious would be helpful. If the segment where you are trying to do door to door sales or market research is predominantly middle class it is better to have a lady and gent enumerator work together. Fluency in the local language is a mandatory requirement.

Identity cards: In the modern world every one is a suspect. It is better to have one’s identity card and an introduction from the college, institution or the company. Getting permission from an apartment complex is getting tougher and tougher. So always fix an appointment with the apartment owners’ association or the president before the process of door to door marketing is initiated.

Do not Sugg: Sugging in market research means "selling under the guise of research". This behavior occurs when a product marketer pretends to be a market researcher conducting a survey when in reality he is trying to sell the product.

Generally considered unethical, this tactic is prohibited or strongly disapproved by trade groups and most reputed companies. Do research for research purpose. Do not sully the fair name of market research by trying to Sugg.

The Fine art of selling

Elmer wheeler the sales guru had said “Don’t sell the steak sell the sizzle” The steak in any decent restaurant would cost a bomb. A steak is a simple dish. It has some well cooked meat pieces in the centre of the dish and the meat pieces are surrounded by a generous potion of vegetables. Why would any sane person spent so much money for a small potion of meat and vegetables? Wait and watch.

Order a steak in a restaurant and wait for its arrival. The entry of the dish is benefiting the entry of a chief guest of a function. The steak is wheeled in; The dish will be piping hot. It is sizzling and makes lots of noise. The waiters would be wearing cotton gloves. The scene is so captivating that the entire restaurant would be gaping at the spectacle unfolding in front of them. For the next ten minutes you would be equated with royalty. So what if you have to spend lavishly for the experience!

Don’t sell the steak sell the sizzle. Customer love stories. Make your pitch as exciting as possible. Make your product or service appear so good that the customer should feel privileged to buy it. Look as if you are doing him a favor by offering your product/service. Get excited about the product, Sell it with enthusiasm. A salesman without enthusiasm is as exciting as yesterday’s coffee!

Some useful tip to make sales line more easy and effective:

General benefit statement: Always say “Mr. Ram we have been given your reference by Mr. Reddy. Mr. Reddy has purchased our product and is very happy with its performance. Would you also care to look at our demonstration?” Disarm the customer. Customers are naturally suspicious of sales people. Make him comfortable by saying that his name has been refereed by his friend. This would make him more confident.

Ask for reference: All of us have a bloated image of ourselves. Ask a satisfied customer to give his friends’ phone numbers to you. Also tell him that you would tell his friends that he has referred their names. A customer would be tickled pink. Being seen an opinion leader and as a leader among men is a dream that all of us cherish.

Magnify benefits: Always magnify the benefits. For example if an electronic typewriter has a three months warranty period don’t say so, say our electronic typewriter has 90 days warranty! It appears to be more than 3 months. It is same as saying your money would get doubled in 5 years. It is the same as 15% compound interest per year and for five year term. But customers get excited about the doubling part. You are not cheating, only creating healthy excitement for the customer.

Minimize the cost: In the same vein minimize the cost. For example if the annual maintenance contract for an electronic typewriter is Rs 1,000/- don’t say so, say “sir our company will charge Rs 3/- per day for maintaining you’re your electronic typewriter. The cost per day is not even half the cost of a single cup of tea. For that amount you will have hassle and tension free functioning of your office automation product”. The end result is the same but you are making the customer feel relaxed about his outflow of cash.

Never belittle the competition: gone are the days of pressure selling. The world has moved from a sellers’ market to a buyers’ market. The buyers are spoiled for choice and have become very finicky and choosy. In the present scenario never belittle the competition. If the customer is harping on the competitor’s product, you can firmly say “yes our competitors also have good products but they do not have our benefits and our range of features” Tell him how he would benefit by buying your product. Tell him your range of service and what makes your product so special.

Some customers are adamant. They want to buy competing product only. Then what? It is better to lose a customer who insists to buy a competing product rather than pressurizing him to buy your product. An impulsive buyer may regret his decision later. He would inevitably blame the salesman for the high pressure selling tactics. You have lost the customer for ever. It is better to lose today so that you can win tomorrow. Haar ke jeet ne walonko hi Baazigar kehethe hai (a guy who loses now and later wins is the real winner)!

oh MAN!

I had worked as a Sales Executive in a company called Indian communication Network Limited. Indian communication Network Limited was a market leader in the field of electronic typewriters. Network as it was called was a very sales driven organizations and the entire sales team was full of beans and vigor. In the evening as the sales team was returning from the field they would have to face this quip from our Regional Sales manager “Have you met the MAN today?” Let me clarify. MAN is not gender specific. Our RSM is refering to Money, Authority and Need. It is quite impossible to find a single person who has all the three qualities to be termed as a MAN. It is very rare and almost miraculous to find a single individual who can play all the three roles seamlessly.

The sales executives at Network would target the typists (NEED) in the organization. The sales person would convince the typist that procuring the electronic typewriter would make his/her life easier. Once the typist is convinced the sales executive would zero in on the typist’s boss (AUTHORITY). The boss would be told about the obvious advantages of the electronic typewriter and how it would enhance the office productivity. Once the boss gives an affirmative, the purchase order is procured from the commercial department (MONEY). The entire sequence of activities is a proof to show that sales as a profession is a series of planned activities that have to be executed with meticulous planning.

It is often seen that many sales executives make lots of sales calls but the end result is a big zero. They are effective communicators, possess adequate product knowledge and are good at product demonstration. Sales call analysis show that the concerned sales people are not making effective sales calls. It is a catch 22 situation. They are calling on people in the organization who are easily approachable and accessible. In 99 out 100 cases the most easily accessible people in the organization are the least powerful as far as decision making is concerned. In most cases the most accessible person is probably the gate keeper. He is put in that position to act as a filter. The gate keeper restricts the flow of sales people to the decision maker or the MAN.

The challenge that is faced by the sales person: how to approach and convince the person who is the most inaccessible. This is where a smart sales person comes in. He needs to have all his wits and resources in seeing that he breaks the defense of the MAN and see that his case is at least heard. I know of many sales people who have waited at the car parking area and got the break through when the decision maker was getting out of the car. I also know the case of a persistent sales person who almost way laid the decision maker when he was relieving himself in the rest room to fix up an appointment!

Recruitment and Selection of Sales personnel (Part 3)

The external sources of recruitment include

• Walk in applications or so-called unsolicited applications

• Employment agencies or placement companies

• Sales people calling on the company

• Employees of customers

• Sales executive clubs

• Sales force of non-competing companies

• Sales forces of competing companies

• Educational institutions or campus placements

• Students doing apprentices and summer projects in the organization.

• Indirect recruitment which includes using media like radio, television and the print media

• Some companies also use reciting brochures which are mailed to reputed educational institutions, recruiting career counselors and agents

Advantages of external recruitment include a large pool of applicants can be attracted, best candidates can be chosen, fresh blood and new initiatives can be brought into the organization. But looking at the disadvantages external recruitment is costly and very time consuming and some times unwanted people may get into the company.

Selection follows recruitment and might consist of simple one step system consisting of nothing more than an informal personal interview to complex multiple mechanisms. A selection system is a set of successful screens. At any of the screens an applicant may be drooped from further considerations. Some of the steps of the selection process include

• Application blank is the first step where the candidates have to resubmit their application in a standard format in their own handwriting. This is required for standardization of the applications and also to get a sample of the candidate’s handwriting that can be used for a graphology test. Graphology test is test of handwriting that can reveal traits that the candidate might want to hide desperately. This will be followed by a preliminary interview where very basic communication skills and presentation skills of the candidate will be tested.

• Written tests are used as a process of elimination. In written test aptitude, oral, theoretical and comprehension skills will be tested.

• Psychological profiling has become popular lately. In psychological profiling tests will be conducted where the personality and traits of a person will be revealed.

• Group discussions are used when there is a large pool of candidates. Candidates are given a topic, which they are supposed to discuss for a short period of time. Candidates are tested for their communication skills, leadership skills and team management skills.

• Formal interview/s further can be further classified into

• Interview with the immediate boss/supervisor: The immediate supervisor will test suitability of the candidate to do the job

• Product Interview: In Product based interview the candidates technical knowledge will be tested

• Patterned interview: In patterned interview all the candidates are asked the same set of questions. Patterned interviews are good for comparisons.

• Stress interview: In stress interview the candidate is deliberately put under a stressful situation and seen how he would react and overcome the stressful situation.

• Group interview: In Group interviews a group of interviewers ask a series of questions. The candidate is tested whether he has the ability to multi-task that is able to think in many directions at the same time.

• References, credit and police check: The next stage is reference check whether the details given in the biodata are checked to find out if they are genuine or not. Reference check will be followed by a credit check and now a day’s companies’ even resort to a police check.

• Physical Examination: In the era of litigations and consumer courts, companies take no chances. They make the candidates undergo a medical check to find about the candidate’s health status. Needless to say only candidates in prime health conditions will be considered

• Offer is the most crucial part of the selection. If the candidate passes all the above stages he would be given an offer letter. The candidate has the liberty to either accept an offer or reject it.

• On acceptance of an offer by the successful candidate an appointment order will be issued by the company specifying the terms of employment and the last date of joining of duty. With this the process of recruitment and selection process ends.

Recruitment and Selection of Sales personnel (Part 2)

The qualities that are needed to be a good sales person are

• A sales person should be a good problem solver. That is solving the problems faced by the customers.

• He should be a good listener

• He should be an active learner. That is learning on his feet.

• He should possess persistence and should be ready to wok for long periods of time. That too when results are not too apparent or forth coming

• He should be a good net worker that is should have an ability to develop and maintain healthy and beneficial contacts.

• He should posses excellent product knowledge

• He should posses Empathy that is should be able to put himself into the shoes of the customers. In other words he should have the ability to understand the customer by thinking like a customer.

There are definite advantages of choosing selling as a career. The advantages being

• No formal degree/s are needed to be a sales person

• Only smartness, presentability and good communication skills are needed

• Indian economy opening up and fields like information, communication, entertainment, retail and insurance require a large number of sales people

• There is a possibility to earn very high incomes, as incentives given are huge and very attractive.

• Sales men enjoy flexible working hours

Along with the above advantages selling has some disadvantages. The disadvantages being

• Sales men have untimely working hours

• Sales people might have to travel for long periods of time

• Time can be wasted in waiting to meet customers

• Sales men have to work alone

• There is unending pressure of meeting deadlines and targets

• Often sales men meet customers who rudely reject them and their products

Recruitment of Sales people: Recruitment is the process of attracting a large number of potential applicants to apply for the job that has to be filled up. Infact the success of the selection process depends on the quality of the recruitment process. In other words if the recruitment process is successful it will attract a large number of applicants to apply. Once a large number of applicants apply for the job it is easy to filter and pick up the ideal candidates through the selection process.

The sources of recruitment for an organization can be classified as internal sources and external sources. The internal sources of recruitment include:

• Acquaintances and friends of the employees of the company. This method is often called as employee referrals

• Recommendations from senior company executives.

• Internal transfers

• Internal promotions.

The advantages of internal sources of recruitment are loyalty can be maintained and rewarded, only people known and recommended will be considered and some amount of secrecy can be maintained. But internal source of recruitment also has some disadvantages: it leads to inbreeding, new ideas and fresh blood is not given a chance to flourish and it can lead to complacency among the existing employees, as there is no sense of competition

Recruitment and Selection of Sales personnel (Part 1)

Marketing Management: Marketing management is the analysis, planning, implementation and control of activities designed to create, develop and maintain beneficial exchanges with the prospective customers to achieve organizational objectives.

The marketing mix of a company can be classified as 4 Ps that is Product, Price, Promotion and placement. That is Product talks about the physical entity that satisfies the need or a want. Price is all about the value that has to be exchanged to procure the product. Promotion is the communication about the product or the service and placement is how the product reaches the customer.

Promotion: The third P that is Promotions is all about communicating with the customers to influence them toward buying/creating a favorable impression/reminding about his/her products and services.

Generally companies deploy the following promotion mix to achieve their promotional objectives. The promotion mix that a company usually follows is

• Advertising
• Sales promotion

• Publicity/public relations

• And Personal selling

Personal selling is the face-to-face interaction between the customer and the seller. In personal selling the seller’s employee popularly referred to as sales person or sales man explains about the product face to face that is by being present in front of the customer.

Personal selling provides lots of advantages like

• As interaction is face-to-face doubts can be clarified immediately.
• Presentation can be customized that is tuned to the needs of the customer

• Instant feedback can be taken from the customers

At the same time personal selling has some disadvantages:

• Personal selling is not possible when the buyers are very large in number

• Personal selling will not work for low cost products

• One sales people can only service a limited number of customers per day. So personal selling tends to be very costly.

Sales Management: Sales management can be defined as the recruitment, selection, training, motivation, supervision, and evaluating the sales force so that individual, organizational and customer objectives are met.

Importance Of sales people in management include

• Launching the products into existing market/new market

• Salesmen increase the sales volume and profit

• Salesmen work as the eyes and the ears of the company. For a customer the sales person is the company

• Salesmen are the creators of demand

• Salesman educates and guides the consumers

• Salesmen give customers them satisfaction by providing them the exact product or a service that is needed.

• Sales management Increases employment opportunity

General all types are sales people are clubbed together and called as salesmen. But a clear classification exists. Sales people can be classified as

Order takers: Most common of all. Order takers wait behind counters and passively accept the orders placed by customers. Examples being salesmen people serving in retail shops, sweet meat shops etc.

Mobile sales persons: Commonly seen everywhere. Mobile sales people travel in small 3 wheeler autos and tempos (small luggage carrying three wheeler vehicle). They drive up to shops and stores and persuade shopkeepers to buy their products

Counter sales people: Same as order takers but are more skilled and perform sales activities like demonstration, persuasion, negotiations and objection handling. Examples being sales people in textile and gold shops.

Product sales people: tend to be skilled and possess high level of product knowledge. Product sales people usually are graduates with good communication skills. Examples being salespeople in electronic shops.

Technical Sales people:  are very highly skilled. Usually come from the same field as the customer. They have high level of product knowledge. They are good problem solvers. Examples being sales people who sell equipment and machinery to industrial customers.

Missionary sales people: Are so called because they do not sell directly and use the indirect method. They sell the concept or idea to the opinion leaders who then market their products to the customers. Examples being medical representatives who counsel the doctors who in turn prescribe the products to the patients.

Services sales people: These are sales people who sell services and not products. Examples include all sellers from the fields of insurance, banking, real estate and other service fields.

Specialized sales people: Are so specialized that they sell in huge groups. For example Boeing and Airbus companies have huge teams of sales people who sell their products directly to kings, emperors, prime ministers, presidents and to aviation ministers.

Smart Selling Commandments 9 and 10 (Final Part)

9. Smart Irani café selling or See for yourself selling : This particular commandment is very true for the cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. In the Irani cafes, which are the lifelines of the twin cities, one can notice the quaint way of making rotis outside the kitchen or in front of the customers. Sometimes even outside the café itself. Why only the rotis and not anything else like the biryani if the argument that the smell and the sight of the making of the rotis induces the customers to order more is logical and correct. The same practice in not seen in the Andhra hotels, Udipi hotels etc.

The answer is very simple. In the mid 70's there was a big rumor that the as the number of rotis consumed in Irani cafes were very high, these cafes were making rotis kneading the dough with the feet of the workers and not with hands as it is very difficult for anybody to kneed the dough with the hands. Once the rumour was out no amount of rallying around or explanations seemed to work. The damage was done. The customers were deserting the Irani cafes. So the concept of outside kneading and preparation of rotis in Irani cafes has come about. Like they say seeing is believing.

In the same Irani cafes of Hyderabad there is a custom of flexi-ordering. Unlike in any other eatery where you have to consume what you have ordered or pay for it even-though you haven't touched a morsel, in an Irani café you only pay for what you eat and what is not eaten is taken back. This is what is flexi-ordering. It works like a double edged weapon. If the customer does not feel like eating the entire dish it is taken back. If the customer is new to the Irani café he will eat the entire dish and will pay for it. This is what the managers would call a win-win situation.

10. Mobile Selling or if Ali doesn't go to the mountain, the mountain will go to the Ali – Selling: In the earlier days people would venture out and search for the items that they wish to procure. That generation had the time, inclination and the patience to do the above. The present jet setting generation wants literally fast food- ready and available the minute the desire arises. They can't wait for things. This change in behaviour is best exploited by mobile selling. Now a days a mind-boggling variety of things are sold on the move. Right from chats, backpack noodles and libraries only the bottom of the opportunity has been scratched. For the innovative thinker or the entrepreneur sky is literally the limit. Like in the U.S.A one of the biggest business opportunities is in offering services that the household can't take care off. One example that immediately comes to mind is that of designing and maintaining of gardens for the people for whom time is at a premium.

As a conclusion it can be said that there is no teacher like real life experiences. When one clubs experience with observation and develop a bent of mind that continuously keeps asking questions and analyses the answers, there is no reason why we cant be best salesmen in the world.

Afterall all of us are born salesmen starting from the illiterate Auto or scooter mechanic who will deftly dismantle at least 4-5 vehicles at the same time and will attend to the repairs in turns thus ensuring that no one leaves before the repairs are carried out to the 15-day-old baby grinning bashfully at its mother and selling her the idea that she should smile back at it.

Smart Selling Commandments 6 to 8 ( Part 3)

6. Smart Textiles pile of clothes or guilty - selling: This type of smart selling can be seen in any textile shop. In this case the salesman would repeatedly and continuously heap lots and lots of clothes before the hapless customer. In most cases even a hard core window shopper who had entered the shop to indulge in a bout of extended window shopping is now in a quandary and is confronted with a feeling of guilt. "I have made the poor guy show me so many clothes, if I don't buy anything, he will have nothing to show for his effort. Okay let me buy something". What the hapless customer doesn't understand or comprehend at that time is that the entire sequence of actions has been initiated by the salesman and in any case sale or no sale he will have to put all the stuff back into the racks. After all that is what his job demands him to do.

7. Smart Textiles cloth selection or winner takes it all selling: This type of smart selling is again practiced at the textile shops. It has been observed that many people find it very difficult to make a final choice when it comes to clothes. They get struck between colors and spend lot of time unable to decide which garment to buy. In such a situation this type of selling commandment is used. Here the shop employs pushers. These are men and women who are dressed like any other shoppers but are hand in glove with the shopkeeper. These pushers slide up next to "the hesitant and not able to take the decision shopper" and will show interest in the same clothes in which the hesitant shopper was interested in. The pushers would even subtly try to grab the clothes from hesitant shopper. Faced with such a situation the hesitant shopper would quickly make a decision and will walk off triumphant. The psychology used? Most of us are very possessive about things and the possessiveness will extend to things that we are almost decided on. The pusher is the catalyst that will push the sale through quickly.

8. Smart demonstration or Monkey sees monkey do Selling or wet cement concept of selling: This selling commandment is practiced by the street smart and street savvy roadside salesman. They follow the principle of “Monkey see, Monkey do". In other words most of us by nature are very inquisitive and will try to imitate others when faced with a new situation. This type of behavior is also called wet cement behavior. When faced with a sign which says "Wet cement, don't touch" most of us are tempted to touch the cement and check for ourselves whether the cement is really wet.

The street-smart salesman exploits this trait in our behavior. They have practiced the art of good demonstration. They are very agile and very adept in showing off very plain and quite mundane articles as state-of-the-art articles. One can recall the demos of orange juicers, rangoli drawing equipment and many other that look so appealing when the sales man is demonstrating, but when tried at home the articles don't perform in the same way or the way they are supposed to.

Sales Management - Managing different types of customers and types of sales calls

Accounts management is one of the most significant aspects of sales management. Accounts in sales management mean the customers. They should not be confused with the traditional accounts of financial management. Each customer is called an account and these accounts become the responsibility of the concerned sales person. Thus the concerned sales person is called the accounts executive. This type of nomenclature is very popular in the service sector especially the advertising field. The effective management of the accounts for profit maximization from the company's side and utmost satisfaction from the customer side is called accounts management.

According to the importance given by the company and the orders and the magnitude of service required accounts are classified into various categories like house accounts, major accounts, large accounts and One-Off- Sales. These are discussed briefly below.

House Accounts: These are major and loyal customers of the company. These have been with the company for a long time and the company feels that they are special. Their needs are targeted with extra care and they are given priority. The accounts are handled from the office itself that is why the name, HOUSE ACCOUNTS. The responsibility of this account will be borne by the Sales manager himself.

Major accounts: These are large private sector companies that will give multiple orders. As the orders are given in multiples they have to be treated more gently and with lot of care. These accounts are handled by experienced Sales people with lots of experience.

Large accounts: These are large governmental concerns that will give multiple orders some time in excess of 100 numbers at a time. These accounts are handled by experienced Sales people with lots of experience in handling large organizations. These sales people have to be well versed with the way as how government organizations buy. The sales people have to know the process of tendering, quotations, least price quotes, price negotiations and others. Loyalty of the customer and the service imparted becomes vital when one is selling to the government. The sales person should also be well versed with credit and the payment procedures that the government concerns follow.

One-Off-Sales: These are companies that will take a product and will not buy again. As the number of orders that we can except form these customers is limited these accounts are given to the fresh sales people so that they can get experienced. Once they get more experienced they are moved to the other accounts. In big companies One-Off-Sales accounts are handled by the dealers/Distributors of the company and the company sales people assist the dealer salespeople to make sales to the One-Off-sales accounts.

The different types of sales calls that have to be made by the sales person are

Prospecting Calls: These are calls in which the sales person tries to find out more about the customer and his organization.

Cold Calls: These are calls that are made on customer without appointment. It is a good way to call on people who are reluctant to meet sales people.

Enquiry Calls: These are calls made on the customer to find out if there in any requirement or if any enquiry is being raised for procurement of a product or service.

Customer Contact Calls: This is the call in which the sales person gets in contact with the buyer.

Follow up calls: All calls except cold call till the order is received are called follow up calls.

Demo/Presentation Calls: This is one of the most important calls. In this call the sales person demonstrates the use of the product. If the demo is effective it will immediately lead to an order.

Price negotiations/objections handling Calls: These calls are calls where the objections stated and hidden are clarified by the seller and the seller and the buyer negotiate on the price, credit and the delivery terms.

Order picking up Calls: This is the call where the sales person picks up the order and commits the delivery of the product.

Post order delivery/Installation/training calls: These are the calls that the sales person makes in order to see that the product is delivered and  installed. The sales person ensures that the product is in working in a proper condition and that the customer uses the product properly and optimally.

Payment collection Calls: This is the most important call. This is the stage in which the sales person picks up the payment. If the customer is not able to pay as per the agreement some restraint should be exercised by the salesman. This is to ensure a smooth working relationship with the customer.

Courtesy calls: These are calls that are made on the customer. These calls will ensure customer satisfaction, receiving of feedback, attending to complaints, repairs, maintenance and others. Courtesy calls also ensure that adequate market knowledge can be gathered. Courtesy calls can also lead to referral building that can lead to more orders.

Smart selling Commandments 2 to 5 ( Part 2 )

2. Smart home delivery or Friendly neighbourhood - selling: why is that most super markets fail to flourish in our country in spite of so much promotion,  discounted products and better shopping ambiance? The answer is simple. The competition is nimble, alert and personalized. The retail shopkeeper is closer to our home, he knows us by our name, greets our children by their names, sympathizes with us, gives us credit, home delivers our items and takes back faulty merchandise without asking any questions including perishable merchandise like bad coconuts.

3. Smart Baker's toffee or Sooo Cute kid - selling: Most of our cities are dotted with bakeries that cater to our weakness of sweet tooth and provides us an opportunity to indulge in a variety that is truly mind boggling. Puffs, biscuits, cakes and the recent additions of burgers, pizzas. A bakery that immediately comes to the mind is manned by a savvy youngster who would button hole any parent with a child and do the following. The baker would say out " Choo sweet baby" and would offer the kid a toffee or even a small eclair . This would melt the heart of any stone cold parent who had come resolved only to buy the bare essentials and not anything as an impulse purchase. He/she would now binge on a buying spree and the smart baker has another loyal customer in his bank. The psychology, which parent doesn't like his child to be praised or complimented? After all any compliment that is targeted at the child is perceived as a compliment to the parents themselves.

4. Smart Baker's thirst buster or Water Water every where buy not a drop to drink - selling: Another favourite trick of the bakery shops is not very palatable or can be considered very ethical. But it is very street smart. The reference is to the non supply of drinking water in many bakeries. Pray why? The reason is very simple after gulping down a hot and spicy burger or an oil ridden pizza, one would like to drink some nice and cool water. But the non-availability of drinking water forces the customer to buy a soft drink to quench the thirst. This way the bakery shopkeeper is adding up to his sale. Even though it sounds outrageous this principle has been in practice for a very long time. We have heard of industrial marketers who push products that are not in demand along with products in demand as a package. That is to say " If you want our fast moving products you will have to buy our slow moving products too " .

5. Smart Jeweler's cool drink selling: This type of smart selling can be viewed in any jewelery shop of repute. This in the exact reverse of the smart selling commandment discussed above. In this case the employees of the shop would see to that the prospective customers are relaxed and at ease as soon as they enter the shop. The upholstery is very soft and plush. One can hear piped in instrumental music and a fountain Pepsi or Coke or a soft drink would be offered. The whole ambiance is of a very relaxed and comfortable shopping experience leading to the dropping of the natural defenses of the customer. Now the customer is putty in the hands of the shop employees. He will be guided by them and would ask for their advice and pay the bill without asking for a discount. Even if the discount is asked for and is refused the customer would not really mind. Treatment is all that matters.

Smart selling Commandment 1 (Part - 1)

The author himself, most of the practitioners of management and the young aspiring enthusiasts have been weaned on a stable diet of the principles and practices of management gurus like Philip Kotler, Peter F. Drucker and Elmer Wheeler. But the real education comes from the mother of all teachers that is real time, on the job experience. It has been proved that the real successful managers have been the ones who had put-in valuable experience in the field before learning the nuances of the art of manage-Men –Tactfully. (MANAGE-MEN-T)

I would highlight some of the smart selling techniques taken from my own life.  These commandments are culmination of observation.  Observation is the most invaluable art which all management practitioners should actively cultivate. The commandment that will be discussed today is Smart retail selling or Psycho - selling.

Visualize a scene common to all of us who shop for daily requirements from the numerous kirana shops that dot the vast expanse of India. The customer approaches the shopkeeper and in a quiet voice asks his requirements. The usual response from the nose picking, pan chewing, shopkeeper is a curt " Nahi Hai" (I dont have it!). The shopkeeper is least bothered about customer’s need nor is he bothered about satisfying the same. Most of the customers would beat a hasty retreat after such a rebuttal. A brave customer might venture further to enquire as to where one could procure the desired article, only to be met with a stone walling reply " Nahi Mallom ". ( I don't know).

Let us venture into the shop itself. Ask for your articles and the surly shopkeeper would shout obscenities to the timid attender who in panic would sloppily weigh out the item in the fashion described below.

The attender would take a paper packet and put it in the weighing scale and hunt for the non-available weighing measure. If it is found it's alright, but if not found he would pick up any already packed item of the same weight and use the same. Then he would pour the item into the other side and inevitably pour more quantity than required. Then he would proceed to take out the quantity of the item to get to the desired weight.

Meanwhile the shopkeeper is impatient. He just can't wait. He would quickly calculate the bill, grumble about the change, make some snide comments, try to palm off some eminently uneatable toffees in lieu of loose change. The deal over, he would slip back into a world of his own and wonder why his customers never seem to come back. The end result is a dissatisfied customer who vows never to return to the same shop.

Let us now see how it can be done and how it is being done in many cases. The shopkeeper is eager to help the customer. He is courteous and will direct you to a place where you could procure the desired articles. Once inside the shop the difference is palpable. The shop is spic and span. The attenders are ready and eager. The weighing scale is smart and the weighing measures are near by. The attender would take a plastic pouch and the item that is to be weighed will be poured little by little into the pouch and the same process would be continued till the weighing scale slowly tilts down.

Psychologically and without our knowledge the shopkeeper is scoring winning points. When the item is poured in excess and subsequently taken out we feel cheated because we would feel that the quantity that is being taken out is ours. In the second instance when the quantity is being added we would feel that we are getting more quantity. As simple as that.

As the customer is moving to the paying counter the alert shopkeeper would come out with " Saab Ji, Anything more". What is the shopkeeper trying to induce? Nothing but to trigger our inherent trait of impulse purchases. The customer ends up buying products like chocolates, biscuits, noodles etc.