In order to gain success in a market environment prone to change, sales managers need to realize the necessity of rising trends in several key sectors of the industry.
International Perspective
The intensity of global competition is on the rise. Domestic firms are finding it hard to keep up with their foreign counterparts owing to the lack of competitiveness. This is an issue which must be dealt immediately by salesperson and sales managers in order to enhance their personal selling efforts not just in their own countries but even in the foreign nations. Selling services and products in international markets offers a challenge due to the variations in language, culture, demands and needs.
Progress in Technology
Management information system as well as the digital revolution has sufficiently improved the capabilities of marketing organizations and consumers. It is possible for consumers at present to gain details about a certain product, compare it with other brands available in the market, and place their order instantly with the help of the internet. This has resulted in the formation of a new sort of sales force which relies on the collection of data regarding markets, internet users and the prospects of internet buyers. In recent times, most companies have made it mandatory to develop their own website. In order to become totally effective, sales managers and sales persons need to adapt to the latest developments in the field of technology.
Diversity in Sales Force
In recent times, the demographic nature of sales force has undergone change and slowly become more varied. A larger number of women have begun to consider a career in selling and sales management. Moreover, the level of education of sales people has gone up gradually and most of them now possess college degrees or even a post graduate degree. Sales managers must be properly equipped to deal with a sales force consisting of such varied demographics consider the different expectations of every individual and make use of separate motivational tools for every single category.
Customer Relationship Management
Customer relationship management is a product of the combination of relationship marketing with information technology. Interestingly, the primary concept in case of relationship marketing was devised earlier through a mixture of customer service, quality along with marketing. Relationship marketing seeks to build long lasting satisfying relationships between the suppliers, major customers and distributors for the purpose of earning and then retaining their preference and business over the course of time. Customer relationship management is a great way to allow companies to offer quality real-time service by concentrating on meeting the diverse requirements of each valuable customer with the help of customer relationship management software packages.
Approach to Team Selling
In recent years, most companies have begun to follow the method of team selling. This approach is used by a company which wants to develop a long term relationship that is mutually beneficial in nature with its vital customers who possess the potential for profit as well as high sales figures. It is suitable for selling a technically complex service or product.
Social and Ethical Issues
Sales managers have social as well as ethical responsibilities. Sales people must tackle ethical problems like deception, bribery and high pressure sales methods. Sales managers have no other option left but to maintain ethical standards from sales force.
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