Sales and key account management
The nature and the role of selling Study unit 1
Characteristics of selling activities are:
Glossary • Database and product knowledge management
& Production orientation: The organization’s focus is only on • Building customer relationships
products, emphasising satisfying customer needs. • Selling the product
& Sales orientation: The organization’s direction is on making profits by • Solution selling
focusing on the persuasion of people to buy the products instead of • Adding value
understanding the customer needs. • Use of social media
& Marketing orientation: This is a business philosophy where the
entire organisation is focused on satisfying customer needs. The following was uncovered by based on the information above as crucial
& Service orientation: The organization’s focus is to provide work activities that salespeople do:
expertly by an individual or team member for the benefit of its
customers. • Customer development, retention, and deletion: The
Pareto effect states that 80% of consequences come from 20% of
1. Nature and role of selling causes. In sales terms, this means 80% of sales come from 20% of
® Salespeople are imperative to the success of an organisation, as they are customers. Therefore, it is necessary to devote considerable
operating at the forefront. resources to maintaining existing high-volume, high-potential, and
® However, they form part of the larger team that assists them in bringing highly profitable customers.
in the sales. If that salesperson is ineffective, the organisation and people
are failing. • Information management: developing customer database, using
® A vital component in sales is that there will always be a buyer and seller. the internet, smartphones, tablets, visual presentations effectively.
® Prospective clients (B2B or B2C) will have specific needs where the
salesperson plays an important role. • Customer relationship management: selling is about
developing long-term customers, which constitutes a win-win situation
for both parties.
2. Characteristics of modern selling
® Selling in the modern era is about developing long-term customer • Salespeople are marketing the product: Various aspects
relationships that will ensure that clients come back to your business. support the marketing of the product including market intelligence,
Once you figure this out as a business, the relationship will become segmentation of markets, customer database management, provision,
profitable, which is essential for the sustainability of a business. analysis of information, and assessing market segments.
• Problem-solving and system selling: A team selling approach,
analysing the customer’s needs, providing solutions, analytical skills,
product as well as industry knowledge, to provide long-term solutions
to the customer.
, Sales and key account management
• Satisfying needs and adding value: Understand the customer’s product to the doctor, who would, in turn, prescribe the
business, identify needs, and provide solutions. Identify unknown product to a patient.
needs. § Order-getters – frontline salespeople who complete the selling
cycle and persuade customers to purchase.
• Selling today: Reduction of face to face selling due to technological
advances results in salespeople who must be comfortable with o Technical support salespeople - provide technical assistance to
technology. order-getters
o Merchandisers – provide sales support in retail and wholesale
3. Success factors for professional salespeople
selling situations
Jobber (2019) lists the following ten success factors that salespeople need
to acquire to reach success: The marketing and sales functions are identified according to the category
• Personable of customers that are targeted.
• Interactive
• Focused 5. Business-to-consumer (B2C)
• Listening skills
In the B2C market environment, customers are purchasing products for
• Information retention
their use.
• Verbal and written skills
• Organised Therefore, the submarkets in consumer markets are:
• Able to overcome objections • Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG): Low financial outlay,
• Adaptive frequently purchased, non-durable. Examples are food, toiletries,
• Determination most grocery products. The consumer usually does not spend much
time on the decision-making process before purchasing, known as a
4. Types of selling low-involvement purchase.
® Due to the diversity of the buying situation, there are many types of
selling roles: selling varies according to the nature of the selling task. • Semi-durable consumer goods: products are bought less
frequently than FMCG products, and examples include clothing and
o Order-takers – respond to already committed customers shoes, soft furnishings, and jewelry. There is more involvement in the
§ Inside order-takers - this task is purely transactional decision-making process as in FMCG’s, as more research will go into
§ Outside order-takers – visit customers and respond to customer the purchase decision, usually due to the products' costs.
requests
• Durable consumer goods: purchases are made less frequently,
o Order-creators – create orders for shipment are usually costlier and include refrigerators, microwave ovens, cars,
§ Missionary salespeople – Persuade customers to specify their and so forth. Therefore, the consumer will do much research before
products to another customer. An example of this is a making their purchase decision, known as a high involvement
pharmaceutical rep who would call on a doctor and explain a purchase decision-making
, Sales and key account management
6. Business-to-business (B2B) o Ability to communicate (verbal and listening)
- sales people need to clearly communicate various types of
® Buyers in B2B markets are more commonly geographically focused. information to their clients (e.g. information about the
® These buyers are often highly skilled and can negotiate price, quality, and product, the price etc.) but they also need to be good at
performance. In addition, this buyer category includes the retail sector, listening to their clients’ concerns and feedback.
such as the larger retail chains. Usually, these buyers are classified as key
accounts. o Determination
- the sales world can be a very competitive place, and the
These markets are divided into: determination to succeed is an essential quality of a successful
o Markets for retail distribution. sales person.
o Markets for capital equipment (e.g., plant, machinery)
o Markets for business services (e.g., consultancy, technical advice; o Self-discipline and resilience
these are more service-oriented). - to be a successful sales person, you need to be disciplined in
how you apply your time and resources to your clients. You
7. Selling as a career will also need to be resilient, as you will face many challenges
In the three levels of selling: and setbacks.
o order taking,
o order-making and 8. Marketing philosophies
o order generating
8.1 Sales and marketing concepts
® Salespeople can perform at all three levels of selling. However, some of ® The evolution of the marketing concept has been a significant
these levels carry less pressure, for instance, being an order-taker development in sales over the years. Historically, the sales and business
versus an order-maker. Order-takers are higher-income earning environment has centered around five main business and sales
salespeople, as their income potential is usually linked to commissions philosophies.
or bonuses related to their sales performance.
Essential qualities for salespeople to have:
o Empathy and an interest in people
- sales people need to connect to their clients on a personal
level, in order to build valuable relationships. This requires a
genuine interest in people and empathy (the ability to
understand and share the feelings of another person).
, Sales and key account management
Selling concept 8.3 Product concept
• The selling concept reflects the possibility that customers won’t buy
• Emphasizes on organisations to evaluate the demands of the consumers
enough of the organization’s products unless comprehensive
and produce products or services to fulfil these wants better than the
promotional and selling endeavors are undertaken by it.
opposition.
• Utilised for merchandise that consumers do not normally purchase,
• The product concept recommends that shoppers favor items with
unsought products like insurance, etc.
better quality, performance, and attributes instead of an
ordinary product.
• Products are forcefully sold by finding the target fragment and sold on
the high calibre of the product benefits.
• E.x - Apple and Google. Both organisations have strived hard on their
products. They offer rich, ground-breaking, and different application
• This concept lives up to expectations under poor suppositions that if
products, and individuals are passionate about these brands.
consumers are coaxed into purchasing a product, they will
fundamentally like it. Then, although they dislike it, they’ll overlook
• One issue related to the product concept is that it may also direct to
their displeasure over a period and purchase the product later.
marketing myopia. Hence, organisations need to consider developments
and traits sincerely and prioritize consumer needs.
8.2 Production concept
• Expresses that customer will favor products that are generally 8.4 Marketing concept
accessible and not very expensive.
• Marketers do not search for the right customers for their product;
instead, they build the right product.
• Achieving high efficiency in production, low cost, and distribution on a
mass scale is the usual focus of the managers.
• Company being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering,
and communicating customer value to its selected target customer
• Thrives on the ability to increase output while decreasing costs
• Customer focus and value are the routes to achieve sales and profits.
• The production concept was popular at a time when the market
wasn’t competitive e.g Automobile (Ford)
• Here buyers are more attracted to the product than its attributes e.g.
local mobile handsets in developing economies
