Strategic Role of Sales Functions

STRATEGIC ROLE OF SALES FUNCTIONS
What is Strategy?
Strategy is an action that managers take to attain one or more of the organization’s goals. Strategy
can also be defined as “A general direction set for the company and its various components to
achieve a desired state in the future. Strategy results from the detailed strategic planning process”.
What is its role in Sales Organizations?
Sales organisation consists of human beings or persons working together for the effective marketing
of products manufactured by the firm or the products purchased for resale. Sales organisation co-
ordinates the efforts of members of a group to bring about a desirable result. It provides an efficient,
economic and flexible administrative set up to ensure timely movement of products from the
warehouse to the ultimate consumer. Thus, it provides satisfactory job to buyers and sellers. A sales
organisation has a number of departments. It has a planned and well-coordinated structure. It
performs the functions of planning, organizing and controlling marketing and distribution of
products. Sales organisation is a foundation for effective sales planning and sales policies. Systematic
execution of plans and policies and programmes of a sales organisation control all the sales
activities. As such it ensures maximum efficiency and profitability without losing consumer service
and satisfaction.
How does corporate and business strategy decisions affect the sales function?
In most cases the growth of sales doesn’t solely comes from the customer generation and purchase
in the market. This strategy dictates how fast a company expands, what products and services it
provides and how the company grows, for example, through increased sales and marketing or
through acquisitions. The pace of growth impacts how many people a corporation will need to hire.
Competition is highly needed in sales and this is what business strategy can offer, business strategy
addresses how we should compete, while corporate strategy is concerned with in which businesses
we should compete. Specifically, business strategy refers to the ways in which a firm plan to achieve
its objectives within a particular business.
What are the types of relationship selling strategies? Discuss each type.
• Stimulus Response Selling - This also called as the Canned Approach a method of selling that
depends on the salesperson's ability to say the correct thing (stimulus) in order to elicit a favorable
response from the customer (response). A script is frequently utilized.
• Mental States Selling - It is formula approach to selling. It is similar to stimulus response selling as it
also uses structured question to lead the buyer to different mental states. These mental states are
AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action). Sales person should be intelligent enough to keep track of
buyer’s mental state while asking him questions. It is bit technical and requires sound mental ability
of the sales person. First, he tells customer about his product/service to gain Attention, then tries to
develop customers’ interest, after that a stage, conviction comes, when salesperson describes the
functions and benefits of products/services. After that in the stage of desire he should overcome the
hesitation of customer and make him positive about his product/service and at the end sought the
sales call.
• Need Satisfaction Selling - In this approach, first of all the problem is identified. What does
customer need to solve his problem? Sales person first listen to customer and let him take the initial
part of conversation to uncover the needs of buyer. When need is identified then sales person talks
about his product/services and how can they benefit customers and tell the entire features. Then
sale is closed either with positive response from the customer or negative.
• Problem-Solving Selling - In this approach problem is already identified, sales person needs to
define it to the customer and then tell him all the alternatives available even of competitors to solve
the problem. He also explains his own company’s product/service, after that he evaluate the
alternatives carefully; doing comparisons of all and then sought the sales call.
• Consultative Selling - In this approach both buyer and seller works with collaboration. In this
approach seller tries to help the buyer out in accomplishing his organizational objectives and
strategies. It involves two-way interactions. Seller sincerely tries to seek out the problem of buyer
and use all his resources and expertise to provide him services. It may take several days for sales to
be done.

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STRATEGIC ROLE OF SALES FUNCTIONS

What is its role in Sales Organizations?

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