Have you already got a job as a sales manager or are you just going to?

Despite the apparent simplicity of this work, I still want to warn you that this work is not easy and its lightness is visible. In fact, get ready for the fact that you will come home much later than usual and will feel worse than a squeezed lemon.

Yes, because selling is not as easy as it might seem to an inexperienced person. This comes with some difficulties. Therefore, before you get a job as a sales manager, I advise you to think carefully, because a manager is not just an employee for 8 hours, a manager works all the time, even in a dream, on vacation, resort, cottage. You only need to make a choice once, and this choice will determine your later life without rest. Are you scared yet? This is good. Because, despite all of the above, it is very interesting to work as a sales manager - constant meetings, new acquaintances, a new flow of information, a very wide field of activity and no routine.

What do you prefer? Calm, monotonous, a little boring work according to a once and for all established scheme, without leaving the workplace?

Or do you still want new experiences?

Answering the question of where to start, I can only say: you need to start with right choice professions.

Before you start working as a manager, think about whether this is what you want? Or is it out of desperation?

If from hopelessness, then it is better to look for something else, because the work of a manager is specific and not suitable for all people.

I can roughly enumerate the qualities and properties of a person capable of doing this work. Firstly, sociability, or, as it is now usually called, sociability. But, on the other hand, sociability does not mean talkativeness or talkativeness. With all the sociability, the manager must be able to keep the trade secret of the organization, listen to the client and be independent from the rest. The work of a manager implies a large share of independence, i.e. you must be able to make decisions, take responsibility and have some (enough a high degree) self-organization.

Secondly, a manager is a creative person who will work not according to a scheme, but according to a strategy that is unique to him. Moreover, the strategy is constantly changing, adjusted according to the acquired knowledge, experience and specifics. Creativity lies precisely in the formation of new packages of proposals, the search for different approach to people, to be flexible and easy. The manager's job involves adjusting the available product to the consumer, looking for a need and satisfying it using available resources.

Thirdly, the manager should not be withdrawn, irritable or quick-tempered, this work should be taken seriously and responsibly, but you should not take everything that you are told to heart, otherwise it will be doubly difficult for you.

The manager is the most flexible worker, the easiest conversationalist, the quickest thinker, the most creative artist, and the most organized pragmatist. Can you combine all these qualities in yourself? Then you are on the right path, this work will bring you happiness.

If something is missing and you do not feel the strength in yourself to acquire this quality, then you do not need to tear yourself and your character. What for? When you can find a different kind of work!

So, do you still want to be a manager? It is perfectly! So, you are suitable, because a good manager must also be courageous and self-confident. Believe me: you will not be bored, there will be no time to be sad, but also to dream.

Hope you don't regret decision! Remember one simple truth If you constantly regret the decisions you make, then why make them!?

So, the choice is made!

You have been hired as a Sales Manager. In terms of sales of what - it does not matter yet. How's that for a surprise?!

Try to take this word for now, in the future we will try to convince you with examples that sell sausage and tights, office equipment and metal, advertising and snow (to residents northern regions) share the same principles.

One way or another, they expect you to conclude deals, sign contracts, profit for the company in which you work. Well, you, of course, are full of desire to earn more money and as soon as possible.

Where to start?

The leadership of the organization in which you work will probably have its own answer to this question. Then your success, as well as the success of the enterprise, will depend on your diligence and on how correct the path of leadership is. Not a very convincing relationship. After all, you always want to influence the events in which you are involved in the maximum possible way. As a rule, this requires knowledge and experience.

The latter comes with age, but knowledge can and should always be obtained.

Therefore, the question "Where to start?" The answer is very simple: "With knowledge."

Fortunately, there is now plenty of literature on marketing and advertising. Books on this subject are written in compliance with the basics of marketing. Simply put, they are designed for a variety of segments of the population. Some of them are written in such a language that they are apparently intended only for professors of economic sciences, although this is not mentioned in the annotation.

At the first stage, so that a new business does not scare you away, we recommend publications for dummies.

However, in the most abstruse, and in the simplest picture book, it should not be written in intricate scientific language but simple and clear.

In order to start sales (sausages, tights, metal, computers, advertising, air) and conduct them successfully, the sales manager must answer three questions.

What? To whom? How?

In other words, what, to whom and how he will sell.

What is the product or service of the company you work for.

To is the client of the company you work for. These are those who are already buying a product or service from an enterprise today, and those who can buy a product or service under certain conditions tomorrow or in a month in your company or in an organization competing with you.

How is the strategy and tactics of a particular sale. To work with each client, the manager must study it and develop an action plan designed specifically for this buyer.

That is, this is the case when their theory can be considered adapted to our practice.

The described approach to the sales process is relevant for all types of goods and services. If you still try to classify sales objects into groups, then I want to offer the following gradation for a sales manager:

1) to sell a product is to sell something that can be touched and whose quality can be determined at the time of purchase according to specified criteria: TV, telephone, food, etc.;

2) to sell a quick service is to sell some actions, the result of which (i.e., the quality of the service) can be assessed immediately after the purchase according to the specified criteria, for example, car washing, learning a foreign language, etc.;

3) to sell a slow service is to sell some actions, the quality of which cannot be assessed immediately after the purchase. In this category, the most striking example is just some types of advertising services.

Even if you are not an expert, you understand that selling a slow service is the most difficult. Many managers have had to do this repeatedly, and below we present a few practical advice on this occasion. However, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Don't forget: you need to figure out what you'll be selling.

The answer to this question should be given to you in the marketing department, if it is provided for by the staffing table. If there is no such department, you should torture the leader or the official to whom he directs you.

You probably guessed that the answer to the question “what are you selling” is not limited to the literal voicing of a product or service. The matter is more complicated. If the enterprise has a competent marketing department, consider yourself lucky. You will be provided with comprehensive information about the product according to all the criteria necessary for your subsequent work. But you should prepare for the most difficult option. You yourself will have to find out everything about what you will sell.

There is an anecdote on this subject.

War. There is an interrogation of the prisoner through an interpreter. Translator: “Is that from er name?”. Captive: "My name from John Smith." Translator (slightly angry): "That's from er name?". Captive (bewildered): "My name is from John Smith." The translator beats the prisoner with a swing and furiously asks: “Is this from er name?”. Captive (falling off his chair and crying): "My name is John Smith." Interpreter (looking angrily into his eyes): “I last time I ask how many tanks you have?

Seriously, you need to know what questions to ask and understand what you are asking. Only then can you count on understanding the answers.

Well, now, in more detail about how to start working with a client

There are several stages of work through which the manager goes through when working with each client. This is:

1) telemarketing;

2) meeting;

3) contract;

4) work on the implementation of the contract;

5) control over the fulfillment of all contractual obligations;

6) final stage;

7) communication support.

All these stages are listed in a somewhat simplified scheme, sometimes they are more complex, but more on that later.

Let me explain in more detail each of these steps.

The first step is telemarketing. This term came to us from Western literature(sometimes it is called telework), but in Russian it can be called not very beautiful word“Calling”, telemarketing sounds better - a call to a client.

Regardless of whether you are looking for a client yourself or you will be given a ready-made working base, the first stage of establishing contact is a call that should lead to further cooperation.

What usually happens during a telephone conversation? Oh, there can be a huge variety of variations - from the conclusion of an agreement to dissatisfied statements about sellers, advertising and you personally. You must be prepared for this in advance. But in recent times I am glad that most firms still adhere to business etiquette and it is rare to hear a frank message, but this happens in the practice of any manager.

If you are not sent and started a conversation (believe me, this happens in 98% of cases), you inform the potential client about your services, advantages and virtues. Often this ends with a request to fax or e-mail your suggestions. This is where the telemarketing phase ends.

The purpose of this stage is to:

1) make contact;

2) find a client who needs your service;

3) inform the client;

4) try to continue contact, make an appointment.

There are no other tasks for telemarketing, except, perhaps, for an indirect side study of the market needs and the general conjuncture. By the way, this is a separate conversation. Looking ahead, I want to say that it would be nice if you record in writing the approximate needs and wishes of customers: this will help you form your own idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe sales market, and also (possibly) formulate a rationalization proposal for superiors and increase your turnover.

The second stage is the meeting. If you nevertheless managed to get an appointment from the client at the stage of telework, you can be congratulated, because the meeting is a big deal, visual contact will not interfere with your work. Although, to be honest, my personal practice convinced me that the meeting is not like that. important point, because if the client is stubborn, there is little that can convince him and your personal charm is unlikely to help here. But I will not extinguish your enthusiasm: meetings are needed, and they should be, because this is another effective tool for a manager. At the meeting, try to test your gift of persuasion and influence on people.

The third stage is the contract. Its essence is the simplest and one of the most pleasant - the conclusion of a contract for the sale. For you, this means that the task is completed ( financial plan) and payroll.

The financial plan is an individual task assigned to the manager by the management of the company, consisting in a certain fixed turnover in monetary terms. To put it simply: when you get a job, you will be told the amount for which you will have to conclude contracts on a monthly basis, in which case you will be able to receive a salary and other privileges of a manager. Otherwise, you will be deprived of some opportunities, and if you systematically fail to fulfill the plan without good reason you will simply lose your job.

The financial plan is put before the manager in order to control and evaluate his work, because it is difficult to evaluate the work of a sales manager otherwise: the result of the seller is expressed precisely in the turnover.

Let's go back to the contract stage. Drafting and signing is the most striking moment, it is almost a victory, more precisely, it is a complete victory over the client, but a victory that entails further work. Let's move on to the next step.

The fourth stage is the implementation of the contract. The task of the manager is not only to conclude an agreement! The work does not end there, but a new, most creative part of the task begins - the fulfillment of the order. What is meant by task completion? Organization of work on the project - finding out the smallest details and putting them into practice, creating a layout, writing a text, evaluating the work done by creators, etc. At this stage, there is the closest contact with the client, the greatest interaction with him. From the manager creativity, activity, initiative and enterprise are required. When the work required from the manager directly is completed, the next stage begins.

The fifth stage is monitoring the fulfillment of all obligations. This stage includes two elements.

1. Control over the fulfillment of obligations by the client (payment for services, provision of materials necessary for work, compliance with the agreed deadlines, etc.).

2. Control over the fulfillment of the obligations assigned under the contract to your company, i.e. control over the performance of the work that is not performed directly by the manager himself, but which must be performed in the proper manner at the proper time with the proper quality.

Both elements must be controlled by the manager, and in case of failure, he must make a decision to overcome the difficulties that have arisen.

It must be remembered that in this case the manager performs a very responsible job and is similar to a policeman who regulates traffic: “Now you are driving, and you will go next.” To avoid traffic jams, stops, misunderstandings, the manager must be literally ubiquitous. It would seem that all this is easy and interesting. Believe me: all this is exactly so, but there is one caveat: it is quite difficult to follow all this if you have several contracts concluded at the same time. Therefore, the manager must also have excellent memory, and excellent organizational skills, so as not to lose volume and be in time everywhere.

The sixth stage is the final one. It is not chosen by chance and consists in correctly completing the work on the project. And to complete it correctly means not to forget anything, take into account all the wishes and, most importantly, inform the client about the work done.

During the execution period of the contract, you cannot leave the client in the dark about what and how you are doing. You need to keep him up to date so that it does not give the impression that you are missing with money or messing around. A good manager always unobtrusively reports on the work done. This, on the one hand, allows you to keep in touch, on the other hand, to get closer to the client and stay in his memory for a long time, on the third hand, to find out his wishes and involve him in the creative process of work, which will not only facilitate your task, but also reduce the level of dissatisfaction with your work. as it is completed (after all, the client made the decisions himself!).

Also, the final stage includes the signing of an act on the work done, which indicates that the client has no complaints about the work done. This removes the possibility of various discontent appearing over time and is a documentary confirmation of the work done by you and your company.

The seventh step is keeping in touch. If you have already collaborated before, it becomes much easier to maintain further contact than with clients with whom you have not worked before. If you have qualitatively fulfilled the terms of the contract, then most likely they will contact you again, and for this you should not lose touch and disappear for a long time. Before ending your partnership, agree on the next contact (“When can I call you again?”, “Will we cooperate further?”, “I hope this was not a one-time cooperation ?!”, etc.).

If taken by the percentage of stages, then we can say that good manager about 40% of calls continue with a meeting, 60% of meetings turn into a contract, and 100% of contracts survive until the signing of an act and the conclusion of new contracts.

So keep it up! Of course, you are waiting for refusals, from which no one is insured, but the more experienced you are, the less you will receive refusals and the more contracts and positive relationships you will have. In this area, success is directly proportional to the experience and personal qualities of the manager. The ability to analyze is also useful. It also requires the ability to speak beautifully and correctly. In general, all in one!

What other questions might arise?

Oh, believe me, there will be a lot of them!

For example, how to find clients? What a pressing question this is for every manager!

When you are hired, this issue will need to be discussed - will they provide you with a customer base or will you have to look for them yourself. If you are provided with a base, then this will facilitate the work, but only for the first few months. All the same, you will come to the point where the search for the so-called new blood will be necessary. If you are not provided with a ready-made customer base, do not be alarmed. Finding new clients seems scary only at first and because of inexperience. In fact, all this is not so scary, all sales managers do this.

“Okay,” you say, “but where to look ?!” And we will be happy to answer this question for you. There are a lot of sources! For example, all the same advertising - on radio, television, newspapers, magazines, reference books. An excellent source is the telephone directory of organizations (where there is not only their name and phone number, but also the scope of the company, which will make your work easier). Or maybe a little differently: you walk down the street, walk, look around, and suddenly you see new organization, remember its name (or write down the phone, if one is indicated), after (if the phone was not indicated) call help desk, recognize the phone and... Consider that the new client is already in your database. The next step is to establish contact with a new potential client. True, sometimes it turns out to be a very comical situation. One day I call a client (I found the company in the newspaper):

– Hello, can you tell me who I can talk to about advertising issues?

- With me. Do you have something to offer?

Of course, all this would be funny if it were not so sad. Unfortunately, this case testifies against advertising - in this case it had no effect.

But this is not always the case.

In general, by and large, advertising is a matter of chance. Lucky - no luck, little depends on you personally. You can come up with an original and bright advertisement, but a lot is determined by the needs and market conditions. Advertising is effective only when it is favorable for the manufacturer. The effect of advertising is manifested only in relation to competitors, and not in relation to the fact of the appearance of consumers. After all, the market is not dimensionless, a certain number of subjects participate in it, all of them need something, and what is in demand is that which can satisfy the need. If the need can be satisfied in several ways, then not only the one that is better will be in demand, but also the one that is known to the majority, and the one that is accessible to the majority. Therefore, advertising appears and is relevant only for those who have many competitors and who need to form a consumer segment. Advertising is not needed for those who have a fixed circle of consumers and who have no competitors, although they may need informational advertising, but more on that later.

Therefore, never renounce the effectiveness of the project: what is effective for one organization may not be suitable at all for another; what you think will produce an effect may turn out to be an outright dummy, and what seemed not very bright and spectacular may turn out to be a brilliant project. There is no product more elusive and ghostly than advertising, which is why it is very difficult to sell. But it is also interesting, because there is no wider area than advertising, in which you can realize yourself not only as a seller, but also as a creator.

Believe me: there really are very wide opportunities here, grounds for using imagination and developing new projects, everything is constantly changing here, and this is very interesting. You, too, can change something and must manage to change yourself along with these movements. You must succeed! If you fall behind, you may no longer catch up and merge into the general stream.

The advertising market is developing very dynamically and changing very dynamically. Perhaps he is redeeming himself? Partly. And this only means that it is time to change and change again! Run ahead, run ahead and be the first - this is the credo of good advertising!

In principle, as you have probably understood from the above, to be a sales manager, you do not need to have special knowledge and qualifications, but to be a successful manager, you will need to delve into the basics of economics, advertising, marketing and business, even if only to make a positive impression on your customers with an understanding of the main market trends and sales techniques.

There are various workshops and practical advice, which can help you acquire additional knowledge in the field of sales and sales management, but you can still get the basic knowledge only from your own experience, through trial and error, analysis of conversations, victories and failures.

For more than seven years of work in the field of management in a provincial town, he went through all the steps of the official hierarchical ladder. He started his career in advertising as a scriptwriter for advertising audios and videos, texts for flyers and articles, a developer of long-term advertising campaigns. Only much later did he learn that all these duties are united by the terms “creator”, “copywriter”, which came into our everyday life from abroad. From there also came the first translated literature concerning the foundations of the advertising business.

He read the writings of David Ogilvie and Claude Hopkins, discovering the variety of fields that the engine of trade absorbed. It turned out that such a “simple thing - to sell something - combines knowledge from various areas of life: psychology, economics, sociology, literature, and much more. And only in this case success will come to you. Not random and momentary, but thoughtful, strategically built and therefore forever.

These discoveries, of course, in conjunction with other personal qualities, necessary for the manager, literally made our friend fall in love with the advertising business and allowed us to soon get the position of development director in one pretty well-known organization engaged in the manufacture of seals and stamps. Leading an excellent creative team of professionals - managers, designers, layout designers, creators, artists and other specialists, he contributed to the new formation, or, to put it more correctly, positioning, of the company. In less than two years, we managed to create a large advertising holding with a full range of advertising services, known far beyond the city and region.

To this day, he considers this successful experience to be invaluable in his career.

It was then that for the first time there were inconsistencies between the beautifully described import experience accumulated over the centuries, the well-established capitalist market and our Russian reality. Their theory did not fit into our practice without serious adaptation.

I did not go to bed mainly due to the fact that in our country it is very long time the problem was “how to buy?”, not “how to sell?”. Manifestations of a scarce ideology are still an obstacle hindering the activities of Russian marketers and advertisers.

This phenomenon is especially noticeable in provincial cities. It is well known that Moscow is rapidly absorbing foreign investment with their huge advertising budgets.

Along with investments in metropolitan organizations came new approach to strategic planning, management and motivation of staff and, of course, advertising and sales.

The province lives at a slightly different pace. And most of us have to live and work in provincial cities.

Experience strategic planning and management of a large (more than 70 people) organization, received in an advertising holding, was then polished by our acquaintances when solving the problem of bringing a new product to the local market advertising agency, of which he is currently the founder.

While still a copywriter (today this term can be used much more boldly), our friend received the first skills of personal sales. He had to constantly adapt theoretical knowledge foreign books to our reality.

Making mistakes and drawing conclusions from them, accumulating statistics of real situations that arise during the sale, he gradually formed the methodology for salespeople, according to which the managers trained by him in various companies still work today.

In this book, we offer several practical recommendations for both novice sales managers, wishing to help them in their professional development as soon as possible, and for those who have been working in this direction for a long time. We express the hope that the description of the algorithm for solving some problems will strengthen them in the correctness of the chosen actions.

Let the experience concentrated in this book help you develop your own sales methodology and your own algorithm of actions, which will be unique to you and which will be constantly improved throughout your professional path.

The manager should not stop there - the manager should always move forward and lead others around him, including clients, who are often distinguished by conservatism and inertness of thinking. The manager is part of the progress that controls the advertising, marketing and business market.

We wish you to become a worthy representative of this class of people! class? Yes, precisely the class, because managers are special people who are called to lead, and not to be led, who must be able to fight and retreat in time, to convince and be convinced.

Are you still reading this book? So, you are already almost a manager, or maybe already a manager? In any case, you the right way! What could be better than borrowing and learning from experience?!

In my opinion, the profession of a sales manager gives a person the greatest opportunities - both in terms of earnings and growth in the company. A person who has worked in sales clearly understands what the client needs, and can move on to technology, marketing or management.

In this article, I will try to detailed description profession sales manager, highlight all the advantages and disadvantages.

1. The main thing in the profession is clients

Today, the main thing is customers, and manufacturing or delivering a product (service) is a secondary matter. Some do not even produce it themselves, but outsource this troublesome business. For example, a company promotes new brand vodka, and orders production at various factories. Online stores often do not have a warehouse or their own couriers. They simply sell the goods, and ship it from the warehouse of the wholesale supplier, ordering a courier from a third-party organization.

Whoever has contact with the client orders the music. After all, it is not without reason that in order to supply goods to chain supermarkets, it is necessary to pay for the “entrance”. In fact, payment is taken for access to the consumer. The sales manager plays the same role in the company. In his hands - access to the consumer. If the company does not satisfy its customers or the manager himself, he takes his customers and goes to another producer of a service or product.

The profession of a sales manager is unique. Today it is the most popular and in demand. It's a profession that anyone seems to be able to do. Many students get jobs as sales managers, because often for a specialist without experience this is almost the only chance to plunge into the world of corporate reality. On the other hand, the largest number of people who are absolutely incompetent in these same sales work in the sales position. Nothing to be done is the fate of any super-popular thing, including the described profession.

2. Who is the profession suitable for?

Despite the fact that a person with any education and experience can start working as a manager, not everyone can become truly successful salespeople. And it practically does not depend on education or previous experience. No, of course, education and knowledge in some areas can contribute to successful sales, but the determining factors, nevertheless, are the personal characteristics of a person. Which? It's a long story. If you're interested, you can go. The test analyzes the description of 15 personality factors and determines the predisposition to certain types of sales.

3. What is the job of a manager?

Here begins the most interesting. These can be professions that involve the performance of a number of functions.

• Contact center operators.

Task description: checking the availability of goods in the database and issuing an invoice. They do not understand goods, characters, methods of persuasion - anyone can perform their task.

• Storekeepers.

Description of the task: issuing goods from the warehouse (perhaps issuing an invoice and receiving money).

• IT operators.

Task Description: The people who process email tickets. They are no longer associated with customers.

• Cashiers.

Description of the task: receiving money, and another manager (storekeeper) is engaged in the shipment of goods.

• Accountant or operator 1C.

Description of the task: issuing documents for goods or services.

• Trade representatives.

Task Description: Taking orders from store employees. They are no longer just managers, they are already super-managers.

• Sales consultants

Sales managers are also called presale specialists who have in-depth knowledge of the product or the client's business and provide technical advice.

People who go by trains and subways. They sell goods, so they are also sales managers.

Baba Klava is in the sausage department and she is the sales manager.

Member network marketing also called a sales manager.

A loan officer who assesses the creditworthiness of a client is also called a sales manager.

Couriers are also often the most sales managers. They deliver goods to the customer and receive money for it.

The woman at the post office who tells pensioners which way to turn the queue at the post office is also bright representative sales manager.

Office plankton is the most common type of sales manager. He finds clients or answers incoming calls, draws up documents and can even follow the shipment. Sometimes he is an expert and is able to help in choosing a product.

Collection Specialist accounts receivable can also be a sales manager.

And this is only the top layer: the profession is not subject to certification, any functions are hung on it. You must understand this clearly.

Who is a sales manager?

The sales manager profession is a profession in which a person, using their communication skills and knowledge of customer needs, closes specific cost-effective deals.

Let me explain why I give this definition.

If the courier delivered the goods and collected the money, did he use his communication skills? Unlikely: the product has been selected, the price has been determined, the person, placing an order in the online store, has already given his consent to the purchase. So the courier is not a sales manager. If a person from the marketing department developed a cool product that takes into account the needs of customers, brought to the attention of consumers all the possibilities, and people queued up (for example, for an iPhone), then the marketer did not influence the sale of a particular product to a particular person or a particular organization. So he's not a sales manager either.

But if everything is so simple, why is the concept of the sales manager profession so vague? Everything is very simple: to sell something, you need to perform a number of functions, for example:

• study demand, competitors, market prospects;
• to produce a product or service corresponding to the market;
• search for potential customers and offer them a product;
• convince the client that the product is the best;
• sign an agreement;
• deliver goods or provide services;
• carry out after-sales service.

Let's say we limit the functions of a sales manager to three (3, 4, 5). But if no one in the company does the rest of the functions, what does the manager have to do? That's right - perform the rest of the functions to successfully sell.

Most a prime example is a private entrepreneur. He invents the product himself, produces it himself, promotes it and everything else. But the entrepreneur does not count on anyone, he understands that he is alone. However, even in big companies it is not uncommon for a sales manager to be left alone with a client. If marketing fails, the manager has to research the market himself, monitor competitors, compare products / services. If logistics fails, delivery has to be controlled. If lawyers cannot agree with clients on the terms of the contract, he has to resolve the situation, because most of the company's employees receive a salary regardless of whether they connect this client or not. And the sales manager receives bonuses depending on the decision of a particular client.

If you decide to connect your life with a profession, you must be ready to do the work for half the company. well, or be real star sales and create connections within the company so that everyone is happy to help you connect customers. Most effective way to get the necessary skills of a sales manager are that you can go through on this site.

Many people are interested in what a sales manager does. He can sit on Facebook or VKontakte, play online games, counter-strike and sapper. Which, by the way, is what a lot of people do. More prerequisite is now IBD. Don't you know what an IBD is? You are lucky. IBD is an imitation of violent activity. To be honest, sometimes it is also a useful thing.

But if you ask the question, what does a successful sales manager do, the answer sounds a little different.

A successful sales manager does three things:

• Analyzes (Minesweeper);
• Building relationships (Facebook);
• Move/Act (CounterStrike)

1. ANALYSIS - the basis of the work of a sales manager

It starts far beyond the threshold of the company. A reasonable sales manager will ask about the product, company, terms of sale during the interview (read the article). Of course, there is an opinion that a good seller can sell a refrigerator to Eskimos, but I believe that this is a myth. Anyone who can really sell refrigerators to the Eskimos will simply go and sell them to the Papuans. Why waste energy on persuasion in non-obvious things, if you can think a little and make efforts where these efforts will be much better paid.

The analysis does not end there. You need to be prepared to sell. To study the possible needs of buyers, the characteristics of goods, to take the place of a buyer, to critically compare your product with competitors - this is also an analysis.

Next is the sales process itself. Observe the client's reaction, understand what he says, why he says so, why the sale was made, why it was not made. Analyze in general your effective actions, observe others successful people, draw conclusions. Borrow other people's ideas, create your own.

This is all done by a sales manager who knows how to analyze. The one who does not know how, just knocks on all the doors, repeats mistakes and acts according to the template. So you can achieve some result, but never become a sales star.

2. LIVE COMMUNICATION is an integral part of any sale

When I was studying 15 years ago, the lecturer on "non-production management" said that in the next few years, all management will become non-productive. Machines will work in factories, and sales will be carried out in electronic trading systems, and an ordinary sales manager will not have anything to do. Then I believed. Now I don't believe this will ever happen. Communication is in the nature of man. Man is a social being, he needs to interact with other people. Society moves along Maslow's pyramid, no matter what they say. Recognition of our merits, the feeling of being part of a group, just learning something new - this is our nature.

And many come to work, including for the sake of communication. Forms change: telegrams are replaced by telephones, telephones by Facebook, tomorrow it will be a mental connection, but the essence will remain. As soon as a person ceases to need communication, humanity will cease to exist, and only then will sales managers disappear.

That is why a successful sales manager never reduces conversations to purely business, he develops relationships. Both within the company and with clients.

What does a sales manager do besides this? No matter how smart he is, no matter how sociable he is born, there is still a third component of success. Perhaps the most important. That component, which sometimes allows not very analytical and uncommunicative to achieve at least some results.

3. PERSISTENCE in achieving the set goal is the key to success!

The ability to act, despite the difficulties, mood, situation. I often had to meet people with good analytics, crazy communication skills, but never achieved high altitudes. Precisely because they could not purposefully go through a certain segment of their path. Some call the lack of action - laziness (). I think it's just a mismatch of interests. How to achieve compliance? Everyone finds their own way.

The main thing is that there is action, but it is ideal when it is combined with analytics and relationships.

If achievement of success is considered as a movement from point A to point B, then analytics- this is an understanding of where point B is located, what distance needs to be overcome, what resources are needed for this. Relations- this is the transport on which you will have to move, and action- the determination to make efforts to reach point B. It is also necessary to understand why to move to point B at all, to make constant efforts to overcome a small segment, in order to get closer to point B, and to imagine the joy of reaching this point.

I hope now you will not have a question about what a sales manager does. Of course, the salesperson does many more actions, but they are all within these three areas. If you want to become a real sales professional, I recommend visiting the "" page, here you can choose the appropriate training and significantly improve your sales skills.

Many people think that the job of a manager is to present the product to the customer. The second are sure that the essence of his work is interaction with regular customers. Third, they think that the main task of a sales manager is to sell. But how do managers actually work, what is the meaning of the profession, and who needs it?

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The essence of the work

Most often, the product is sold by lines of intermediaries who deliver it to outlets. In order for the flow of goods sold to be measured and continuous, partnerships with buyers should be identified and maintained.

The sales manager is obliged to create this connection between consumers, trading and manufacturing enterprises.

Therefore, the role of the sales manager is the sale of goods. He is obliged to monitor the fulfillment by all parties of the contract of the assumed powers and strictly control the delivery of goods. It is in his competence to do everything so that the client is satisfied with the purchase and in the future contacted the company again and again.

Types of goods with which sales managers work:

• consumer products;
• industrial goods;
• service.

The managerial profession has become widespread in the region wholesale sales. In some companies, specialists prefer to contact the client directly (especially if the work is carried out with expensive services). Managers in other firms prefer to contact distribution companies while simultaneously combining several sales methods.

About the position

At present, the concept of a manager is interpreted so broadly that almost every second specialist is called it. different level manager includes a different set of powers. It is necessary to acquire technologies and skills that will give a chance to make regular sales. The essence of effective selling is based on a systematic approach, even if it is implemented by the hands of only one master.

At its core, every manager, even lower level is a manager. His activity is to organize, plan, coordinate and control all the production mechanisms of the company.

The demand for the direction is quite easy to explain - in our country it is unique, since its representatives can find themselves in all sectors of the economy, both in state level and companies based on private ownership.

Professional competencies

Any representative of this profession needs to be sociable, sociable and purposeful. Mobile workers must be able to plan and properly control work processes within the company and motivate the workforce.

Each applicant must have a stress-resistant character. Until the moment of signing the contract, more than one week may pass from the time of the start of work with the client. Sometimes just building a client base can take several years. It is also impossible to exclude the peculiarity of the seasonal factor.

Usually, passive income manages to get a number of regular customers from serving, but active sales need to find new candidates. It is realistic to get the same profit from 1 large or several small transactions.

Manager workflow:

1. identification of a circle of potential consumers and clarification of their contacts;
2. development of an effective commercial offer;
3. drawing up a sales scheme, including the right attitude to communicate with the candidate to the effective positioning of oneself and the working organization;
4. drawing up a constructive communication with a potential client;
5. handling customer objections;
6. appointment and proper organization presentations of goods sold;
7. signing the contract, planning the next meetings and sales;
8. development of a system of constant communication with the candidate.

In order for the visitor to be satisfied after the conclusion of the transaction, the manager is obliged to oversee the process and compliance with all partners certain rights and responsibilities.

Personal qualities of a good manager

Trade workers who wish to receive good results, are required to constantly improve certain skills, and have the following personal qualities:

• Learnability. This allows the specialist to develop and adapt to changes of a different plan.
• Focus on results. Each manager is obliged to come to work to increase the turnover of the company. If the specialist is not interested in this, he simply wastes his personal and the time of the head of the company.
• Honesty and decency. If the partner suspects a lie, the manager risks losing his trust once and for all.
• Self-confidence. In the eyes of the client, the feeling of insecurity is compared to unprofessionalism and incompetence. Most likely, most customers will refrain from communicating with him.
• Stress tolerance. Not all partners are ready to make contact and behave kindly. A sales manager runs the risk of rudeness, humiliation and insults.

Motivation

Not all sales representatives have a sufficient level of motivation to perform their duties. This threatens with poor-quality performance of official duties and the decline of the desire to comprehend new heights. The company often has questions about why some people manage to make a huge amount of sales, while others do not.

As a rule, the solution of the problem is closely related to the motivation of the staff, which can be increased in the following ways:

• Rule 1: For effective work, at the very beginning of the working day, it is important to remember and clarify all the important details and gather your thoughts.
• Rule 2: Perform all actions in accordance with certain rules existing in this enterprise.
• Rule 3: The specialist should strive to constantly improve his professional level.
• Rule 4: Statistics are a good motivator. The more it focuses on the main and key points related to the number of successful transactions, the more effective will be further activities.

Additional Skills Needed by a Manager

1. In addition to interacting with clients, a specialist is obliged to collect data, fill in the information base, periodically visit exhibitions, conduct analytical reflection, draw up contracts, maintain primary documentation, etc.
2. A professional in this field must be able to competently plan their work schedule and have practical knowledge of time management.
3. Some organizations require employees to display creativity and creative approach. A professional must be able to use various sales techniques, master the technique of working with the imagination of customers, the skill of persuading, arguing and making successful presentations. He must find an approach to each client.
4. The employee is obliged to focus in his activities on the final result, to show activity, full interest in the work and readiness for continuous improvement. As a rule, the specialist independently performs all the work and bears full responsibility for it.
5. Ownership Requirements foreign languages depends on the employer. Most often, compulsory possession English language require only those employers whose company is related to the Western field of activity.

Demand and prospects

AT this moment from 20 to 50% of vacancies in the labor market are occupied by sales managers. This profession is the most in demand, but at the same time it causes the highest percentage of dissatisfaction. Perhaps this is due to the fact that about 90% of citizens accept this activity as unattractive, devoid of any prestige.

Despite this, 40% of all vacancies belong to sales professionals.

The profit of the organization depends entirely on the professionalism of the employee. No matter how high-quality a product a firm produces, all its work may be in vain if its customers prefer the services of competitors. Many enterprises are looking for experienced craftsmen, but finding a real specialist is quite difficult.

According to experts, a good specialist in this field must have higher education. This can confirm his ability to competently convince the client of the correctness of his point of view and the ability to speak well and clearly with clients. In addition to a diploma, the ideal applicant for this position must have experience in successful transactions, have a good command of the intricacies of their core market, information about the main suppliers and all potential customers.

How in demand is a sales manager?

AT modern world the position of a sales manager is considered promising and popular, because it is such an employee who cares about the financial stability of the company. The duties of a sales manager are numerous, but his main tasks are the sale of goods and services of the company, work with customers and partners. The sales manager negotiates to achieve the goals set for him, works in the office with a computer and documents, goes to meetings, talks on the phone. This position is in demand: it is available in almost every firm or company that is engaged in any type of trading activities. Note that depending on the direction of the company's activities, both the functional duties of the sales manager and his work will differ. So, you can be a sales manager for windows, real estate, appliances, cars and auto parts, furniture, services and more. This list can be continued indefinitely, since today a huge number of product groups are sold in various spheres of life. At the same time, despite the specifics of the product, the essence of the work of such a manager remains unchanged: to sell, to keep sales at a certain level or increase them, to ensure the presence of customers, partners and regular customers.

A bit of history

Sales manager is a very old profession. In fact, it appeared with the advent of trade, but such people in different times were called differently: merchants, merchants, barkers, and so on. In the modern world, they began to be called sales managers, but again, the essence remains the same - to sell goods, to find customers.

Key Responsibilities of a Sales Manager

So, in most cases, the sales manager performs the following duties:

• Increases sales.
• Searches for and attracts clients, concludes agreements with them.
• Maintains relationships with regular partners and clients.
• Prepares and maintains reports on their work.
• Provides advice on products and services.
• Accepts goods and maintains their display in retail premises.
• Conducts presentations of new products and promotions, takes part in exhibitions.

The instruction of the sales manager, as mentioned above, differs depending on the specific company and the product being sold.

Job applicant requirements

A person who wants to become a sales manager must have a higher education. In some cases, incomplete higher education in the specialty "Management" or "Advertising" is allowed. In addition, it is necessary to be able to work with a computer, navigate in office programs and quickly learn how to work with various new programs. Skills welcome active sales. Very often, employers indicate in job advertisements such requirements as a driver's license (less often, a personal car), experience in sales, and skills in working with documents. In general, if a person who comes to the interview looks ready to develop and learn new things and at the same time meets the basic requirements, he will definitely be given a chance to prove himself. The main thing is to perform well functional responsibilities sales manager and work for the benefit of the company.