Academically, selling is thought of as a part of marketing,[1] however, the two disciplines are completely different. Sales often forms a separate grouping in a corporate structure, employing separate specialist operatives known as salespeople (singular: salesperson). Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading "art". Contrary to popular belief, the methodological approach of selling refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, by which a salesperson relates his or her offering of a product or service in return enabling the buyer to achieve their goal in an economic way.[2]
While the sales process refers to a systematic process of repetitive and measurable milestones, the definition of the selling is somewhat ambiguous due to the close nature of advertising, promotion, public relations, and direct marketing.
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History
One of the oldest human activities is selling and it has been recorded in every civilization. The Egyptians build one of the first empires based on trade. Later, during his conquest of much of the east, Alexander the Great was able to open route of trade. Caravans travel from east to west to sale good such as spices, textiles goods, and jewelry in exchange for gold, silver, and other commodities. Less developed societies such as the Tainos, used to trade food item such as fish or casaba for jewelry.
Buying and selling is one of the most pervasive of human activities at its done several times a day. To sell is to give up some of value in exchange for a financial instrument, such as money. Generally speaking, every member of society has something to sell. For example, a worker gives up skills, time, and effort in exchange for a salary. Some people make a living at the selling, often those people are call, salesman, salesperson, sales executives, account executives, etc.
Sales are at the core of every corporation. It is the blood the give life to a company. Sales, finance and Operations are the only functions that are indispensable to a corporation. Every other role is considered support. The top person at a company is usually the CEO, who is also the top salesperson who is responsible to sales the company to potential investors and customers. The CFO is responsible for finances and usually gets involve in negotiations with financial institution and potential vendors. COO is responsible for operations. Support roles such as HR, Marketing, and Administration are now more integrated in the sales organization. For example, in professional services organization, a key to succeed in sales laid in the relationship with the HR organization. Just like a shipping companies depend on improvement in operations and logistics to make their services more attractive.
Selling is the profession-wide term, much like marketing defines a profession. Recently, attempts have been made to clearly understand who is in the sales profession, and who is not. There are many articles looking at marketing, advertising, promotions, and even public relations as ways to create a unique transaction.
Two common terms used to describe a salesperson are Farmers and Hunters. The reality is that most professional sales people have a little of both. A hunter is often associated with aggressive personalities who used aggressive sales technique. In term of sales methodology a hunter refers to a person whose focus is in bringing deals and closing deals. This process is called “sales capturing”. An example is a commodity sale such as a long distance sales person, shoe sales person and to a degree a car sales person. Their job is to find and convert buyers. Sales farmer is some who creates sales demand by activities that directly influence and alter the buying process.
Many believe that the focus of selling is on the human agents involved in the exchange between buyer and seller. Effective selling also requires a systems approach, at minimum involving roles that sell, enable selling, and develop sales capabilities. Selling also involves salespeople who possess specific set of sales skills and knowledge are required to facilitate the exchange of value between buyers and sellers that is unique from marketing, advertising, etc.
Within these three tenets, the following definition of professional selling is offered by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD):
| “ | The holistic business system required to effectively develop, manage, enable, and execute a mutually beneficial, interpersonal exchange of goods and/or services for equitable value.[3] | ” |
See also
Selling may also refer to:
Selling strategies
Broadly, there are a number of specific selling strategies that come under the umbrella of sales or selling, including the following:
- Cold calling
- Consultative selling
- Direct selling
- Guaranteed sale
- Needs-based selling
- Persuasive selling
- Price based selling
- Relationship Selling
- Target account selling
References
- ^ Philip Kotler, Principles of Marketing, Prentice -Hall, 1980. (Subsequent editions 1983, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008. Gary Armstrong joined as co-author in 1989.)
- ^ Greening, Jack (1993). Selling Without Confrontation. The Haworth Press, Inc.. pp. 23. ISBN 1560243260. Page image[1]
- ^ "American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)". Sales Competency Project. http://www.astd.org/sdp. Retrieved on April 2008.
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Five months ago, jewelry owners began hosting gold- selling parties, finding an eager public willing to part with precious scrap metal as the economy turned ...
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Artesianos of Oaxaca Selling their handmade goods
