For any company or organisation to have success financially it must have a desirable product. This product must be of need to a large proportion of the general public. Advertising, using all available media outlets, should get the message across. But the most important link after the manufacturing and advertising (marketing) is the salesperson/sales representative – The person who actually sells the product to the consumer. Without him, the financial/corporate world would come to a halt!

This course will take you from developing a strong personality (confidence and knowledge) through to communication, marketing, dealing with upper management, getting to know your product, the A B C of selling, the opening and closing or a sale, stress management, how to increase your company’s profits, etc.

Course Aims:

• Explain how a sales concept reflects and aids the marketing goals of an organization.
• Identify key ways to develop good sales relationships with customers and others.
• Identify ethical and legal considerations in sales.
• Explain the importance of product knowledge and what it includes.
• Explain the role of a developed customer strategy and how to create one.
• Identify elements of good product presentation.
• Explain the stages of a sale and how to achieve results.
• Describe the importance of self-management to sales success.
• Identify and explain key methods for managing a sales team.
• Identify and explain key methods for managing a sales team.

Detailed Course Outline

There are 8 Lessons in this course:

1. Developing Your Product Knowledge

• • Knowledge of products and services
  • Sources of information
  • Considering wider industry
  • Products purposes and uses
  • Multifunctional products
  • Identifying product features
  • Warranties and guarantees
  • Product benefits
  • Presenting features to the buyer
  • Industry-specific language
  • Following organisational requirements
  • Legislation
  • Evaluate competitors’ products
  • Establish relative standing of the organisation’s product with the competitors’

2. Know Your Consumer

• • Gathering information about the market
  • Relationship between marketing plan and business plan
  • Market segmentation
  • Identifying consumer attributes
  • Testing product features
  • Drawbacks to testing product features
  • Consumer need for product or service
  • Reviewing past performance
  • Marketing functions and processes
  • Metrics for measuring marketing effectiveness
  • Planning based on consumer behaviour
  • Testing influences on consumer behaviour
  • Applying information
  • Anticipating demand for a new product or service
  • Capability to respond to demand
  • Presenting focus of appeal
  • Presenting to stakeholders
  • Digital marketing
  • Legal and ethical obligations
  • Privacy laws
  • Costs for promotion of activities

3. Identify Sales Prospects

• • Employ prospecting methods and qualify prospects
  • Identify prospecting methods
  • Outbound and inbound prospecting
  • Identifying your customers
  • Qualifying leads
  • Buying motives
  • Legal compliance

4. Develop a Sales Plan

• • Identify organizational strategic direction
  • Strategic direction of the organization
  • Business plan and Marketing plan
  • Factors affecting performance
  • Market segmentation
  • Determining sales targets
  • Estimating potential revenue
  • Measures for monitoring performance
  • Customer/client-based feedback
  • Establishing business objectives
  • Sales approaches to meet objectives
  • Expertise requirements
  • Budgetary resources
  • Developing a contingency plan/risk control
  • Developing advertising and promotional strategy
  • Product distribution channels
  • Preparing a budget
  • Proposals for resource requirements
  • Identifying staff resources
  • Developing a selling approach
  • Training staff
  • Knowledge of product details
  • Monitoring implementation
  • Recording data
  • Adjusting the sales plan

5. Implement Sales Plan

• • Implement promotional strategy
  • Sales Plan: sales strategies and targets
  • Legislation and Codes of practice
  • Promotional strategies
  • Calculations for budgets and timeframes
  • Organizational requirements
  • Marketing
  • Distribution channels
  • Training employees
  • Training strategies
  • Delivering a quality client service
  • Planning and implementing training
  • Promotional materials
  • Monitor and review sales plan implementation
  • Criteria to measure effectiveness of your strategy
  • Performance criteria
  • Monitoring sales activities
  • Performing evaluations
  • Making adjustments
  • Feedback

6. Build Client Relationships & Networks

• • Communication styles and methods
  • Understanding your client’s vs your preferred style and method
  • Verbal and Non-verbal communication
  • What is positive feedback?
  • Two-way communication, Open questions, and Active listening
  • Potential barriers to effective communication
  • Client relationship management strategies
  • Client loyalty objectives
  • Assessing information within a client’s profile
  • Developing client loyalty strategies
  • Client care and client service standards
  • International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)
  • Monitoring satisfaction levels
  • Build and maintain networks
  • Business associations
  • Professional development activities
  • Establishing communication channels
  • Providing, seeking and verifying information

7. Lead and Manage a Sales Team

• • Set sales teams objectives
  • Planning sales operations
  • Budgeting Process
  • Equal opportunity, diversity, equity and anti-discrimination
  • Job Analysis
  • Recruitment and Selection Process
  • Induction
  • Initial Training
  • Training Methods
  • Sales Compensation Plans
  • Deciding Compensation Levels
  • How to Coach and Mentor Individuals
  • Key questions to ask
  • Achieving a client-focused approach with the team
  • Sales Volume
  • Conversion rates
  • Cross-selling ratios

8. Manage Quality Customer Service

• • Investigating customer needs
  • Identifying and assessing customer needs
  • Customer needs in the planning
  • Quality of products
  • Quality of service
  • Business plans
  • Goals and targets
  • Delivery processes
  • Purpose of monitoring
  • Problem solving
  • Provide support
  • Methods for monitoring progress
  • Customer relationship management
  • Using monitoring results to effect change
  • Gathering customer feedback
  • Customer complaints
  • Using customer feedback to improve service
  • Human resources
  • Physical resources
  • Making decisions
  • Appropriate individuals and groups
  • Monitoring reports
  • Customer communications