Previously, they bought everything that was produced. As Henry Ford said, he is ready to make a car of any color, as long as it is black. Scarcity becomes a scarce word for us. The image of the seller was transformed: the eternally dissatisfied, untidy woman behind the counter turned into a business elegant manager. It is under these conditions that active sales appear.
Let's define what active sales are. You must have heard many stories about them. Managers shy away from them, customers are also fed up with importunate managers who sell them everything they don't get. And representatives of one of the most creative and interesting professions turn into annoying flies in the eyes of the townsfolk. Therefore, the definition of active sales: a sale where the initiative of the first contact is on the seller's side. ALL!!! This, in no case, is not selling unnecessary things, as many people think about active sales. This is by no means an annoyance with hundreds of formulaic cold calls. These are not yellow pages calls in the hope of finding someone who might need it someday.
To understand how to make effective sales, you must first remember hundreds of calls from annoying managers to offer all sorts of services. If you had to work in the office on incoming calls, you probably heard a lot of active sellers who constantly offer to buy something. Guarantor or Consultant system, stationery, cartridge refilling, etc., etc. I think you almost never bought what was offered and sent them to hell, or scoffed at them for a long time and slowly formed your negative attitude towards such active sales managers.
Let's remember why we got annoyed with such calls:
- Mumbling into the phone;
- Incomprehensible offer;
- Suggestion of what the company does not need;
- Offer to those who are not interested;
- Long intro and story about the coolest company in the world;
- Template phrases that form the understanding that this is telephone spam from the first seconds.
Therefore, to implement effective active sales, you just need to get rid of all of the above.
At the same time, observing several rules or laws of active sales:
- Selling only to a prepared customer base;
- A scenario was formed to identify the correspondence between customers and the interests of the company;
- Formed USP (Unique Selling Proposition);
- Conversation only with the right person about what is needed;
- Conducted psychological preparation for the sale;
- Formed models of establishing relationships with customers.
We will consider each of the listed factors of successful active sales in a separate article. Let's pay attention to the block of active sales by phone - cold calls. In a separate block, we will consider the organization of the work of the sales department and building an active sales strategy.
If you ask a novice sales manager what active sales are, you can very often hear the answer: "it's always necessary to call on the phone and offer your services". In some ways, this is true, but this is only a tenth of the answer to the question about active sales!
In fact, it is any action aimed at finding and attracting a client. Further, you need to continue to communicate with the client, meet, etc. until he becomes your client. But that's not all! After the transaction, the sales manager must be reminded of himself, as this will help, sooner or later, to make a second sale to the same client.
What actions characterize active sales?
Cold calls on the phone;
Meetings with clients;
Work "in the fields";
Active activity on the Internet - posting ads, chatting on forums, etc.
You need to understand that it can take a lot of time to attract one client - weeks, months, or even years, depending on the type of product or service. You also need to understand that any client is already cooperating with someone from your competitors. If you think that your product is unique, you are deeply mistaken. There are no non-competitive or weakly competitive markets left. Wherever you go - everywhere there is a lot of competition for your client.
Therefore, thoughts such as "what if I call now and get straight to the point?" or "what if he still does not cooperate with anyone?" you need to throw it away and be realistic - YOU WILL HAVE TO FIGHT FOR YOUR CLIENT WITH OTHER COMPETITORS.
In general, there are now two sides of the coin:
1) Take customers away from competitors
2) Protect yourself from competitors and not give away your won customers.
So the first point is just real active sales. When you don't just apologize for a customer's response "we are already working with another company", but are ready for most of these answers and you have something to say and show to the client. It is the ability to show facts and figures that will be the key to success in the fight for a client. And it does not matter how these facts will be shown by you, at a meeting or during phone call- the most important thing is to be prepared to present these facts.
But where these facts and arguments come from is a separate conversation. This is called collecting customer information. This is when, before communicating with the decision maker, you will communicate with secretaries, accountants or any other positions that will gradually give you information about the supplier company (your competitor), the terms of cooperation with the supplier, prices, etc.
That's why active sales very complex, but at the same time very interesting activity. There is little loose language here, you also need to think, be able to collect information, compare facts, have at least a little knowledge of the multiplication table and hit the nail on the head. True, it is not always possible to hit the point, very often you have to make mistakes or hit at random. But this is not scary, the main thing is not to be disappointed and look for other ways to reach the client.
Active sales are full-fledged meaningful sales, including:
- all sales components - sales logistics,
- search for clients (new niches, segments, groups of clients);
- a set of measures to promote products and (or) services through the marketing channel.
- work on the analysis of the reasons for hindering the growth of sales, inhibition of the movement of information, money, goods in the marketing channel,
- stimulation of intermediaries of the distribution channel - trade marketing,
- work in conjunction (manufacturer, intermediary, retailer) to stimulate customers with the help of marketing campaigns - sales marketing.
Purpose of active sales- activities to promote goods and (or) services, more precisely, to "push" goods and (or) services through the marketing channel. The result of active sales are: increased demand, increased sales.
Active sales quite labor-intensive, takes a long time and requires a fairly high qualification from the sales staff. Active sales are the basis of work wherever the buyer, counterparty does not have a clearly defined idea about the product (service), or has difficulty in selling it through its own distribution system (distributors). In this case, the identified need, dissatisfaction with the existing situation and the desire to change it, is the basis for active sales. An active seller, based on the results of problem analysis, prepares and implements solutions to stimulate sales, compensate for losses in the distribution channel, and eliminate the causes of inhibition of goods in the distribution channel.
Sales And active sales- different concepts. By sales, I understand the logistics of sales: the planned movement of goods and money; logical distribution, storage of goods; control over the movement of goods and distribution, along with the control of the movement of money, in payment for the goods supplied and (or) the services provided. The purpose of sales is to fulfill the planned indicators of turnover, inventory turnover, receivables, etc. key sales indicators. If a sales agent (sales representative, sales manager, salesman) performs sales activities in the proper amount, with proper quality, and this is limited, we can talk about the quality of his sales activities and passive sales.
Today there is a common stereotype that active sales -the process of active "steaming" goods, or manipulation. In this case negligent sellers without analyzing the situation, they "load" the client, bombard him with the maximum amount of information about the product or service, and at the next stage, all this turns into an unjustified increase in receivables, overstocking of warehouses, and so on. Consultants call this the aggressive selling technique, and there are even trainings on how to do it. In this case, the aggressive seller is not at all focused on the personal characteristics, the specifics of the buyer. Ahead is one goal - the possible benefit from a momentary deal. The collective image is a certain traveling salesman who knocks on all doors and, without asking people what they actually need, tries to "shove" their products. He talks a lot and beautifully, but only about his product, and absolutely does not pay attention to who he is in contact with. Until now, many sales managers work this way.
One of the marketing tools of active sales is trade promotion(trade promotion) - a set of incentive marketing tools used to increase and/or accelerate sales of goods, services. What is the difference between, say, advertising and trade promotion? While advertising is aimed at creating a desire among buyers to buy, trade promotion (trade promotion) is aimed at providing the very possibility of such a purchase. Purpose of sales promotion(the goal of active selling in relation to the seller) is to turn an inert and indifferent seller, if not into your adept, then into a decently informed merchant.
Entrepreneurs sometimes don't fully understand what active selling is and how it works. People who are successful in this direction are highly valued. And their transactions, as a rule, turn out to be the most productive and profitable. We can say they are the elite of sales.
Active sales marketing begins with salespeople and ends with multi-billion dollar deals negotiated at the top management level in wholesale trade and large international corporations.
Technology
In active sales, special techniques are used to grab attention and establish friendly contact. Active sales can be both personal, with face-to-face contact, and implemented through.
The essence of active sales is that sellers create traffic for themselves. The choice of place and method by which sales are conducted is left to their discretion, which means that there is quite a lot of room for maneuver. The future buyer could not even suspect the existence of the goods offered to him before. Thus, the formation of a need for a product arises precisely during the initial contact with.
The formation of a need for a product arises precisely during the initial contact with the seller.
Being engaged in active sales, the seller is obliged not only and not so much to sell the goods. His tasks also include determining the territory in which he will search for customers. From right choice Territory depends on the size of the buyer will fall into the circle of work of the seller.
Active sales were most widespread in the segment, or, as it is also commonly called, b2b (sales of one company to another). Moreover, such types of sales are the most effective and least expensive in terms of marketing.
Since the client does not have a clear interest in the product (he does not seek to find it on his own), active sales should be used only in a saturated market, where the level of competition is very high. Also, active sales will be a good way to promote a new product or service that needs to be brought to the market.
Active sales will be a good way to promote a new product or service.
Application area
In a broad sense, we can say that active selling can be applied anywhere. But it is worth focusing on profitability. For example, for consumer goods (FMCG) it is more productive to rent a retail outlet in an area with high traffic.
Therefore, it is much more efficient to use active sales to complete transactions with a high level of profitability. In general, active sales can be divided into areas of application as follows:
- Trade mission. Visiting retail outlets and selling goods in small and medium wholesale lots is the main task sales representative. They can also enter into contracts for long-term cooperation and expand shopping mall. The competition in this area is very high, so much depends on the individual skill of a particular seller. An example of a sales representative can be found anywhere: wholesale food, building materials, cosmetics and household chemicals.
- Telemarketing. These are regular telephone sales. Convenience lies in the most remote way of selling. Payment is also made remotely, which eliminates the need for a physical visit to the client. Telemarketing is still very common, although it could be expected that with the development of Internet technologies, its demand will decrease. For successful telemarketing, tools that are widely used in marketing are perfect.
- Difficult sales of expensive equipment. All kinds of equipment and expensive machines. Such transactions are always carried out in several stages - the initial call, the departure and presentation of the product, the signing of the contract, shipment and payment.
- Remote sales to other regions and abroad. Here, too, primary contacts are almost always made through telephone conversations or via the Internet.
Also, active sales have proven themselves well as a tool to achieve the goal in the segment (b2c, sales individuals or direct (personal) sales). But for this segment, this is just one of many sales tools. In b2c, this technique is often used at the very beginning, at the stage of project promotion. Although it must be admitted that there are companies that use only active sales to sell goods and services to individuals.
The specifics of sales in b2c
Let's say a few words about the types of active sales in the b2c segment:
- Phone sales can be used to sell any product or service.
- . The development of Internet technologies could not but affect the specifics of sales. Everything is sold through the Internet today: from tourist trips to diapers and banking products.
- Walking around apartments is a classic of active sales. Sales agents sell consumer goods using this technique.
- Promotions. Also a very popular type of active sales, designed to promote new products in popular places - shopping malls, airports, on city streets.
- Sellers in public transport- Another classic method of active sales. Today they can have different forms and types, but it was with them that active sales once began in modern Russia.
The specifics of the manager's work
Active sales differ in the technique of conducting and focus. The specificity of such activities imposes special requirements on the training of a specialist. It is more difficult and takes much more time than preparing a manager for other types of sales.
An active sales manager is always forced to deal with an unprepared client. Here you can also find unwillingness to start a dialogue, rudeness, harshness, up to threats of physical violence. The buyer outside the store, being on a territory alien to the seller, behaves completely atypically. And the seller must be prepared for such a development of events. He must always be fully equipped to meet any non-standard situation.
The seller must always be fully prepared to meet any non-standard situation.
Most attention should be paid to such blocks of work as establishing initial contact, identifying client needs and working with objections.
Very often sellers who perform well in trading floors, turned out to be completely unprepared for work "in the field." Below we will give the main principles, rules and features, adhering to which, you can prepare salespeople for the harsh realities of everyday life of an active salesperson:
- Working out in the office of each of the stages of active sales. On the street, customers will not forgive the seller for unprofessionalism and lack of knowledge about the product. The seller must prepare an exhaustive, but at the same time a brief description of And competitive advantages the offered product. It is strictly forbidden to let an unprepared seller out on the street.
- When recruiting people to conduct active sales, warn in advance of upcoming difficulties. Don't waste your time on those who later refuse such work.
- Field training. An integral part of active sales training. Do not under any circumstances neglect it.
- Teach sellers to always close a deal. This is the most important step in any active sale. Pay close attention to closing the deal.
Eventually
A competent active sales specialist will always have a high cost in the labor market. There is a real battle going on for them. Their level wages can reach several hundred thousand rubles a month.
To buy such a specialist is very expensive. It is much more efficient and cheaper to grow your own salesperson, but do not rush your specialist. Preparing for active sales is a complex and time-consuming process. Although it certainly pays for itself!
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