9 Different Sales Roles For Your Business: Part 2
One very important element in building an effective sales force is to clarify the structure, both with personnel and to calculate the cost / benefit to the company. An outside sales rep is not always the best solution to every company’s need for more business. Below we continue with identifing a number of different sales roles that businesses use.
4. Retail Sales
These people are found anywhere there is a store location or a mall, where the customers come to the business rather than the other way around. Roles within retail sales vary widely, ranging anywhere from the check-out people at the convenience store, right up to high-end car and furniture sales. The role of the retail salesperson is to “serve” (read sell and service) new and existing customers. There are as many types of retail sales positions as there are different types of retailers, with differing needs for the roles depending upon the needs of the retail operations involved.
5. Outside Salesperson – New Customer Acquisition
The person in this role is brought in to do one thing . . . get new customers. Sometimes it is based upon leads generated by head office, and other times the requirement is for the salesperson to source his/her own leads. However, the fundamental goal is to bring in more business. The stereo-typical insurance salesperson falls into this category. However, unlike the stereotype, the role of the outside salesperson is often one of the most difficult roles to fill effectively.
This person is usually asked to be excellent at relationship development, a strong natural listener, very detailed in organization skills and strong with paperwork as well. The natural tendencies that people have generally fall into one of three categories. People are either good with other people, they are good with things, or they are good with information. The outside salesperson for new customer acquisition is often expected to be strong with at least two of these (people and information) or, when demonstrating hard goods, all three (things as well).
This is also the sales role that is least understood by others. What drives these people? How do you motivate salespeople? How do you get more sales from them? How do you get them to do more of what you want them to do . . . . namely sell more, at a profit!
6. Outside Sales – Existing Customer Retention
In addition to the salespeople who get new business from new customers, there are also those who are hired to service an existing customer base. These people are often more customer service reps than sales reps. They need to maintain, nurture and grow existing customer relationships to keep their clientele happy and purchasing regularly. Store merchandisers, serving retail stores also fall into this category.
It is not unusual for a salesperson to be expected to fill the roles of new customer acquisition as well as retaining existing customers that have been previously acquired. The ratio of how much new business and how much repeat business would be the determining factor as to whether that salesperson would be classified under number 5, number 6 or some hybrid between the two.
7. Outside Sales and Project Management
The element that distinguishes this individual is that in addition to selling the business, this salesperson is responsible for the delivery of goods and/or services to the customer.
One example of this is kitchen cabinet sales, where the “designer” is basically the salesperson for the cabinets as well as the person responsible to ensure that the product is built, delivered and installed consistent with the customer’s wishes.
A second example is the sale of financial planning services. The salesperson is expected to not only gain the new customer, but also to supply and provide the financial plan, and to administer that plan with the customer.
In these cases, while the compensation is usually higher than in a straight sales situation, the salesperson is really being paid for client delivery as well as sales, so it may be misleading to an outsider.
8. Outside Sales – Territory Reps
One hybrid between numbers 5 and 6 is the territory rep. That is, a person who is given a particular territory (either geographic or by industry sector) on an exclusive basis and is expected to service existing customers as well as sell to new customers within that territory. Wholesale reps usually fall into this classification. Repeated contact over a period of time, and regular “routes” or “circuits” are often developed as part of this role. The traveling salesperson is often a territory rep.
9. Sales and Public Relations
This role is a little different from the others we have reviewed. While contacts and relationships are developed by people who fill this role, there is no actual “selling”, but rather regular information exchanges and service provided with the hope that when the salesperson’s products or services are needed, their company will be chosen.
Pharmaceutical reps meet with doctors about new drugs all the time, hoping that those physicians will prescribe the promoted drug if, as and when the physicians run into the need for medical solutions that the drug might cure.
Travel agents for corporate travel services also fall into this category. They meet with company executives as well as those who book the travel with the hope of developing the relationships sufficient to be considered when travel is next needed.
By identifying the type of role you wish to fill, you will be one step closer to your goal of gaining and keeping more customers at a profit as you build your business in the service of your goals and commitments in life.
Filed under Business Development, Employees, Grow Your Business, Sales Teams by Michael Walsh.
[...] Part 2 … Business Development sales roles Sales Teams Filed under Sales Teams, Business Development, Blog by Kaizen [...]