Sale is the process comprised of all the activities that a business performs to sell its product and service. Multiple parties involved in the sales process and they’re as follows;
- Buyer. It’s the person who wants to purchase.
- Seller. It’s the person who wants to sell.
- Product/services. It’s the commodity that brings buyer and seller at one platform.
- Sale process. The activities that a company or business performs to sell.
The sales staff of a company approach and contact those people who are interested in buying the product or service that you’re offering. They may have contacted you on social media, liked your offer, downloaded the information, or visited your website.
The purpose of the contact to follow the lead that would probably be your target market, and they would buy your product or service. Sale is doing the transaction, it won’t complete without the transaction.
Table of Contents
Common Sales Terms
Here are some of the commonly used terms for sales as follows;
Sales Associate
Sales associate also goes by many names like salesperson, sales rep, retailer, sales agent, or seller. It’s the person who carries out all the operations relevant to the sales of products or services.
Prospect
A prospect is the stage when the sales associate of the company makes a contact to sell product or service. The prospecting technique could be in the form of emails, calls, warning emails, or social media contacts. If any of those calling person shows interest in the company’s product, then sales associates use various closing methods to convert prospects into actual customers.
Cold Calling
Cold calling falls in the category of telemarketing or in-person door to door visits when the caller requests the potential customer who has no experience with any of the company’s salesperson before. This marketing term is one of the old forms of marketing technique of seller.
Cross-Selling
Cross-selling is when the seller offers the customer more products to buy after his shopping. In other words, it’s the process of convincing the existing customer to spend more money on the additional relevant products. The most common example of cross-selling can be seen in the online stores, they offer items that are bought together. Customers who bought this item, they bought that item as well.
Sales Pipeline
Sales pipeline means graphically representing all the steps involved in the sales process. It helps the sales associates to see and understand the phase where the prospects are in the sales cycle.
Sales Vs Marketing
Sales and marketing are completely different things and they involve different processes. The activated involved in the marketing are as follows;
- Producing, developing and offering some valuable product or service to the customers.
- When the product is ready, then talking about it to your prospects and customers,
- If the customers like your product, then they would purchase it from you.
- You deliver the same product that you have offered.
Sales, on the other hand, is the process of transaction and selling your product and service to your potential customers. It’s one small part of the whole marketing process.
Sales Vs Business Development
Business development means building a long term business relationship with your target market and potential customers. In other words, BD is the long terms growing process of your business. It involves following activities;
- Building, developing and maintain a long term relationship with your company’s stakeholders, potential customers, and the market as well.
- Finding out new opportunities in the marketing and working on them.
- Making use of all the opportunities available at hand, and trying to close as many deals as possible.
The sale, in the context of business development, is the process that deals with the potential and prospective customers and trying to make most out of it.
Importance of Sales
The success of any organization, business or company depends on its sales department, because it’s the only unit of the organization that generates cash and money and brings it on the table. The importance of sales as follows;
Business Growth
Business would keep on growing if the sales associates are repeating the sales, and closing more deals over and over again. When the business has more money, then it would expand its business operations and growth continues.
Customers Retention
If the sales associates are polite and have a kind attitude, then they would attract and retain more people. Customers usually like those sales personals who provide the exact information about what they are looking, instead of just focusing on selling their products.
Conversion
Marketing and advertisements attract customers towards the company’s product or service and then make them to demand it. Sale is the end of the marketing funnel that converts the prospects into actual customers.
Sales fill the gap between the customers and the company through product that can fulfill their needs. Often sales personals are dealing with prospects that are already aware of the products.
Types of Sales
Here are some of the following types of sales are as follows;
Inside Sales
Some sales associates prefer to approach and contact prospects remotely via emails, telephonic calls, text messages, and social media contact. Inside doesn’t involve face to face and direct contact of buyer and seller.
Outside Sales
There are those sellers who go out to do the fieldwork and make direct contact with prospective clients, and convert them into customers. Outside sales is the traditional type of selling that we can see it in the market, shops, and bazaar.
B2B Sales
Business to business or B2B type of sales when a business sells its products and services to the other business for further reuse; the final product of one business is a raw material to the other business. One business doesn’t sell its products to the end consumers.
B2C Sales
Business to consumer or B2C type of sales, as the name implies, where businesses directly sell their products and services to the end consumers. B2C doesn’t offer its product or service to the other businesses as a raw material for further reuse.
Product Sales
Product sales involve sales of tangible and physical products that you can touch and feel its texture and surface. Like CDs, DVDs, clothes, and digital products like software.
Service Sales
Service sales deals with the sales of an intangible and non-physical product like; plumbing, electrician, teaching, banking, consultancy, and development.
Affiliate Sales
Affiliate sales are when a platform or business offers its platform to the other business to increase its sales, in exchange for a certain amount of commission per sale.
Online Sales
E-commerce, online stores, sell it and Shopify falls in the category of online sales. Where you select something that you want, place your order, and the online store would send it to you on your address that you provide.
Offline Sales
Offline sale is the traditional type of sales where you visit the shopping mall or supermarket and buy something from there.
Examples of Sales
Buying something either from an online store or the store near to your house is an example of a sale. Where you ask for something, the seller provides you the answer. If you pay for the product and buy it, this transaction is the sale.
Conclusion
We have studied different types of sales, and how it is important for a business or a company. Now, you should choose what types of sale suits your business, then carefully apply it and you’ll see the impact of it.
