The Hindu Business Line : Getting people to talk with you, buy with you

I WILL buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, and walk with you, says Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. To a wandering salesman, though, the crafty moneylender in the bard's play may seem far too kind in comparison to the many who are unwilling to buy or even talk.

"If eighty per cent of your sales come from twenty per cent of all of your items, just carry those twenty per cent," advises Henry A. Kissinger. However, to identify that vital `twenty', you may need inputs that Sandip Ghosh and Vikas Gupta provide in How to Become a Sales Professional, from Dreamtech Press (www.wileydreamtech.com) .

If an organisation doesn't sell anything, it must be running on `external financial aid,' write the authors, to underline the importance of sales to ensure business survival. However, "there is no definite formula for sales; it is a learning experience," they say. One of the book's first lessons is what sales is not: pushing a product and outsmarting a customer.

Ghosh and Gupta analyse the common myths about sales in two categories: poorly conceived activities, and wrong ideas. `Making numerous telephone calls everyday, blind dependence on data bank, and running around a lot' fall in the first category. Among `wrong ideas' are myths such as `talking politely always helps'; `follow up prospective customer continuously'; `the first 3 to 5 minutes tell you if your customer will buy'; and `force the customer to see the demonstration'.

Selling is the toughest job in any organisation, assert the authors. "Unfortunately, most often a person takes to a sales career if he is not able to get into anything else. This is where the entire problem in selling begins," they rue. It is not unusual, therefore, to find companies hiring a large number of people for its sales team, leading to high costs for obtaining the sale and training manpower; plus, there's the accumulation of customer dissatisfaction.

For those eager to avoid those pitfalls and develop effective skills, the authors list 11 characteristics to work on. One of these is learning to say `no' to deadlines or targets `rather than cribbing and fuming over them later on.' Don't accept any deadline if you are not reasonably sure of meeting it, advise the authors. Also, "don't pile up your colleague's work onto yourself in your attempt to be nice to them when they request you to share work." But I doubt if such `no' would meet with your boss's approval.

A section that discusses `negotiation' explains the difference between bargaining and negotiation. The former is about price, and the latter, about value. "Suppose you are selling a car. Before you get down to actually negotiating, you have to try and understand if the customer has found the value of the car lower in comparison to its quoted price," instruct the authors.

"Managing institutional sales is a totally different ball game," say Ghosh and Gupta in a chapter devoted to the topic. What's important is the long-term relationship between the buyer and the seller. Knowing the organisation well is key. It is not only about being familiar with a particular manager because he may leave the company before you submit your proposal, caution the authors.

Essential read is the chapter titled Selling in the Service Sector. The book has tips to offer those working in spheres such as insurance, banking, education and hospitality. Develop soft skills too with the help of chapters on presentation and body language. And such a priority list can usefully include a quick reading of the book that scores well on presentation, graphics and examples. Also view the accompanying VCD that simulates sales situations.

BookMark@TheHindu.co.in

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